Music to hear, why hear'st thou music...

Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?
Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy.
Why lovest thou that which thou receivest not gladly,
Or else receivest with pleasure thine annoy?
If the true concord of well-tunèd sounds,
By unions married, do offend thine ear,
They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds
In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.
Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering,
Resembling sire and child and happy mother,
Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing.
  Whose speechless song, being many, seeming one,
  Sings this to thee: "Thou single wilt prove none."

Input by Jeroen Scholten

Authorship

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Sonnets, no. 8

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Gary Bachlund , "Sonnet VIII - "Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?"", 2002 [high voice or medium voice and piano], from Five Sonnets, no. 1.
by Andrew Buchman , "Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?", 1982.
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) , "Sonnet VIII - Music to hear", op. 125 (Shakespeare Sonnets), Heft 1 no. 1 (1944-5). [voice and piano]
by Stephen Chatman (1950-) , no title, 1986 [narrator, satb chorus, English horn, harp, and piano], from Love and Shapes High Fantastical, no. ?, suite
by Paul Dessau (1894-1979) , "Sonett 8"
by Miriam Gideon (1906-1996) , "Sonnet VIII: Music to Hear", 1950, published 1959, first performed 1951 [high voice, trumpet, string quartet or string orchestra], from Sonnets from Shakespeare, no. 1.
by Karel Goeyvaerts , no title, 1948. [alto, violin, piano]
by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen , "Song (Sonnet)", 1971 [soprano and guitar], note: also set in Danish
by Edward James Harper (1941-) , no title, 1964 [partsong for SSAATB chorus], from Three Shakespeare Sonnets, no. 3.
by Oscar van Hemel (1892-1981) , "Music to hear", 1961 [satb chorus a cappella], from Four Shakespeare Sonnets, no. ?
by Gary Michael Higginson (1952-) , "Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly", op. 75 (1984).
by Knud Högenhaven , no title, op. 15 no. 1 (1954), published 1971 [soprano and piano], from Fire Engelske Sonetter til Tekster af Keats og Shakespeare, no. 3.
by Bo Holten (1948-) , "Pavane-Fantasia", 1974, published 1976. [madrigal for SSATB solo voices and SSATBB chorus a cappella]
by Brian C. Jarrett (1925-) , "Music to hear", 1953. [partsong for chorus and piano]
by Björn Johansson , no title, 1970-3 [tenor and chamber orchestra], from ...notes of Music, no. ?
by Jouni Kaipainen (1956-) , "Sonnet VIII", 1979. [partsong for SSATBarB chorus a cappella]
by Laura Kaminsky (1956-) , no title, 1982 [mezzo-soprano, flute, percussion], from Sonnet Lines, no. ?
by Piet Ketting (1904-1984) , "Music to hear", 1938 [medium-low voice and piano], from Three Sonnets of Shakespeare, no. 3.
by Torben Kjaer , "Sonnet no. 8", 1984. [mezzo-soprano, baritone soli, satb chorus, and orchestra]
by Norman Eugene Lowrey , "Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly", 1964. [soprano and orchestra]
by Jason McAuliffe , "Music to hear" [high voice and piano or guitar]
by Paul Nahay , "Sonnet", 1979, published 1981. [satb chorus and 4 flutes]
by Erik Norby (1936-2007) , "Music to hear", 1976. [mezzo-soprano and piano]
by Malcolm Cameron Peyton (1932-) , "Music to hear", 1959, published 1982 [mezzo-soprano, 2 clarinets, violin, viola, violoncello], from Four Songs from Shakespeare, no. ?
by Solomon Pimsleur (1900-1962) , "Music to hear", op. 100 no. ? (1958-9) [alto and orchestra], from Shakespearean sonnet cycle, no. ?
by Paul Amadeus Pisk (1893-) , "VIII", op. 103 no. ? (1964) [satb chorus and piano], from Two Sonnets -- Shakespeare, no. ?
by Wilhelm (Willem) Rettich (1892-1988) , "Music to hear", op. 133 no. ? (1978) [satb chorus a cappella], from Three Sonnets by Shakespeare, no. ?
by Johannes Röntgen (1898-1969) , "Music to hear", 1960 [soprano and flute], note: also set in Dutch
by George Shearing , "Music to hear", c1986 [chorus], from Music to Hear
by Michael Short (1937-) , "Music to hear", 1963-6, first performed 1970. [madrigal: satb chorus a cappella]
by Richard Simpson (1820-1876) , "Sonnet VIII", 1861-5. [SAB chorus and piano]
by Ragnvald Strand , "Music to hear", c1970. [soprano and piano]
by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) , no title, 1953, from Three Songs from William Shakespeare, no. 1.
by Leif Thybo (1922-) , "Sonnet VIII", 1975 [soprano, flute, violoncello, and piano], from Two Shakespeare Sonnets, no. ?
by Harri Vuori (1957-) , "Sonnet 8", 1999, published 1999 [tenor and viola da gamba], from From Day to Dream / Päivästä uneen päin, neljä W. Shakespearen tummaa sonettia, no. 2.
by Paul William Whear (1925-) , "Sonnet #8", 1973, first performed 1973 [baritone and chamber orchestra], from From Shakespeare, no. ?
by Jeffery J. Wilson , "Music to hear", 1978, first performed 1978 [high voice and piano], from Three English Songs, no. ?
by David Winkler , "Sonnet VIII", 198 [SATB quartet and piano], from Cycle for Several Voices and Piano, no. 8.

by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904-1987) , "Ty - muzyka", op. 52 no. 7 (1953-5), from Desjat' sonetov Shekspira, no. 7.

by Nicolae Coman , "Sonetul Nr. 8", 1985. [voice and piano]

by Johannes Röntgen (1898-1969) , no title, 1960 [soprano and flute], note: also set in English

by Viktor Vaszy , "Ki, zene vagy", published 1973 [madrigal for SMsA chorus a cappella], from Madrigálok, no. ?

by Elliot Weisgarber (1919-2001) , "Sonnet II", 1971 [soprano, flute, oboe, harpsichord, violin, viola, and violoncello], from Of Love and Time (Ren-ai To Toki Ni Tsuite), no. 2.

ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Tu, musica all'orecchio, perché triste la musica ascolti?", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title, from Oeuvres Complètes de Shakspeare Volume VIII, in Sonnets, no. 8, published 1863
FIN Finnish (Erkki Pullinen) , title unknown, copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, from Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 8, published 1857

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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Ты ‑ музыка

Ты - музыка, но звукам музыкальным
Ты внемлешь с непонятною тоской. 
Зачем же любишь то, что так печально,
Встречаешь муку радостью такой? 
Где тайная причина этой муки? 
Не потому ли грустью ты объят,
Что стройно согласованные звуки
Упреком одиночеству звучат? 
Прислушайся, как дружественно струны
Вступают в строй и голос подают, -
Как будто мать, отец и отрок юный
В счастливом единении поют. 
Нам говорит согласье струн в концерте,
Что одинокий путь подобен смерти.

Транслитерация (Show transliteration)

by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887-1964) , "Sonet VIII"

a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from Sonnets, no. 8 HUN ITA FRE FIN DUT JPN ROM

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904-1987) , "Ty - muzyka", op. 52 no. 7 (1953-5), from Desjat' sonetov Shekspira, no. 7.

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.