Page:Shakespeare and Music.djvu/35

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SHAKESPEARE PASSAGES


I


TECHNICAL TERMS AND INSTRUMENTS


We now proceed to consider some representative passages of Shakespeare which deal with music. These may be taken roughly in six divisions—viz. (1) Technical Terms and Instruments, (2) Musical Education, (3) Songs and Singing, (4) Serenades and other domestic 'Music,' (5) Dances and Dancing, (6) Miscellaneous, including Shakespeare's account of the more spiritual side of music.

To begin on the first division. There are many most interesting passages which bristle with technical words; and these are liable to be understood by the reader in a merely general way, with the result that the point is wholly or partly missed. With a reasonable amount of explanation, and a general caution to the student not to pass over words or phrases that

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