Three Shakespeare Songs
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| Three Shakespeare Songs | |
|---|---|
| by Ralph Vaughan Williams, setting of text by William Shakespeare | |
 The vocal score of Three Shakespeare Songs | |
| Other name | Full Fathom Five; The Cloud-Capp'd Towers; Over Hill, Over Dale |
| Period | 20th-century classical music |
| Genre | Classical Part song |
| Language | Early Modern English |
| Composed | June 1951 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Duration | 7 minutes approx |
| Vocal | SATB a cappella choir |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 23 June 1951 |
| Location | Royal Festival Hall, London, UK |
| Conductor | Cecil Armstrong Gibbs |
Three Shakespeare Songs is a piece of classical choral music written for an a cappella SATB choir. It was written in 1951 by the British classical composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The work comprises three short pieces which are settings of text from two plays by the English playwright William Shakespeare. It is published by Oxford University Press.
In 1951 the British Federation of Music Festivals (of which Vaughan Williams was president) held its annual National Competitive Festival during the Festival of Britain. The festival included a choral competition in which choirs from around the United Kingdom would demonstrate their technical abilities by performing test pieces. Vaughan Williams's associate composer, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, tried to persuade him to compose a new test piece. Vaughan Williams was reluctant at first, and was of the opinion that the choirs should perform established test pieces rather than introducing a new composition.[1] Disappointed that Vaughan Williams had apparently failed to answer his letter, Armstrong Gibbs appeared to have given up on the idea:
Soon afterwards I was stricken down with some illness and was in bed when a fat envelope, registered and bearing the Dorking postmark, was brought up. Inside was the MS. (manuscript) of the Three Shakespeare Songs dedicated to me and the briefest of notes which ran: "Dear Armstrong. Here are three Shakespeare settings. Do what you like with them... Yours ever R.V.W."
— Cecil Armstrong Gibbs[1]
The songs were premiered in the Royal Festival Hall on 23 June 1951, conducted by Armstrong Gibbs.
