| Music in The Tempest
There is more music in The Tempest than any of Shakespeare's
other plays. There are more songs and points for underscoring and
this needs to be specially commissioned. In the actual folio copies
of the text, Shakespeare writes in specific points for music. In
other Shakespeare plays, editors have added these stage directions
many years later but this is not the case with The Tempest.
It's the only play written by Shakespeare where you get a real sense
of the importance of music. It has a presence, very much like another
actor being on stage.
Instrumental line-up
For the score of The Tempest we decided to go for a line
up of instruments that would help to evoke Prospero and his magical
island and particularly Ariel, who sings six songs during the course
of the play.
Over and over again in the play, characters refer to music on the
air - as Caliban does in Act 3, scene 2 - so it seemed important
to find instruments that could sound light and airy. As a result
we went for flute, viola and harp, supported not only by tuned percussion
- vibraphone and marimba - but also non-pitched percussion to provide
texture - cymbals, tam-tam, wind chimes.
Music cue 15 (top of Act 3 scene 1) - opens the second half
of the play, after the interval. Prospero has been watching the
manacled Ferdinand pile up logs as he labours for the love of Miranda.
Placing the music cue
The placing of each cue and its precise timing emerges gradually
during the course of rehearsals. Before rehearsals begin, Michael
and I meet to outline a provisional run down of cues, and then once
the production is underway, this outline is sharpened for precise
timings and the psychological purpose of each cue is clarified.
Two weeks before the premiere, the score is then recorded in the
studio and even at this stage, cues may be tweaked for timing, adding
or subtracting seconds here and there. Once Michael has the score
on tape, it can then be fed into the rehearsal room so that it feels
an integral part of the production well before opening night.
The musicians who played on The Tempest score are:
| CÉLINE SAOUT |
Harp |
| VOURNEEN RYAN |
Flute |
| ELIZABETH DAVIES |
Viola |
| RICHARD BENJAFIELD |
Percussion |
| CHRIS BRANNICK |
Percussion |
Conducted by Julian Philips - website: www.julianphilips.co.uk
Music in Act 3 scene 2...
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Low quality