Shakespeare and Music

By: Clara Pressey

Any fan of Shakespeare (or theater) will tell you that it is a beautiful thing to be able to compare and contrast between different performances of the same play. By doing this, you can see fascinating differences in acting choices, set designs, and many other aspects involved in the making of a production—including the music. It was traditional for Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights to include at least one song in all of their works. These songs would often be sung by a minor character, such as a fool or a page, for the entertainment and emotional edification of the major characters. They also had a tendency to reflect the events and messages of the play; however, there is no surviving sheet music for the songs used in Shakespeare’s work. This means that it is the responsibility of a theater company to compose and arrange the songs as they see fit, allowing them to use the music, not only as a reflection of the plot and general message of the play, but also a way to better convey the setting and theme of their specific production.

The piece of writing that you are about to read looks at the same song adapted differently in three performances of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and examines how it reflects each production (If you are not familiar with the plot of Much Ado, here is a link to a summary on the SparkNotes website).

The Song

While some productions of Much Ado About Nothing include extra original music, there is one song that is a standard for all of them. The song is called “Sigh No More,” and it reflects the play’s recurring motif of the fickleness of men, men betraying the women they love—or claim to love—and the women’s means of coping (“Sigh No More” was also used as the title of a 2009 song performed by the band Mumford and Sons-- the entirety of which consists of quotes from Much Ado About Nothing, but it is not an adaptation of the song from the play itself). For additional context, the lyrics of the play are as follows:

“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,

Men were deceivers ever,

One foot in sea, and one on shore,

To one thing constant never,

Then sigh not so,

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into hey nonny, nonny.

“Sing no more ditties, sing no more,

Of dumps so dull and heavy;

The fraud of men was ever so,

Since summer first was leavy.

Then sigh not so,

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into hey nonny, nonny.”

It is performed by Don Pedro’s page, Balthazar, in Act II, Scene iii of the play. Oftentimes, it will reappear (occasionally set to different music) at the end of the production after the couples have gotten their happy ending (Act V, Scene iv). Unless a director were to make decisions that drastically changed the events and themes of the play, the general message of the song would remain the same.

Much Ado About Nothing- 1993

In 1993, Sir Kenneth Brannagh directed a movie production of the play. He also starred in it, alongside Dame Emma Thompon (his then-wife). The film features a sprawling Italian countryside as the backdrop for the play’s setting—the town of Messina, Italy. The costumes, while they may not be entirely accurate, fit the exaggerated idyllic landscape nonetheless.

This production’s adaptation of “Sigh No More” matches the landscape perfectly. The ethereal legato notes give the same feelings as the surrounding vistas and lush greenery. It also establishes the singer, Balthazar, as a lowly servant, as another servant accompanies him on an instrument while the wealthier citizens look on. Although its level of historical accuracy is questionable, this style fits in with the idea that the production takes place closer to Shakespeare’s time than to the modern day. Even the camerawork of the performance contributes to the movie’s over the top vibes; the scene is filmed in a single swooping shot, and the actors are blocked in dramatic positions around a fountain.

Much Ado About Nothing- 2011

The next Much Ado that we will be looking at is the 2011 production starring David Tennant as Benedick and Catherine Tate as Beatrice. This performance shows a stark contrast to the 1993 version. While the previous one was all dramatic Italian countryside, this modern one takes place in an atmosphere more reminiscent of a Club-Med. It brings out the play’s absurdity and raunchiness through costumes, blocking, and props.

While this production’s composition of “Sigh No More” is similarly sentimental and dramatic as that of 1993’s Much Ado About Nothing, it is the audience's attitude towards it that is changed. The rotating stage brings almost all of the focus onto Benedick, who is not singing. And, rather than viewing the song as beautiful and full of intent, we are meant to join him in mocking it, while also mocking him as he flounders about the stage. It is also important to note that, while the song’s performance is begun by Balthazar himself, the other characters who are present (Claudio, Pedro, Leonato, and a number of ensemble members) quickly join in. This establishes the setting as lacking an meaningful class structure and puts everyone on equally ridiculous footing.

Nothing Much To Do- 2014

This third and final production is vastly different from the other two. It is what is known as a Literary-Inspired Web Series—a work of classical literature that has been translated into a modern context and told through YouTube videos. It doesn’t use the play’s original language, instead, it presents modernized events of the play through the vlogs of a group of teenagers attending the fictional Messina High school in Auckland, New Zealand. This web series—entitled Nothing Much To Do as wordplay off of Much Ado About Nothing—was created in 2014 by a small online production company in New Zealand called “The Candle Wasters”.

Instead of incorporating their adaptation of “Sigh No More” (which was uploaded as “Sigh Not So” for copyright reasons) into a larger video, it was published as its own music video. It features indie singer-songwriter, Reuben Hudson performing his own composition as the character of Balthazar. The music has an indie feel to it, and it solely features Balthazar singing and playing the guitar. The video itself has been edited to be black and white. All of these factors help make this adaptation of the song as authentic as possible. It truly feels like it could be a situation where a random teenager filmed themself singing an original song and put it up on YouTube.

Sources:

Here for the bants. “Sigh No More.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=86TpkDMNWfU.

“Much Ado About Nothing.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 26 May 1993, www.imdb.com/title/tt0107616/.

“Much Ado About Nothing.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt5569310/.

“Much Ado About Nothing.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/muchado/.

Mumford and Sons. “Sigh No More.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WJyAYhCt1s.

Nothing Much To Do Official Trailer| The Candle Wasters, YouTube, 27 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iakDRoQg-sM&list=PLgtRIWtmHefNSmhLGzm87bM6AKzWvD-ls.

“Nothing Much to Do.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 25 Mar. 2014, www.imdb.com/title/tt3922568/.

Sal do mar. “Sigh No More.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=479TkEj0UAA.

Shakespeare, William, and David L. Stevenson. Much Ado About Nothing.

Springfels, Mary. “Music in Shakespeare's Plays.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 10 Nov. 2005, www.britannica.com/topic/Music-in-Shakespeares-Plays-1369568.

Watch Projects. “Sigh Not So.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vZ9Y4JEEDI.

“Webseries.” The Candle Wasters, www.thecandlewasters.com/.