Shakespeare in Music at Michael Fowler Centr

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2. Shakespeare in Music

The man that hath no music in himself / Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds / Is fit for treasons …

With this in mind, and marking his 450th birthday, we celebrate musical works that have been inspired by Shakespeare’s genius. Korngold’s Much Ado About Nothing Suite is a perfect demonstration of the lush melodies that made him such a popular film composer. And it was for a film version of Henry V that Walton composed his regal and resplendent score, while Mendelssohn’s incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream overflows with musical magic. Balancing these iridescent works is Strauss’s symphonic poem Macbeth. A declaration of his faith in modernism, the work is unashamedly dramatic. Led by the supreme musicianship of British conductor Alexander Shelley, this concert brings the Bard to life in a ‘concord of sweet sounds’.