All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.
That said, I’ve got but a few hours in which to play music to mark the presumed anniversary today of the birth of the great William Shakespeare.
We’ll hear works inspired by a number of Shakespeare’s plays, including a “scenario” assembled from William Walton’s magnificent score for Laurence Olivier’s acclaimed film adaptation of “Henry V.” The speaker will be none other than Christopher Plummer.
Today’s Noontime Concert will serve as prologue, with the Rolston String Quartet coming your way from the Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, in Center City Philadelphia. The program, presented by Astral Artists, will include works by Mozart (the String Quartet No. 18 in A major, K. 464), Ligeti (the Quartet No. 1, “Metamorphoses nocturnes”), and Beethoven (the Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130).
… [M]ay we cram
Within this wooden “O” the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon!
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
This week on “Picture Perfect,” a few days in advance of the surmised birthday of William Shakespeare (on April 23, 1564), it will be much ado about Patrick Doyle and his music composed for the films of Kenneth Branagh.
In 1987, Doyle joined Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company, for which he provided incidental music. Two years later, Branagh – and by extension, Doyle – made a leap to the big screen, where they achieved a remarkable feat, rethinking Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” Remember, this is the play that propelled Laurence Olivier to worldwide fame in 1944, both as a filmmaker and the Bard’s most celebrated interpreter, and William Walton’s score is regarded as one of the best of all time.
Branagh’s version is quite different. Though equally rousing, it doesn’t shy away from Henry’s more complicated nature and the grittier aspects of what it means to go to war. It was a bold gamble, but one that paid off. Not only did this revisionist “Henry” receive nearly universal acclaim, the film was a box office success, and Branagh would be nominated for two Academy Awards, like his predecessor, in the categories of Best Actor and Best Director. Certainly the film’s score deserved to be recognized – but in the year of “The Little Mermaid,” it failed even to secure an Academy Award nomination.
An interesting footnote: Doyle himself is the baritone who introduces “Non nobis Domine,” a prayer of thanksgiving, following the Battle of Agincourt.
In 2006, Branagh directed an adaptation of “As You Like It.” As has become his custom, he took a celebrity approach to its casting, although perhaps not so widely uneven as some of the cameos in his big screen “Hamlet.” Kevin Kline appears as Jacques; Alfred Molina is the fool, Touchstone; and Branagh regulars, Brian Blessed and Richard Briers appear, as well.
The most radical liberty taken with the play is that Branagh recasts the events to take place among English traders in 19th century Japan. The language remains firmly rooted in Shakespeare’s text, although there are striking cross-cultural elements, including ample kimonos, kabuki theatre, ninjas, and a sumo wrestler. Still, it’s a long way off from the astounding bomb that was Branagh’s American Songbook-interpolated “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
While Olivier’s “Hamlet” won four Academy Awards in 1948, including those for Best Picture and Best Actor, Branagh’s 1996 version is cinema’s first adaptation of the complete text. It is, perhaps, an uneven interpretation, with some puzzling casting choices – including walk-ons by Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams and Gerard Depardieu – but there are enough merits, certainly, to make the four-hour trek worthwhile.
Finally, Branagh teamed with his then-wife, Emma Thompson, for a titanic battle of wits as Benedick and Beatrice in his 1993 adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing.” Again, the film features an eclectic supporting cast of classically trained actors and pop Hollywood phenomena. Briers, Blessed, and Imelda Staunton share screen time with Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves. Yet, somehow, despite the different nationalities, ethnicities, and accents, the entire enterprise works. There is an exuberance to the over-the-top opening sequence which sets up a momentum that carries through the rest of the film.
Sigh no more, but join me for the Shakespeare scores of Patrick Doyle on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Happy birthday – and lamentable death date – William Shakespeare!
The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, do yourself a favor and revisit these two contrasting interpretations of the St. Crispin’s pep talk from “Henry V.”
Olivier, a powerful and patriotic – if somewhat theatrical – symbol for the beleaguered British during World War II:
And Branagh, a cinematic, very human Henry for today:
Our #Shakespeare400 celebration continues this week on “Picture Perfect,” as we focus on the music of Patrick Doyle composed for the films of Kenneth Branagh.
Doyle joined Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, for which he provided incidental music. In 1989, Branagh – and by extension, Doyle – made a leap to the big screen, where they achieved a remarkable feat, rethinking Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” Remember, this is the play that propelled Laurence Olivier to worldwide fame in 1944, both as a filmmaker and the Bard’s most celebrated interpreter, and William Walton’s score is regarded as one of the best of all time.
