June 2-4, 2017

A survey of a cappella settings of Shakespeare’s famous words by composers from the Baroque to the present.

Several of the works are set to music using the same text—in the case of Blow, Blow, thou winter wind from As You Like It (Act II, Scene vii) by composers 300 years apart--Thomas Arne (1710-1778) and Matthew Harris (b 1956). The shorter Arne composition is light and melodic, even though the text concerns ingratitude and the failure of friendship. Shakespeare’s sarcastic commentary (missing from the Arne setting) is included in the Harris setting: “Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly. Then heigh-ho, the holly! This life is most jolly!” Fascinating to compare the two—the affect of the Harris setting is anything but light and melodic.

Of course, we include the most famous Shakespeare settings, three lovely songs by Ralph Vaughn Williams, two from The Tempest (Full Fathom Five and The Cloud-Capp’d Towers), and one from Midsummer Night’s Dream(Over Hill, Over Dale). Later in the 20th century, enjoy the lovely Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day by Nils Lindberg.

The 21st century includes a brand new work from San Jose State professor Aaron Lington and the West Coast premiere of When time is broke, a set of three works by Cecilia McDowall combining texts from several different plays and poems into a commentary on love and relationship. For a change of pace, we perform the humorous Cuckoo, Cuckoo by Dominic DiOrio. We finish with Shakespeare Suite by Nancy Wertsch, a trilogy of songs chosen to reflect youth, love and springtime in Shakespeare’s England. You can find the complete program below.
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Read the program notes by artistic director Sanford Dole, and join us for a preview lecture by Sanford 30 minutes