Shakespeare in jazz

Vocalist Christiana Drapkin and her group celebrate the beauty and power of William Shakespeare's poetry and present it in lively, sometimes haunting jazz arrangements. Christiana was inspired to develop this project after finding a 1964 recording by Cleo Laine, "Shakespeare and all that Jazz", on Fontana Records. John Dankworth had composed many of these arrangements for his wife; the rest were some light-hearted settings by composer Arthur Young. Quite unjustly, they seemed to have been forgotten and deserve to be heard again. The same holds true for a poignant setting of a sonnet by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, from the suite "Such Sweet Thunder".

In concerts and workshops, the group intersperses the Shakespeare material with lighter but no lesser fare, standards from the Great American Songbook, which address the same age-old themes that were already sung about in the Bard's day.

The song selections are direct quotations from Shakespeare's plays and treatments of his sonnets in their entirety:

If Music Be the Food of Love (Twelfth Night) It Was a Lover and his Lass (As You Like It) Winter - When Icicles Hang by the Wall (Love's Labour's Lost) The Willow Song (Othello) Fear No More the Heat of the Sun (Cymbeline) When that I Was and a Little Tiny Boy (Twelfth Night) Sigh No More, Ladies (Much Ado About Nothing) O Mistress Mine (Twelfth Night) Our Revels now Are Ended (The Tempest) Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day? (Sonnet 18) Let me not to the Marriage of True Minds (Sonnet 116) My Love Is as a Fever (Sonnet 147)

CHRISTIANA DRAPKIN - VOCALS Christiana came to the US in 1980, as a German Fulbright exchange student in theater. At Tulane University in New Orleans, she discovered the inner workings of musical theater and, more importantly, the roots of Jazz. New York City has been Christiana's artistic home for the last 25 years. She now lives and performs in the DC area, branching out into educational live jazz programs for children with her "BOP GOES THE WEASEL - Jazz for Kids" program. She's discovered stellar players in the nation's capital and is delighted to partner with players like Paul Wingo, Mike Gellar, Steve Herberman, and Dave Mosick on guitar, Robert Redd and Don Buchanan on piano, and others. Christiana returns regularly for performances in the New York area. She also curates a Jazz Vocalist series at the Brooklyn Public Library, "Brooklyn Sings, Brooklyn Swings", now going into its sixth successful year.

Composers Inspired by Shakespeare's Works

The British writer William Shakespeare is hailed as the greatest writer of all time. His large body of work, which includes 37 plays, has been a source of inspiration for many composers and musicians throughout the years. Here are six more acclaimed composers whose works were inspired by Shakespeare's plays.

Charles Gounod - He is especially known for his operas, particularly "Faust," and the song "Ave Maria." In Paris, he became organist at the Church of the Missions Étrangères and in 1852 became conductor at the Orphéon Choral Society. His opera, Roméo et Juliette, was based on Shakespeare's play.

Felix Mendelssohn - He was a prolific composer of the Romantic period. He was a piano and violin virtuoso, a maestro and conductor. He was the founder of Leipzig Conservatory. His Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which he wrote at the age of 17 (1826), was inspired by Shakespeare's comedy. He then composed the incidental music for the play in 1842.

Sergey Prokofiev - He was a Russian composer of the 20th century especially notable for his stage works. His ballet, Romeo and Juliet, was based on Shakespeare's play.

Gioachino Rossini - He was an Italian composer known for his comic operas. He was also a conductor and accompanist. His opera, Othello, with libretto by Francesco Maria Berio di Salsi, was based on Shakespeare's play.

Arthur Sullivan - He was a British conductor, teacher and composer whose collaborations with librettist William Schwenk Gilbert helped establish the English operetta. He composed the incidental music to Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

Giuseppe Verdi - He was a composer of operas, a music director, librettist, senator, highly-revered musician, and a rich but charitable artist. His operas Macbeth, Otello and Falstaff were all based on Shakespeare's plays.

Many composers and musicians, past and present, were influenced by the works of the master playwright and poet William Shakespeare. Here are 5 well-respected composers whose works were based on Shakespeare's much-loved plays.

Mily Balakirev - He was the leader of a group of Russian composers called "The Mighty Five" who expressed the importance of having a nationalist school of Russian music. He was a concert pianist and became concert conductor of the Free School of Music in 1862. Balakirev wrote incidental music for Shakespeare's King Lear when he was 22.

Samuel Barber - He was an American composer, teacher and songwriter of the 20th century whose work reflected European Romantic tradition. His opera, Antony and Cleopatra, with libretto by Franco Zeffirelli, was based on Shakespeare's play.

Louis-Hector Berlioz - He was one of the most original composers of the 19th century. Shakespeare was an inspration to Berlioz; his opera, Béatrice et Bénédict, was partly based on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and his choral sympnony Roméo et Juliette was based on Shakespeare's play.

Ernest Bloch - He was an American composer and professor during the early part of the 20th century. He also became music director of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory. His opera, Macbeth, with libretto by Edmond Fleg, was based on Shakespeare's play.

Benjamin Britten - He was a conductor, pianist and prolific English composer of the 20th century who was instrumental in establishing a music festival in England. His opera, A Midsummer Night's Dream, with libretto by Peter Pears, was based on Shakespeare's play of the same title.