Branagh’s version is quite different. Though equally rousing, it doesn’t shy away from Henry’s more complicated nature and the grittier aspects of what it means to go to war. It was a bold gamble, but one that paid off. Not only did this revisionist “Henry” receive nearly universal acclaim, the film was a box office success, and Branagh would be nominated for two Academy Awards, like his predecessor, in the categories of Best Actor and Best Director. Certainly the film’s score deserved to be recognized – but in the year of “The Little Mermaid,” it failed even to secure an Academy Award nomination.
An interesting footnote: Doyle himself is the baritone who introduces “Non nobis Domine,” a prayer of thanksgiving, following the Battle of Agincourt.
In 2006, Branagh directed an adaptation of “As You Like It.” As has become his custom, he took a celebrity approach to its casting, although perhaps not so widely uneven as some of the cameos in his big screen “Hamlet.” Kevin Kline appears as Jacques; Alfred Molina is the fool, Touchstone; and Branagh regulars, Brian Blessed and Richard Briers appear, as well.
The most radical liberty taken with the play is that Branagh recasts the events to take place among English traders in 19th century Japan. The language remains firmly rooted in Shakespeare’s text, although there are striking cross-cultural elements, including ample kimonos, kabuki theatre, ninjas, and a sumo wrestler. Still, it’s a long way off from the astounding bomb that was Branagh’s American Songbook-interpolated “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
While Olivier’s “Hamlet” won four Academy Awards in 1948, including those for Best Picture and Best Actor, Branagh’s 1996 version is cinema’s first adaptation of the complete text. It is, perhaps, an uneven interpretation, with some puzzling casting choices – including walk-ons by Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams and Gerard Depardieu – but there are enough merits, certainly, to make the four-hour trek worthwhile.
Finally, Branagh teamed with his then-wife, Emma Thompson, for a titanic battle of wits as Benedick and Beatrice in his 1993 adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing.” Again, the film features an eclectic supporting cast of classically trained actors and pop Hollywood phenomena. Briers, Blessed, and Imelda Staunton share screen time with Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves. Yet, somehow, despite the different nationalities, ethnicities, and accents, the entire enterprise works. There is an exuberance to the over-the-top opening sequence which sets up a momentum that carries through the rest of the film.
How could you not love a movie that opens like this?
I hope you’ll join me for the Shakespeare scores of Patrick Doyle on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6; or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.
‘Swounds! If it isn’t Emma Thompson’s birthday today!
April 23 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. We’ll honor the Bard on “Picture Perfect” over the coming weeks with music from film adaptations of his plays.
William Walton may be the composer most associated with the cinematic Bard, thanks to his collaborations with Laurence Olivier. While Walton participated in three superb Olivier productions, beginning with “Henry V” in 1944, and continuing with “Hamlet” in 1948 and “Richard III” in 1955, the two had actually been brought together on an earlier Shakespeare project, in which Olivier appeared solely as an actor – a very charming version of “As You Like It.” The 1936 film was directed by Paul Czinner and starred his wife, Elisabeth Bergner, as Rosalind. Olivier appeared as the love-struck Orlando.
Walton’s “Henry V” would become one of the most celebrated film scores of all time, certainly in terms of a so-called concert composer working in the cinema. The music is best known in a concert arrangement by Muir Mathieson, who conducted the orchestra on the film’s actual soundtrack. We’ll hear a recording that restores the composer’s original orchestration AND incorporates the chorus, as in the film.
For Walton’s work on Olivier’s 1948 adaptation of “Hamlet,” the composer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. The film won four Oscars in all, including that for Best Picture. Olivier directed himself in an Academy Award-winning performance. It was the first foreign film to be honored as Best Picture.
Finally, we’ll turn to “Richard III,” from 1955, by which time both Olivier and Walton could be addressed as “Sir.” (Olivier was knighted in 1947; Walton received his knighthood in 1951.) Olivier gives a wry performance as the scheming Duke of Gloucester. While he very much enjoyed their ongoing partnership, Walton felt there was a limit to just how many ceremonial fanfares and battle charges he could compose. Across the head of the score he inscribed the instruction, in Italian, “Con prosciutto, agnello e confitura di fragole” – “With ham, lamb and strawberry jam.” Nevertheless, he manages to turn in yet another superb score.
I hope you’ll join me for an hour of fanfares and battle charges, with an interlude of brooding over the skull of Yorick, this Friday evening at 6 EDT, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6; or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.
Here’s an appreciation of Walton’s Shakespearean achievements that ran in The Telegraph during the composer’s centenary in 2002, rightly noting his influence on John Williams:
