Shakespeare lovers lament that so few songs in his plays survive with original music; of about sixty song lyrics, only a handful have come down to us with musical settings. For over 150 years, scholars have aspired-without success-to fill that gap. Shakespeare's Songbook does just that. Eight years in the making, Shakespeare's Songbook is a meticulously researched collection of 160 songs-ballads and narratives, drinking songs, love songs and rounds-that appear in, are quoted in or alluded to in Shakespeare's plays. Drawing on the unmatched resources of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Ross W. Duffin brings complete lyrics (many newly recovered) and music notation together for the first time, shedding new light on Shakespeare's dramatic art. With performances by leading early-music singers and instrumentalists, the CD brings the songbook to life. With a Forward by Stephen Orgel, the J.E. Reynolds Professor in Humanities at Stanford University.
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