Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence
                     Order of Meeting: 
               Summer Service of 26 June 2005


           "How Shakespeare Tells Us Who We Are"
            David Mix Barrington and Kat Lovell


Welcome and Announcements

Prelude: Tarleton's Riserrection                Dowland
         Chris Stetson, lute

Lighting of the Chalice

*Hymn: #330 The Arching Sky of Morning Glows

*Opening Words (unison)

         "All the world's a stage
          And all the men and women merely players:
          They have their exits and their entrances, 
          And one man in his time plays many parts."

*Hymn: Old Hundredth

          From all that dwell below the skies
          Let songs of hope and faith arise
          Let peace, goodwill on earth be sung
          Through every land, by every tongue
  
          De todos bajo el gran sol
          Surja esperanza, fe, amor
          Verdad, y belleza cantando
          De cada tierra, cada voz.

*Community Greeting

Offertory: The Faerie's Dance                   Johnson

Meditation

Interlude: A Time For Us                        Rota
           Karl Drumm, piano

Readings

Interlude  Kemp's Jig                           Anonymous

Sermon     "How Shakespeare Tells Us Who We Are"
           David Mix Barrington

*Hymn: #17 Every Night and Every Morn

Closing Words

Postlude:  Brush Up Your Shakespeare            Porter
           DAMB, vocal, Karl Drumm, piano


Thanks to Chris and Karl for the music, and to Tony Burton, Sally
Greenhouse, Kat Lovell, and Andrea Zucker for help with the verbal 
parts and general inspiration.

Musical Notes (from Chris Stetson)


Shakespeare's plays contain numerous references to music, 
and contemporary sources tell us that even more music and 
dancing was part of his performances.  The lute music presented 
today all comes from Shakespearean England.  Though John 
Dowland (1563-1626) was one of the most famous composers of 
his day, he failed to gain royal patronage, and spent many years 
working on the Continent.  His "Tarleton's Riserrection" is a 
beautiful Galliard, probably a memorial for Richard Tarleton, 
the jester to Elizabeth I also known as "Shakespeare's clown", 
who died in 1588.  While Dowland's music represents the "old school" 
of English music, the music of Robert Johnson (1582-1633) was 
cutting-edge for the time.  He worked both at court and in dramatic 
productions and almost certainly knew Shakespeare.  His "Faerie's 
Dance" might well have been used in a production at the Globe Theater.  
Finally, the anonymous "Kemp's Jig" is most likely named for another 
Shakespearean clown, Will Kemp, and may well commemorate his "Nine 
Daie Wonder" of Morris dancing from London to Norwich.

After his death, Shakespeare's plays continued to inspire musicians 
as well as actors; from Felix Mendelssohn to Nino Rota (1911-1979), 
who wrote the music for Franco Zefferelli's 1968 film version of
"Romeo and Juliet", to Cole Porter (1891-1964), whose song "Brush Up 
Your Shakespeare" is from the Broadway show "Kiss Me Kate".

Last modified 27 June 2005