Shakespeare Being Expressed Through Music

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Many of William Shakespeare’s plays have had entertaining music put into them. Music is added to plays and movies to create more of an image to the audience, creating the mood, whether is be suspenseful or calm. For Hamlet, Frank Bridge, a British composer, created a piece that would bring to life the scene of Gertrude’s lament, after the passing away of Ophelia. Looking at the rhythm, tempo, key signature, and orchestration in Bridge’s piece, There is a Willow Grows Aslant a Brook, we can bring the mood into the reactions and mind of Gertrude as she was suddenly hit with realization.

This piece of music is instrumental and brings the instruments out as voices to set the mood of the scene. This piece begins with a very steady tempo, going quite slow, and building up to the pause. Also as the piece begins there are more and more complicated rhythms and the dynamics suddenly increasing and fading, giving the audience a feeling of confusion, which is how Gertrude would have felt at this time. Being a mother, and seeing another child pass away is terrifying. This part of the piece use...

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