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THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS

This Shakespeare sequence is a mini-opera for soprano, baritone and piano.

There is dialogue between the seven musical items which takes a fresh look at the badinage between Beatrice and Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing). Hilary Spiers has freely compiled this hybrid libretto from a variety of Shakespearean sources.

Pragmatically, the piano accompanist acts as a third (seated) character for a total of just seven spoken lines to facilitate textual cohesion. The characters act out the scenario, which is interspersed with song settings using the following texts:

  • Under the Greenwood Tree (As You Like It)
  • Come Away, Come Away Death (Twelfth Night, II iv)
  • O Mistress Mine (Twelfth Night)
  • Sonnets XL (1-4) and CXX (1-8)
  • It was a Lover and His Lass (As You Like It, V iii)
  • Wedding is Great Juno’s Crown (As You Like It, V iv)
  • Sonnet X (13-14)