CURRENT LITERATURE.
MUSIC ON THE SHAKESPEAREAN STAGE.
Music on the Shakespearean Stage. By G. H. Cowling. (Cambridge University Press. 4s. net.)—The share taken by music in the Elizabethan drama and the nature of that music are subjects which could easily fill more than one large volume. Mr. Cowling makes no claim to have dealt with them at the length they deserve ; he has, however, written a sketch which contains a large amount of information likely to be of use as the basis of a more systematic inquiry. In addition to some chapters of a general character, Mr. Cowling has taken each instrument in turn, and collected instances of its use upon the Elizabethan stage. It would have added to the interest of the study if Mr. Cowling had been able to give some information upon the music used in masques. We may remark, by the way, that though the use of incidental music in a play to heighten an emotional effect is sometimes considered illegitimate, it was constantly practised by the Elizabethans. Speaking blank verse "through music" undoubtedly produces a strong emotional effect, though possibly a rather sentimental one, upon the hearer; and the scene in Twelfth Night before the Fool sings, "Come away, come away, death," shows how well Shakespeare understood the device. A quotation in this connexion from Pepys made by Mr. Cowling is too good to be passed by. On February 2'7th, 1668, "he saw Massinger's Virgin Martyr, a poorish play, but finely acted. 'But that which did please me beyond anything in the whole world was the wind-musique when the angel comes down: It made him feel, he tells us, as he used to feel when he was in love with his wife." How enormously Pepys would have enjoyed a Wagner opera !—Shakespeare Music. Edited by E. W. Naylor, Mus.D. (T. Fisher Unwin. 6s. net.)—A large number of delightful contemporary songs and dances, which occur, or might occur, in Shakespeare plays, have been collected by Dr. Naylor, w ho has added some information upon Elizabethan musical instruments.
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