Music

“Lend me your ears”: Harvard English professor Stephanie Burt explores the songs and songwriting of Shakespeare and Taylor Swift.

Listen to a ballad that was written around 1594 as a spin-off of Titus Andronicus, the revenge tragedy that’s considered one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent plays.

There are moments when a song is the best way to convey an emotional message. Even though songs are mostly public things, they still can feel intensely personal. Popular songs in early modern England were sung in ballad form. At…

The mystery man in the Crocodile Mystery image is the Englishman W.S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert, the librettist and playwright, in costume as King Claudius. Gilbert, along with composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan, created during the 19th century some of the most…

Folger Theatre’s ‘Love’s Labor’s Lost’ is set in roughly 1932—the year the Folger Shakespeare Library opened its doors to the public—and celebrates the Folger’s exquisite architecture, as well as the era’s glamorous post-flapper fashion. In its honor, we present a…

We look more closely at the music of Folger Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s timely political drama with sound designer and composer Lindsay Jones.

King John is one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays, and we can’t wait to share it with you when performances begin this week. To get in the spirit, here’s a playlist of songs that speak to the themes of the play.

Musical Director Robert Eisenstein provides insights on the music performed in Folger’s current production of Macbeth.

Composer Liz Filios stopped by The Folger Spotlight to share how folk music has shaped this production (and to share some of the songs that have inspired her).

Visitors to the Folger have long been used to seeing actors and musicians on stage demonstrating their talents through words, song, and movement. What’s less usual is an opportunity to learn how these artists prepare to go on, and rarer still is…

We visited The Second Shepherds’ Play while they were rehearsing ‘Somerset Wassail,’ but that is only one of the beautiful, festive songs which appears in this production. Today, we hear from Folger Consort Co-Artistic Director Robert Eisenstein, and give you an…

Recently, I have found myself answering a number of reference questions concerning our musical holdings (a reference librarian manifestation of the frequency illusion perhaps?). Whatever the reason, it has been a nice reminder that some of our manuscript holdings contain…