Listen to Florence Welch pay homage to Shakespeare in song
Well, this is genius: a tribute album has been made to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, featuring a starry-cast of men and women singing the Elizabethan playwright’s Sonnets.
Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets is an album by Rufus Wainwright.
The 16 track record includes collaborations with Helena Bonham Carter, Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, Martha Wainwright and Florence Welch. All the celebrities involved have leant their vocals to new musical arrangements of the Bard’s poems and it's bound to be beautiful (listen to the preview below).
When you think about it, it’s a perfect fit: Shakespeare’s inspired and lyrical words, set to music, and performed by some of the entertainment industry’s most celebrated talents.
Get ready to appreciate Shakespeare's brilliance in a whole new way.
Speaking about the project to Billboard, Rufus Wainwright said:
"I guess a fair number of people know the sonnets, but the plays are the centerpiece of Shakespeare's legend," Wainwright explained, "but I've found in working with the sonnets they even transcend the plays, though to even fathom that is inconceivable since the plays are so amazing. But once you start to get into the sonnets it takes on this timeless, ageless, almost futuristic quality. So much of the language and so much of the sentiment is contemporary -- gender and sexuality and love and hate are just so plainly exhibited that it's really searing."
Listen to an extract of Florence Welch singing Sonnet 29 - When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes
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