William Shakespeares «A Midsummer Nights Dream» in the History of Music Theater

William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) has survived and flourished as a drama for over five centuries. The work has also enjoyed immense popularity in music. Its lyrical verse, its constant use of musical terminology, and its references to and deployment of songs and dances have served to attract major composers over more than four centuries. The book compares their libretti with the original text, and analyzes how alterations in text and structure have affected the nature of Shakespeare's original play its plot, characterization and lyricism. The study also deals with the constituent elements of music theater, including instrumental music, and, to a lesser extent, with artistic and cinematic representations of Shakespeare's comedy.

Autorentext
Ulrike Küpper, born 1979, studied English Literature and Music at the Department of Anglophone Studies of the University Duisburg-Essen and the Folkwang University of the Arts. She completed the Master of Arts in English and American Literature at the Graduate School of Arts and Science of New York University, NY and teaches English and Music at a College near Cologne.

Inhalt
Contents: Oberon - A Genealogy from Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590) to Henry Purcell's semi-opera The Fairy Queen (1692) A Midsummer Night's Dream: Eighteenth-century themes and variations Romantic versions of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's dream Twentieth- and twenty-first-century musical versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream.