The affect of Shakespeare’s plays on the history of music is immense but it is an area which has been rather neglected over the years.  This course (followed by a further course 3-5 February 2017) will follow the history of the plays and their associated music over some 400 years, from their original staging up to the re-building of the Globe theatre at the end of the 20th century.  This first course will cover the 17th and 18th centuries which saw the glory years of the original Globe. We will end with a quick look at the first opera based on the work of the bard.