Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers, both as playwright and poet, so it is no surprise that, like many composers before me, I have been greatly inspired by him and have composed several works in his honour – from my Soliloquy Op. 59 for solo cello inspired by Hamlet, to my recent Shakespeare Songs Op. 101, which uses five of his sonnets to create a 20-minute song cycle about love in many of its forms.
As a composer, if you want to pay tribute to Shakespeare, you have three main options open to you: you can write an instrumental or orchestral piece (without words); use his original text for a work involving the voice; or, as a third choice, take one of his plays and transform it into an opera or another large-scale work with voice. For my Shakespeare Songs, choosing contrasting sonnets was key, so that I could make it a symphony in poems, which was a fascinating idea to me.
5 of the best Shakespeare settings
Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Op. 21
The young Felix Mendelssohn, when he was only 17 years old, chose the first option and composed the extraordinary overture A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 21. It is a work of extraordinary beauty and simplicity, with otherworldly melodies. I can well understand why a young man and composer would be attracted to this comedy, which combines love and magic — romantic in spirit, yet full of action and mischief.
Mendelssohn, many years later, revisited the Shakespeare play to give it more complex dimensions in his Op. 61 incidental music. One of the striking influences of theatre on music in this overture appears right at the start: we hear four slow chords (from the woodwind section) before the story properly begins with the entrance of the strings. It is as if — like in the theatre — the curtains open, and then the story starts, with the strings’ fast-paced melody.
Antonín Dvořák: Othello Overture, Op. 93
Romanticism was characterised by the blending of the arts; this is probably why we can so easily find such a theatrical gesture both in Mendelssohn and in my next choice of a wonderful work inspired by Shakespeare, Antonín Dvořák’s Othello Overture, Op. 93. This time, we have a long, sustained chord shared by woodwinds and brass before the curtains open and the strings enter.
Whilst it is a very similar opening to Mendelssohn's, the rest of the work could not be more different in many ways: in the chosen subject itself, which is far more dramatic, and also in the fact that Dvořák was already over 50 years old when he wrote it. So no comedy or fairies here, and a lot of darkness. What I find especially interesting in Dvořák is the architecture of the work, which is divided into very distinct 'scenes', each with its own clearly defined character. There is something here that resembles what Wagner does with his leitmotifs.
Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare’s influence can be widely seen in the Romantic musical movement, yet he himself was a Renaissance author. This is why one can find such convincing tributes to him in the 20th-century modern era, which sought to distance itself from Romanticism. My third Shakespeare-inspired piece falls into that category: the spellbinding Romeo and Juliet (ballet and orchestral suites) by Sergei Prokofiev.
Here we still find theatricality, but the humour is drier, and while the gravity is still present, there is no romantic pathos. Essential human emotions, whether 500 years ago or today, remain the same, making it very interesting to revisit Shakespeare through a 20th-century lens. I love Prokofiev’s melodic imagination, humour, and driving energy.
Hector Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette, symphonie dramatique, Op. 17
Going back in time but on the same subject, my fourth choice is Hector Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette, symphonie dramatique, Op. 17. I think this work is very underrated and underperformed. In fairness, this could well be because of its large scale: a 90-minute-long symphony (written almost a century before Mahler’s 'big beasts') is not easy to programme!
Perhaps I am attracted to Berlioz’s Shakespeare because Berlioz was a revolutionary and unusual composer who wrote extremely intelligent and creative music, which mirrors Shakespeare’s invention and modernity. In this way, he allows us to experience the same sense of variety found in the original works.
Giuseppe Verdi: Otello
We cannot talk about Shakespeare settings in music without mentioning the composer for whom he was so central: Giuseppe Verdi. Verdi admired him immensely and wrote three of his most important operas based on his plays: Otello, Falstaff and Macbeth. I think that Shakespeare’s great ability to explore human emotions, conflicts, and moral dilemmas attracted him, as he sought to do the same in his operas. Verdi worshipped Shakespeare and was very clear to his librettists that he wanted to stay as close as possible to the text and the essence of the original plays.
For many years, Verdi considered setting King Lear to music, and the idea stayed with him into his final years, when it almost came to fruition. Given the extraordinary results of his three Shakespearean operas, we can be sure that Verdi’s King Lear would have been a masterpiece. But, alas, to give the last words to Shakespeare: 'To sleep, perchance to dream...'
Nimrod Borenstein's 'Shakespeare Songs', performed by Sarah Fox and the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the composer (alongside two of his other new works), is released by Somm Recordings on 13 March.
