Mark R. Bannister
Orchestral & Instrumental Composer
for Film, TV & Theatre

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
"Silence is the perfectest herald of joy."

Playing Claudio in this Open Air production as well as designing and setting the lighting rig is more than enough for one man. Composing music as well was quite a challenge. Strangely, it is the music I remember with the most affection.

I approached this play in a way I hadn't before, assigning specific instruments to key characters and composing them each a theme. Beatrice's theme is played by the harp, heard clearly in the opening music. Hero's theme on flute and Claudio's theme on English horn culminated in a duet that became their wedding procession.

The soaring melody I composed for Shakespeare's lightly touching lyrics to Sigh No More was played live each night on guitar. Dogberry was also given a band, happily demonstrating why a fool should never be allowed to possess a musical instrument, although space has not allowed me to demonstrate just how poorly they played!

Much Ado About Nothing (MP3 - 3 mins 33 secs - 2.05 Mb)

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