Music in the plays of William Shakespeare


Music in the plays of William Shakespeare includes both music incidental to the plot, as song and dance, and also additional supplied both by Shakespeare's own company and subsequent performers. This music is distinct from musical settings of Shakespeare's sonnets by later composers.

Music in Shakespeare's own theatre productions

Songs as text within the plays

The following are among the most notable examples of songs in Shakespeare's plays:
Among the dances associated with Shakespeare's company is "Kemp's Jig" named after the actor Will Kemp.

Music for later theatre productions

The generations after Shakespeare saw many composers create or arrange music for his plays. Among the most notable were Thomas Morley, Henry Purcell, Matthew Locke, Thomas Arne, William Linley, Sir Henry Bishop, and Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Recordings

Attempts at reconstructing and performing the "original" songs from the plays and related folk songs have been recorded by various musicians, from Shakespeare Songs by Alfred Deller, to the recordings of Philip Pickett.