A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

From a musical point of view one of the most important of Shakespeare's

plays is _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. It is possible to use nothing

but Mendelssohn's music for this play, but I have never heard it in

England without additional numbers. Sir Frank Benson, in his poetical

production, used all the original music, but also included a song by

Cooke, "Over hill, over dale," for the first singing fairy, and a duet,

"I know a bank," by Horn, for first and second singing fairies: the

latter a very boring work and quite out of keeping with the rest of the

music. There is no reason why these words should be sung at all: they

should be spoken by Oberon. Sir Herbert Tree had them sung to the tune

of "Auf Fluegeln des Gesanges"--certainly by Mendelssohn, but the effect

was very distressing. Most producers use the Spring Song and Bee's

Wedding as fairy dances, and this effect is quite legitimate and

absolutely in the picture with the rest of the score. Mendelssohn is

at the top of his form in this music, and here is no Shakespearian Old

English Wardour Street style: it is just Mendelssohn at his best, and a

very good best it is. With careful arrangement it can be played on a

small orchestra, and is a tremendous help to the success of the play.

There is bound to be a long wait between the first and second acts--the

change from Athens to the Forest--and Weber's overture to _Oberon_ is

very effective here; and, although scored much more brilliantly than

the Mendelssohn music, does not seem out of place, and fills in what

would else be a very tiresome interval. Several {89} English composers

have set the fairy chorus, "You spotted snakes," as a glee for mixed

voices; but I never quite fancy fairies singing tenor or bass, and

consider Mendelssohn was very wise to stick to women's and children's

voices only.

+Mendelssohn+ was only seventeen when he wrote the overture, but the

rest of the music was composed much later, at the request of the King

of Prussia, and first produced at the New Palace, Potsdam, in 1843.

His critical German friends took him much to task for wasting such

beautiful music on such a foolish play, but I don't think he ever

regretted it. There is a fine ophicleide part in the overture, giving

the idea of the clumsy Bottom among the fairies. Mendelssohn chose

this instrument because it blends with no other instrument on earth,

and really knew what he was doing; but, because of its very quality of

tone, for which he chose it, modern conductors have cut it out and

substituted a bass trombone or tuba, both of which blend quite prettily

with the other instruments. I am speaking of a few years ago; there

are hardly any ophicleide players left now.

I suppose the great majority of Christians in the world have been

"Mendelssohned," as Kipling has it, out of church once in their lives,

and I daresay that is why many people talk sniffily about the "Wedding

March."

I am going to make a dreadful confession. Once at a small theatre I

did the whole of the Mendelssohn music to the _Dream_, excepting the

scherzo, on a band of eighteen, and it didn't sound half bad. The

parts were carefully cross-cued, and everyone was very busy, but I was

very proud of the general effect. Of course, the orchestra was almost

beneath the stage, which was a great help. The players--they were

picked men--consisted of single wood wind, one horn, two trumpets, one

trombone, and drums, four first violins, two second, viola, 'cello, and

bass. Incidentally we threw in Weber's _Oberon_ overture. I know this

sounds like vandalism to read about, but it didn't sound so in the

theatre.

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+Purcell+ wrote music to a perversion of the _Dream_ produced in 1692

(see above, p. 12), and in some strange manner managed not to set a

single line of Shakespeare.

+John Christopher Smith+, composer of an opera called _The Fairies_,

founded on _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, was born at Anspach in 1712,

