Shakespeare and Purcell: Music of The Fairy Queen and Other Works (2016)

Folger Consort performed Shakespeare and Purcell: Music of The Fairy Queen and Other Works from April 8 to April 10, 2016 in the Folger's Elizabethan Theatre.

Henry Purcell and William Shakespeare are a natural combination — if Shakespeare is the greatest English poet and playwright, Purcell has a plausible claim of being the greatest English composer. Shakespeare, of course, never heard Purcell’s 1692 The Fairy Queen, music for the Restoration version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but it has proved to be enormously appealing to audiences ever since its rediscovery in 1901. The songs, choruses, and instrumental music of this monumental piece are performed along with other memorable settings of Shakespeare by Purcell. With harpsichord, strings, and voices.

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