Illuminated Shakespeare

In a delicate interplay of light and shadow, Shakespeare’s poetry forms the beating heart of this programme. From Thomas Tallis to Eric Whitacre, composers through the ages shed light on the essence of beauty and transience.

Mirroring Shakespeare’s use of contrast, the composers in this program paint a world of whispered longing and emotional vulnerability. Iconic sonnets and lyrics form a common thread, balancing on the fragile border between reality and illusion.

This line becomes immediately palpable with the ethereal Sleep by Eric Whitacre. More than four centuries separate James MacMillan from Thomas Tallis, but O Radiant Dawn and O Nata Lux share a similar serene glow. Judith Bingham reinterprets a key piece from the 19th-century English cathedral repertoire as "something like a love song," leading to Shakespeare's own words. These include sonnets filled with tenderness and timelessness — Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? — and the magical music of Ariel from The Tempest. The program draws to a close with Stanford’s The Blue Bird and Elgar’s Lux Aeterna, steeped in poignant nostalgia and romance.