Mystery in Music

No lies, this is my favorite of all the plays we've read so far. I'm a sucker for the fantastical, the dark, the mysterious and mythilogical (think Tim Burton, i.e. my hero) and this really does it all for me. I am absolutely ecstatic about getting to see this on Saturday, and am hoping the visuals live up to my expectations. The rich, murky palette is a refreshing contrast to my previous read, As You Like It. Long twisted shadows, streaming moonlight, gritty textures, gnarled trees and dark uncertainty. . . What can I say. . . I'm twisted.

Visuals alone do not a production make, however (as I sit listening to Hans Zimmers brilliant soundtrack to Inception. . .let's not even talk about how brilliant that movie was). There are a miriad of references to noises and music in this play; for example:

(III.ii.135)
Caliban:
Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again

Someone explain to me why I never heard
about this??? It was out just last year!

 (I.ii.452)

 Ferdinand:

Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth?

It sounds no more: and sure, it waits upon

Some god o' the island. Sitting on a bank,

Weeping again the king my father's wreck,

This music crept by me upon the waters,

Allaying both their fury and my passion

With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it,

Or it hath drawn me rather. But 'tis gone.

No, it begins again.

This play is full of mention of music; "solemn and strange" music (as at the magical feast), "sweet airs" . . . not to mention, music follows Ariel - a mythological, spritely creature - wherever he goes. It was a device for leading Ferdinand to Miranda, as well as waking the men before Antonio and Sebastian had the chance to kill Alonso.

Music and enchantment are eternally intertwined and inseperable. As we discussed in class, Romance (more in the sense of fantasy and the supernatural) is often heavily associated with music (and vice versa) because of its irrational, whimsical qualities.

I also feel strongly because of my time as a sound technician for shows in high school. Sounds and music can really have a strong impact on the tone and atmosphere. So, I decided to choose some (royalty free) music that I would implement into the sound design for The Tempest if I were staging it.

Royalty Free Music by Kevin Macleod,  http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

Hamlet. . . some recurring themes

I suppose, since were already nearly done with Hamlet, that I'll just breifly touch on some of the major recurring themes I've noticed thus far, most of which were discussed in class last week.
The first is dreams. . . Hamlet brings dreams up a lot, comparing it to death; good dreams to heaven, rest, and piece, and nightmares to hell and damnation. The most prevalant example of this, of course, is in his famous "To be or not to be" speech.
 " To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to; 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause- there's the respect that makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time. . . .but that the dread of something after death. . .makes us rather bear those ills we have to than to fly to others that we know not of?"
This makes me think of the mindset he must have been in at this time, with his son passing away just prior to his writing this. . . clearly, death was a subject he put much thought into.

Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet  - You might recognize him as
Professor Lockhart from Harry Potter. He's one of my
favorite actors, and reminds me a lot of Brian Vaugn, an
actor who is in many productions each year at the Utah
Shakespearean Festival. . . maybe we'll get to see him
in the Winter's Tale!

The next is daggers entering the ear. . .obviously a reference to the particular way in which Hamlet Sr. was murdered. The most curious reference I think is when Hamlets mother brings it up as he's chastising her for being so hasty to marry his Uncle. . it almost makes me wonder if she had more to do with her father's death than is apparent (even if it was just encouraging him. . . something to ponder.)
Another is the idea of Fortune as a whore. I think this is just Hamlet showing more angst against his mother, who seems to have acted as Fortune because she seems to be making most of the decisions. . .and in his eyes, a whore for being so hasty to remarry. Harsh? Maybe. Understandable that he feels that way? Completely.
Finally, probably the most common theme discussed is whether or not Hamlet is acting most of the time, and when he is and isn't. . . honestly, I have a hard time coming up with an answer; I hang out with a lot of actors, and to be perfectly honest I can't even tell when THEY are being serious. . . so that still remains a mystery to me.