A concert of songs about William Shakespeare written for a 1769 Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon closes out the April 29 colloquium Shakespeare: Music and Memory, organized by UW Music History professor JoAnn Taricani and co-presented by the UW School of Music and Simpson Center for the Humanities. The UW’s Collegium Musicum, under Taricani’s direction, presents “Shakespeare’s Garland: The Jubilee of 1769,” at 5 p.m. Friday, April 29, at Brechemin Auditorium. The program includes songs about Shakespeare written as part of the extravagant celebration organized by the Shakespearean actor David Garrick in 1769, and illustrated with images from the Jubilee. Performers include UW visiting scholar Linda Tstasanis, UW graduate student Emerald Lessley, lutenist John Lenti, and others. Admission is free.
This concert illustrated with images from the Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon, will present songs about Shakespeare, such as “Sweet Willie O!” and “All this for a poet.” This event was a seminal moment in creating the idea of remembering and the memory of Shakespeare, and marks the start of the movement known as Bardolatry. The music is not available in recordings, and is being recreated in a modern edition by UW faculty member JoAnn Taricani; audio excerpts will be posted here as the concert develops. More Information