(b Stratford-on-Avon, bap. 26 April 1564; d London, 23 April 1616). English playwright. Music had an important part in his plays: c 100 songs and many instrumental cues, ranging from sophisticated character-songs to functional battle-calls, are fully integrated into the dramas. Most of the original tunes are lost, but they included well-known ballads and popular instrumental music as well as art songs. His verses have inspired countless composers, notably of songs (Arne, Where the bee sucks; Schubert, Who is Sylvia?). Among many others who have written incidental or dramatic orchestral music are Mendelssohn (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Berlioz (Romeo and Juliet, King Lear), Liszt (Hamlet), Tchaikovsky (Romeo and Juliet), Elgar (Falstaff), Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet, ballet) and Walton (Henry V, film). Operas and other dramatic works composed to librettos based on the plays include Purcell The Fairy Queen (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Berlioz Béatrice et Bénédict (Much Ado), Grounod Roméo et Juliette Verdi Macbeth, Otello and Falstaff, Wagner Das Liebesverbot (Measure for Measure) and Britten A Midsummer Night's Dream.