but came to England as a boy with his father, who was Handel's

treasurer and agent for the sale of his music. At the age of thirteen

he became a pupil of Handel, and, when his master went blind, his

amanuensis. _The Fairies_ was produced in 1754, and on the title-page

of the score is written, "the words taken from Shakespeare," but not by

whom. Also, unfortunately, as was the manner at the time, the name of

the singer is printed, but not that of the character; however, it is

usually possible to get a fairly shrewd idea, from the gist of the

words, who is singing. This music is strictly Handelian, though the

score as a whole shows greater pains and industry than is generally

displayed by his great master. The overture has an introduction,

fugue, tuneful minuet, and a fine march in D major after the manner of

Handel's _Scipio_ march. The first song is for tenor, with trumpet

_obbligato_, and, I think, must be intended for Theseus. The words

run, "Pierce the air with sounds of joy, Come Hymen with the winged

boy, Bring song and dance and revelry." From this I take it that

Theseus was preparing for his wedding. It is a very stirring, florid

air, and, given a robust tenor and a first-rate trumpeter, makes a good

opening for the opera. Helena sings next a song with a very pathetic

middle part, saying how she scorns to hide her love. Lysander

(baritone) has a brisk song about the joys of country life, followed by

Helena, singing, sadly, "O Hermia fair; O happy, happy fair"; and Mr

Smith sets four lines of Shakespeare's text. Hermia's next air is not

very interesting, so we will pass on to a graceful setting of the

words, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind," sung by

Helena or Hermia, I can't settle which; {91} the words are correct

text, and very respectfully set. Puck, taken by a boy, now sings,

"Where the bee sucks"--quite a new setting to me, and a charming one,

too. Here follows an orchestral interlude, called "Sinfonia," for

strings, with two independent oboe parts. I don't know if it is meant

to be played with the curtain up for business, but rather think it is

intended for scene-change music. Titania sings a very "fairy" song,

words not by Shakespeare, to her fairies, telling them to follow her;

and Oberon, a boy singer, does the same office, in a florid air, for

his fairies. Helena, who seems to have too much to do, now has another

pathetic song; Titania sings herself to sleep with "You spotted

snakes," with slight verbal alterations to make sense. The human

lovers become rather tedious here, as they do sometimes in the play;

they have several sentimental love-songs and duets, so we welcome

Oberon and his fairies. His number, "Now until the break of day," is

really beautiful and most fairylike, and brings the second act to a

charming close. Oberon sings "Flower of this purple dye" to a solemn

_largo_ melody, and the mortals take up the tale again. Oberon sings a

setting of "Sigh no more, ladies" very interestingly, and sticks

closely to the text; it certainly might have been written by Handel,

but is none the worse for that. Puck sings "Up and down" to thoroughly

suitable music while he chases the foolish lovers about the forest;

after which Titania obliges with "Orpheus with his lute," with oboe

_obbligato_, quite one of the best numbers in the piece and one of the

best settings of these much ill-used lines--the close of the second

verse is exquisitely done. A hunting "Sinfonia" heralds the last

scene, with a couple of fine solo horn parts. This introduces a bold

march for the entrance of Theseus, who has a lusty hunting-song with an

elaborate orchestral accompaniment. Hermia now has an unnecessary

song, "Love's a tempest," and the opera closes joyfully with a solo and

chorus to the words "Hail to love and welcome joy." So ends a work I

should very much like to have seen. There is no sign of the clowns in

{92} the score, so I fear Smith's librettist cut them out; but the

music is all by one composer and all in one style. There is none of

the horrible jostling of periods that annoys one in Bishop's pasticcio

Shakespearian operas, and the text is quite as near the original as

Bishop's.

If Christopher Smith omitted the clowns, his fellow-countryman, +John

Frederick Lampe+, composed a mock-opera, entitled _Pyramus and Thisbe_,

the words freely taken from Shakespeare, which was produced at the

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1745. Johann Friedrich Lampe was born

at Helmstadt, Saxony, in 1703. He came to England as a bassoon player

at the opera, and married Isabella Young, a famous singer, sister of Dr

Arne's wife. He soon settled down in London as a composer, and made a

tremendous success with his opera _The Dragon of Wantly_, written in

imitation of the famous _Beggar's Opera_, and burlesquing current

Italian operas. This Pyramus mock-opera consists of an overture and

thirteen numbers. The overture is a delightfully fresh and original

composition, very melodious, with quaint rhythms, and finishing with a

very plaintive movement for strings and oboes. Wall (a tenor) has the

first song, words not by Shakespeare, explaining his duties; it is good

burlesque, and great point is made of repeating the word "whispering"

seventeen times, making fun of the Italian method of the time somewhat

heavily but amusingly. Pyramus (tenor) has a mock-dignified entrance,

and sings an elaborate burlesque song on Shakespeare's words, "And

thou, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall, That stands between her father's

ground and mine, Show me thy chink that I may blink through with mine

eyne." No other words are used in this long song, and the effect

should be very comic, and also irritating to Lampe's contemporaries.

