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Shakespeare in Luck
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Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, for chorus and orchestra. The composer has used the following orchestration: Violin 1,2 Viola Cello Contrabass Flute Oboe Clarinet in Bb Bass Clarinet Bassoon Trumpet in Bb Horn in F Chorus (SATB)
jazz classical instrumental vocal opera orchestra chamber ballet
Artist picture
Composer for large-scale performance work, ballet and opera. Have written music for classical theatrical productions of Shakespeare, ("The Tempest," "The Twelft
Loren Lieberman is a native of Denver, Colorado, now living on the West Coast in California, where he is best known for his work as an actor in Classical and Shakespearean Theatre. He has a degree from Sonoma State University in Theatre Arts, and has been an Honor's Music Composition Student at the College of Marin, Santa Rosa Junior College, and at Sonoma State University. He has won an award for composition from the Redwood Empire Music Association. He has recently completed an opera in Russian, based on the novel by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, "Cancer Ward", (and of the same name), and is currently working on his fourth opera, based on the Classical Tragedy by Sophocles, "Oedipus the King," with a libretto in Ancient Greek. His interest in languages has shaped much of his artistic temperment, and he is self taught in Russian and Sanskrit, and has hopes to begin his next opera, Shakespeare's, "Romeo and Juliet," in Hindi.
Song Info
Genre
Classical • Choral
Charts
Peak #67
Peak in subgenre #7
Author
Loren Lieberman
Rights
2008
Uploaded
September 20, 2008
Track Files
MP3
MP3 2.6 MB • 128 kbps • 2:52
Story behind the song
I didn't really find the sonnet as a tender tribute to love, but dealing more with questions of immortality and lastingness, particularly in regards to works of art. This is amplified somewhat by the composer, in the playful treatment of the opening, or prelude to the sonnet, where the poet is plucking petals in a game of "She loves me -- she loves me not"....Suddenly there is inspiration, and, presumably, he, (Shakespeare), begins to write his sonnet. We realize that the poet could have been addressing a lover -- or, his poetic muse. It is this ambiguity between lover and poetic muse, which gives the title a two-fold meaning, a meaning which the composer feels is inherent in the poem, but has simply amplified the idea by the petal plucking device. Not that the composer would bet there weren't other meanings and relationships to be derived solely from the title! As well, I was curious about the comparison to a summer's day.....Why summer, as opposed to, say, spring?....My thinking was that this was not a dedication to love while it was still a young bud, but something well developed, perhaps already in the heat of physical love and desires....And so, my music does not reflect the tender budding of youthful, hopeful love, despite the playfulness of the opening. My concerns were, 1) to express summer, and 2) to use the theme of immortality and greatness. Because of the intricate nature of Shakespeare's language, as a composer the question(s) of expression in a simple and direct manner were the most important issues for me. I have made no effort to suggest Elizabethean time frames. As a matter of fact, the opening contains suggestions of jazz, which to me, evoke a summer quality. If you are interested in obtaining the sheet music, or an audio MP3 file, please contact me at adhikapokoya@gmail.com
Lyrics
Oh, she loves me! She loves me not! She loves me! Oh, love me she loves me not Oh, love me! Ah, ah, she loves, loves me! Here I pluck the petals of a flower That must wish there were a better way To determine love, than to play, "She loves me, she loves me not!". --love me love me not Oh love me love me Oh! (Sonnet 18) Shall I compare thee, to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely, and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd, And ev'ry fair from fair sometime declines By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair that owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade When in eternal lines to time thou growest. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this give life to thee.
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