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CD reviews
"In My Heart of Hearts - Music in Shakespeare's Plays"
Hannah Morrison, soprano;
Marnix De Cat, alto
Hathor Consort
Dir: Romina Lischka
rec: August 17 - 19, 2023, Bolland, Église St. Apollinaire
Ramée - RAM 2303 (© 2024) (70'11")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - no translations
Cover, track-list & booklet
Spotify
anon:
Allemana d'amor;
Come thou monarch of the vine;
Desperada;
Fortune my foe;
Gallyard;
Gallyard;
Nutmegs and ginger/Come unto these yellow sands;
O death, rock me asleep;
Pavin Albarti;
Ronda - La represa;
Ruger;
Sigh no more;
Under the greenwood tree;
When that I was and a little tiny boy;
Willow song;
William BYRD (1543-1623):
Malt's come downe;
Passamezzo Pavana;
Anthony HOLBORNE (1545-1602):
Heigh ho holiday;
The fairie rounde;
The funerallies;
The night watch;
The sighes;
Robert JOHNSON (c1583-1633):
Full fathom five;
Thomas MORLEY (1557-1602):
It was a lover and his lass;
My Lord of Oxenford's Maske;
Now is the month of Maying;
O mistress mine;
John PLAYFORD (1623-1686):
Jog on;
Tarleton's Jig;
Philip ROSSETER (1568-1623):
Now in the month of May (Morley);
John WILSON (1595-1647):
Take, o take those lips away;
Where the bee sucks
Anne Freitag, recorder, renaissance flute;
Romina Lischka, Liam Fennelly, Joshua Cheatham, Irene Klein, Nicholas Milne, viola da gamba;
Margit Übellacker, salterio;
Giovanna Pessi, harp;
Matthias Später, lute;
Francis Jacob, virginals
William Shakespeare is undoubtedly one of the most famous and influential playwrights in history - maybe even the most famous and influential. Some of his plays are still familiar, and have inspired generations of men and women of letters of later generations - and also composers, for that matter. Especially his play Romeo and Juliet has almost cult status - if not the play itself, then certainly its subject and the title characters. However, if his plays are still performed, it is unlikely he would have recognized them. Not only the staging and the pronunciation of the text are different, but the role of music is also not like it was in his time.
Plays with music were common in the 16th and 17th centuries in parts of Europe, such as England, France, Spain and the Netherlands. Whereas in the early 17th century Italy saw the birth of opera, that genre came into being in France in the second half of the 17th century, and in England and Spain after 1700, due to the growing influence of Italian music. Even in the time of Henry Purcell, plays with music - especially the genre known as masque - were the most common form of theatrical entertainment. In our time these pieces can hardly be reconstructed, because even if the texts have been preserved, it is almost impossible to know how exactly they were performed. That also goes for the music that was part of them.
In that respect Shakespeare causes fewer problems as a number of songs which are included in his plays have come down to us in settings by known or unknown composers. The disc under review includes a number of them. The track-list mentions in which plays they are sung. Even so, exactly which setting was sung and how it was performed, is a matter of speculation.
The concept of this disc is interesting, but not new. Previously other ensembles have also performed songs from Shakespeare's plays, and those who have heard English renaissance music may recognize a number of songs performed here. Thomas Morley's It was a lover and his lass is one example; his O Mistress mine another. Such songs are even part of recitals of English lute songs, outside of any theatrical context. Examples are Where the bee sucks by John Wilson and Full fathom five by Robert Johnson. In comparison, Come thou monarch of the vine may be rather unfamiliar.
A difficult question is how they were performed. In song recitals the singer is accompanied by lute, sometimes with an additional viola da gamba. Here sometimes more instruments are used, which in some cases play ritornellos between the stanzas. It is known that instruments were involved in performances of Shakespeare's plays in his own time, and from that perspective the participation of instruments as viols, recorder and other plucked instruments than the lute may be a matter of 'historically informed speculation'. I have my doubts about the participation of the salterio, which - if the information in New Grove is anything to go by - was not familiar in England anymore after 1500. It is used here, for instance, in Johnson's Full fathom five, where it illustrates the closing words: "Ding-dong bell".
Apart from songs there are references to music in Shakespeare's plays, and - as mentioned - music was a fixed part of theatrical performances anyway. The songs from the plays are the core of the programme, which has been extended by instrumental pieces, either intended for instruments, such as dances, or instrumental versions of popular songs. How close songs and instrumental music were at the time is demonstrated, for instance, by the two versions of Now is the month of May(ing) and the anonymous Fortune my foe, which was also the subject of keyboard varations, for instance by William Byrd. Anthony Holborne is well represented among the composers of instrumental pieces. The titles of some of these may refer to their theatrical origin, but that is hard to prove. They certainly fit well into this programme around Shakespeare.
For this project the Hathor Consort, founded as a consort of viols, is extended with a few other instruments. In addition we hear to singers specialized in early music. Marnix De Cat has his own ensemble, the Pluto-Ensemble, which often cooperates with the Hathor Consort. This results in a strong stylistic coherence. I am most impressed by the performances of the instrumental pieces, which are played with panache and fantasy. Their approach is theatrical, as one may expect. Percussion plays a substantial role. I am usually rather critical about that, as I think that too often it is used indiscriminately. Here it suits the repertoire rather well. It is odd that the booklet does not mention the player of the percussion instruments. On a Belgian site I read that Marnix De Cat is also a percussionist, so he may be the one.
Is he also the singer in the anonymous song When that I was and a little tiny boy? In that case he has turned to his chest voice, as here we hear a tenor. Or is it one of the instrumentalists? The singing seems to be different from that in the other items. I found it more genuine English than the songs which De Cat is singing. I like his voice, and there is nothing wrong with his singing, but I find it not very theatrical. It is a bit too solemn. That is also due to the spatial acoustic. It is a mystery to me why this recording was made in a church. More or less the same goes for Hannah Morrison; the most theatrical piece in her case is Come thou monarch of the vine. Overall I think that the tempi in a number of songs are a bit too slow. Lastly, it is a pity that the singers don't use historical pronunciation. As a result, some words that are supposed to rhyme, do not.
To sum up: the concept of this recording is interesting, and has been worked out well. Singing and playing are very good, but the songs lack the theatrical atmosphere they need.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Marnix De Cat
Hathor Consort