Pyramus proceeds with a second song, "O wicked wall," using the last

two lines only of his speech in the original text. Thisbe, the part

taken by Mrs Lampe, now enters and sings about her love for Pyramus in

a little amorous song, again not by Shakespeare. The lovers now have a

{93} duet, called the First Whispering Duet, to the words, "Not

Cephalus to Procris was so true"; a short spirited duet, "I go without

delay," takes them off; and the Lion enters and roars pleasantly in

florid baritone passages. The Moon (tenor) enters and sings of the

joys of drinking and loving in the sky. Thisbe has a lament, so well

written that it hardly seems a burlesque at all. Pyramus, thinking her

dead, sings a furious mock-heroic song, "Approach, ye furies," followed

by "Now am I dead," a beautiful plaintive burlesque with _obbligato_

parts for two oboes. Thisbe sings her lament, "These lily lips, this

cherry nose," to a sad little tune; however, for some curious reason

not explained in the text, neither of the lovers dies, but they finish

the burlesque off with a very bright and cheerful duet to the words,

"Thus folding, beholding, caressing, possessing, My Thisbe, my dear,

We'll live out the year." As there is no spoken dialogue in my copy of

this work, I don't know how the author gets over the death of Pyramus

and Thisbe: doubtless he has some ingenious way out of it. Some of the

fun is quite Shakespearian, and some is very German, but the whole

little mock-opera is amusing and worth a few hours' study. The

orchestration is simple and good, and the vocal writing, as was nearly

always the case in this period, is excellent.

+Sir Henry Bishop's+ operatic version of this play is the first of his

series of pasticcio operas founded on Shakespeare's plays. It was

produced at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1816, and is a

wonderful hotch-potch of musical styles from Handel to Bishop. The

overture is in four distinct movements, none of which seem to have any

bearing on the play or each other; and not one is used later in the

opera. The whole appears to be entirely detached from the rest of the

production. The first song (Hermia) is still sometimes heard; it is by

Bishop, and is a melodious setting of the passage beginning "By the

simplicity of Venus' doves." The next number is a trio and chorus for

the {94} Clowns, beginning "Most noble Duke." Quince, Snout, and

Bottom all have little solos, but I can't trace the words--I think they

were by some contemporary of Bishop's; the tune is by Arne and Bishop,

but is not very valuable. The next song is for the first fairy and by

Dr Cooke. The words do not occur in the play or in any other work of

Shakespeare's; they are just the conventional fairy-song words about

fairy rings, lightly trip it o'er the green, but the musical setting is

charming. The fairy march by Bishop is the same as in his _As You Like

It_, beginning _pianissimo_ and finishing with about fifty bars of such

vulgar _fortissimo_ noise as would have frightened away any number of

fairies. Demetrius has the next song: it is by Bishop, but the words

are not Shakespeare's. The words, "But ne'er recall my love," are

repeated thirteen times, and the tune is insignificant. The next

number is a "grand recitative air and chorus" for Oberon and the

fairies; again the words are not by Shakespeare, but are of the "trip

it" and "so nimbly" school; the music is by Bishop and Dr Cooke, and

Cooke's part is the better. Demetrius (tenor) sings Helena's beautiful

words, "O happy fair, your eyes are lodestars," to a graceful melody of

Bishop's: this number is still heard occasionally. The duet that

follows between Demetrius and Hermia is by Bishop, and the words are by

Anon.; it is a maudlin piece of work, words and music admirably fitted.

Oberon's beautiful speech, "Flower of the purple dye," is set to music

by our old friend Smith, with ineffective additions by Bishop, as a

song for Oberon. The second act ends with a recitative for the fourth

fairy, a dance and a chorus welcoming the little Indian boy. In the

third act is a quartet for the four solo fairies by Bishop, words

anonymous and very bad, which takes the curtain up. Oberon sings his

speech, "Be as thou wast wont to be," to music by Battishill and

Bishop, a very graceful melody; and this is followed by a hunting

chorus about Spartan hounds, music by Bishop, poet unnamed. An

anonymous character sings Handel's "Hush, ye pretty warbling choir,"

