+William Linley+, born 1771, edited two volumes octavo of settings to
Shakespeare's lyrics, called _Dramatic Songs_. Some of them are by
Purcell, Arne, etc.; but unfortunately the majority are by the editor,
who seems to have had no exaggerated respect for Shakespeare's text,
but a very high opinion of his own powers.
Mr Linley has some very naive remarks to make in the observations
printed after the preface. Writing of the lyrics sung by Feste in
_Twelfth Night_, he says: "Though there is a whimsical point about
them, they are not inelegantly written." (This of "Come away, Death"!)
Linley proceeds: "Shakespeare evidently meant that it should be sung
with pathetic expression, but one is not prepared to relish it from the
Clown; and there is nothing ludicrous in the words, and the plaintive
wildness which they seem to demand from the music could not, by any aid
of preparation, be given by the Clown so as to produce a feeling of
melancholy--it would be more likely to excite laughter."
After these preliminary remarks, one may expect anything from our
editor; and when one remembers the exquisite pathos of Mr Courtice
Pounds' singing of +Augustus Barratt's+ setting at His Majesty's one
can smile at the pretentious want of knowledge displayed in Linley's
short introduction.
His own setting, which is before me, is sorry stuff. Words and phrases
are repeated over and over again. He does not even set the first
sentence correctly; he says, "Come away, Death, come away," and
continues his "improvement" throughout the song.
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The same kind of thing occurs throughout his two volumes; but it is
interesting to note that for a long time it was considered a standard
work, and Roffe, so late as 1867, speaks of it in his +Handbook of
Shakespeare Music+ as "a happily conceived work."
It is a curious thing that the lyrics in the plays most popular with
composers are either frankly not by Shakespeare or are very doubtful.
The one most frequently chosen, "Take, oh take those lips away," from
+Measure for Measure+, has been set, according to Roffe (1867),
seventeen times; and, according to a work not quite truthfully
describing itself as _A List of All the Songs and Passages in
Shakespeare which have been Set to Music_, thirty times. Now, the
second verse, "Hide, oh hide," is undoubtedly by Fletcher, from _The
Bloody Brother_, and it is likely that Shakespeare merely quoted the
first verse without acknowledgment, as he often did.
The next in order is "Orpheus with his lute." Roffe gives it sixteen
settings, and _A List of all the Songs, etc._, twenty-two; the latter
boldly states, "By John Fletcher." Act iii., Scene 1 is part of the
Fletcher portion of _Henry VIII_. "Shakespeare wrote only 1168-1/2 of
the 2822 lines of the play; the rest are Fletcher's." The editors
responsible for this note are F. J. Furnivall and W. G. Stone.
"Come live with me" (_Merry Wives_) has been set, according to Roffe,
sixteen times, and according to the "List" eighteen--the words being
quoted from Kit Marlowe. "The Willow" song from _Othello_ (Roffe six
and the "List" eleven) is much older than Shakespeare, and is quoted by
him from a long poem now in Percy's _Reliques_.
Very naturally, since these dates (1867 and 1884) many other settings
of songs from Shakespeare's plays have been made. Still, these four,
two certainly not Shakespeare's and two quite doubtful Shakespeares,
keep ahead in the list of music composed for or concerning the plays.
I have referred to the "List," and think it only fair to give an
account of it. It was published for "The New Shakespeare Society," and
compiled by J. Greenhill, the {166} Rev. W. A. Harrison, and F. J.
Furnivall; but unfortunately it was published in 1884, and has not been
brought up to date. Here one may find that composers were not content
with juggling and altering Shakespeare's perfect lyrics, but chose
chunks of blank verse and snippets of sonnets to set, for no earthly
purpose that I can see. Some of the composers' selections are quite
incomprehensible. Why +R. J. Stevens+ should have chosen Prospero's
magnificent lines, beginning "The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous
palaces," and made them into a glee for S.A.T.T.B.B., passes my wit to
understand.
Also, why +Sir Henry Bishop+ chose Sonnet 109, "Oh, never say that I
was false of heart" (lines 1-4 and 13-14), or Sonnet 29, "When in
disgrace with fortune" (lines 1-4 and 9-12), with several verbal
alterations. All this tends to show that the composer could not have
had the smallest conception of the sonnet form, to cut and chop it
about as he has done. Personally, I think that no sonnet ought to be
set to music, but I know that quite good musical authorities differ
from me, and I am content to say that either the whole sonnet or none
of it must be set. It is impossible to cut a word or a sentence out of
a sonnet without spoiling its form and balance; and, if these
essentials are gone, how can it make a perfect song?
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