New Shakespeare Songbook
"If music be the food of love, play on"... Shakespeare does Eurovision as artists from across Europe re-imagine his plays and poetry.
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Shakespeare meets Eurovision!
Hamlet the Bucks Fizz fan? Take a look at our Bard-themed Eurovision tribute.

"If music be the food of love, play on."
- William Shakespeare: Twelfth Night, Act 1 scene 1.
...a source of inspiration for composers, lyricists and performers for four centuries
Shakespeare is a great songwriter; songs permeate the tragedies, comedies and histories and have provided a source of inspiration for composers, lyricists and performers for four centuries. On the 400 anniversary of his death, the BBC and Austrian broadcaster ORF - with the support of the European Broadcasting Union - have decided to commission a New Shakespeare Songbook, offering today’s composers and musicians across Europe, the chance to respond afresh to these timeless texts.
But this isn’t just music to be heard, it’s meant to be seen as well. Composers and performers worked with film-makers and directors to produce new songs which were also conceived as films. The teams were free to use any Shakespeare text from his plays and sonnets and to set them in English, or in their native tongue. There was no restriction in terms of musical genre. The British songs were co-commissioned by BBC Shakespeare Lives and BBC Radio 3.
We hope you enjoy the imaginative, diverse and poetic results – welcome to the New Shakespeare Songbook!
Peter Maniura, BBC Shakespeare Lives




The New Shakespeare Songbook Collection
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Austria
Gustav performs Liebe, Ach! (O, love) - Shakespeare's Sonnet 23
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France - Sonnet 91 & 94
Omxo Puccino performs Shakespeare's Sonnets 91 & 94
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Norway
Ane Brun performs Shakespeare's Sonnet 138
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Slovenia
Trio Rêverie perform Ne, ona nima žametnih oči (My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun) - Shakespeare's Sonnet 130
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Switzerland
Anahì Traversi performs Povera Anima (Poor Soul) - Shakespeare's Sonnet 146
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United Kingdom
Rahel Debebe-Dessalegne performs Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow from Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5)
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United Kingdom
Mezzo-Soprano Kathryn Rudge performs Roxanna Panufnik's setting of Love Sought - from Twelfth Night
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New Shakespeare Songbook
Austrian performer Gustav sings Liebe, Ach! (O, Love) - Sonnet 123
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New Shakespeare Songbook - Norway
Norwegian performer Ane Brun sings Sonnet 138
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New Shakespeare Songbook - United Kingdom
Roxanna's Panufnik's new setting of Love Sought, from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
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New Shakespeare Songbook: France's Sonnets 91 and 94
Oxmo Puccino performs Sonnets 91 & 94
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New Shakespeare Songbook: Slovenia
Trio Rêverie perform Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130
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New Shakespeare Songbook: Switzerland
Anahi Traversi performs Sonnet 146
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New Shakespeare Songbook: United Kingdom
Rahel performs Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow from Macbeth