from _Acis and Galatea_. The effect should {95} be amazing in this

wilderness of bad music. Demetrius now has a song by Bishop, to

"original words," called "Sweet cheerful hope," but as it is of no

particular value we will pass on to a real piece of Shakespeare from

this very play, a setting by Bishop for Oberon and chorus of the words

"To the best bride bed will we," finishing with the chorus "In Theseus'

house give glimmering light," or, as Shakespeare more happily phrases

it, "Through the house," etc. Hermia now sings a song, words by some

ruffian unnamed, to Hippolyta and her amazons about freedom; very poor,

pretentious stuff. The opera ends with a so-called characteristic

march, beginning with the entrance of the Cretans, followed by the

Thebans, Amazons, the Centaurs, the Argo, the Labyrinth, the

Minotaur--a sort of grand historical pageant of Theseus' life. The

music by Bishop is not in the least descriptive of any of these varied

things and persons I have catalogued; one expects some rather special

music for a Centaur, a Labyrinth, and especially a Minotaur, but one is

disappointed.

+Mr Cecil Sharp+ arranged and composed the incidental music and songs

for Granville Barker's most interesting production of this play at the

Savoy, January 1914. In a striking preface he points out that not a

single note of contemporary music for the songs in this play has been

preserved; he debates the possibility of using contemporary tunes and

fitting the words to them, of having fake music composed, and of

commissioning a composer to write entirely new music. He rejects all

these propositions, and plumps for using folk-songs. He says: "By

using folk-music in the Shakespeare play we shall then be mating like

with like, the drama which is for all time with the music which is for

all time." Whether the result at the Savoy was successful or not I

leave to the judgment of the many people who saw the production.

Unfortunately, Mr Sharp does not indicate very clearly when he has

arranged, composed, or adapted the tunes in the printed score. The

first musical number occurs in Act ii., Scene 2, a dance, song, {96}

and chorus; the dance is to the melody of that interesting old

folk-tune "Sellenger's Round," and the baritone solo is, I am sure, by

Mr Sharp, as is the following chorus. The words, which fit in too

neatly for it to be an adaptation, are the familiar "You spotted

snakes"; but, though he is bitter with Mendelssohn for repeating "so

good night" so often, he cheerfully cuts out one "lul-la," surely a

grievous thing to do for one so correct! The next number is Bottom's

song, "The ousel cock so black of hue," and is, presumably, by Mr

Sharp, as only the melody is printed, and I don't see how anyone can

have a copyright (it is marked copyright) in a folk-song tune. I don't

think it is an improvement on the so-called traditional tune to which I

have always been accustomed. The next number is for orchestra alone,

and occurs in Act iv., Scene 1; it is called "Still Music," and the

melody is the old folk-song, "The sprig of thyme," collected and

arranged by Mr Sharp. The Bergamask dance, Act v., Scene 1, is one of

the numerous versions of "Green Sleeves," collected and arranged by Mr

Sharp. The wedding march is on the tune "Lord Willoughby," arranged by

Mr Sharp, and is certainly a great change from the one usually

associated with this situation. The love charm seems to have gone all

wrong again, and even Theseus and Hippolyta seem to have soured on one

another. As for the other lovers----! Even the _tierce de Picardie_

fails to liven up the last bar. The song and dance in the same scene

and act are composed by Mr Sharp, and, following the glorious tradition

of Sir Henry Bishop in the pasticcio operas, the words "Roses, their

sharp spines being gone" do not appear in the play. They are not by

Shakespeare, but from Fletcher's _Two Noble Kinsmen_. The final number

is a traditional dance arranged by Mr Sharp, but from what source he

does not say; it is rather a sad little tune, followed by the more

lively "Nonsuch," and finishing off with "Sellenger's Round," which was

the first musical number.

It would be an interesting point to discover whether Shakespeare would

have preferred this very "correct" {97} musical setting to

Mendelssohn's now derided one. I rather think that Mendelssohn's

Overture and Scherzo would have appealed to him. There seems to me to

be very little in this play, with its frequent classical allusions,

that calls for folk-music, and artificial simplicity in a production of

a play so full of Elizabethan artifice seems utterly out of place.

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