David Hamilton

Three songs from Othello

During 1983 Epsom Girls Grammar School and Auckland Grammar School undertook a co-production of Shakespeare's 'Othello', for which I was asked to compose incidental music. The producer gave me a free hand with my approach to the score, and the 12 musicians played about half an hour's music during the play. One aspect of 'Othello' that appealed was the fact that three songs had to be set to music - the 2 drinking songs in Act 2, and the well-known 'Willow Song' in Act 4. I knew from the time I had been asked to compose the music that I didn't want to write 'pseudo-Elizabethan' music. Hence, the first drinking song is a 'blues' number, and the second a lively setting containing constant time signature changes. In this arrangement for SSATB voices I have used the drinking songs to frame the 'Willow Song' - a gentle and reflective setting featuring the melody mainly in the alto part.