Richard Morris - who has composed music for the Abbey Shakespeare Players for many years - reflects that Love’s Labour’s Lost is at once "a test and the ultimate invitation."
"The test is how to keep a group of musicians interested (and warm) without getting in the way of dramatic progress."
"LLL’s reputation for understatedness ignores the power of what goes on in hearts and minds, yet the play’s lyricism often makes music redundant. So, how to be useful without becoming obstructive?"
"There are traditional musical opportunities, like the masque, dances and comedy of the last act, and songs along the way. For a composer, however, the vital summons comes at the end, where songs of spring and winter are juxtaposed."
Love's Labour's Lost - Song
"On one level When daisies pied and When icicles hang by the wall are vividly-drawn portraits of people and seasons. On another, they allude to the turning of the year, in the 16th century to the winter and summer kings and queens of the recently-abolished Whitsun Games, and to the temptations and moral hazards that the king, his lords and the ladies must undergo."
"Behind the Warwickshire naturalism lies the cycle of life, death and rebirth personified in the myth of Persephone and Hades."
"Be prepared for surprises."
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