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sai-natiOnal.ORg WintER 2014 PAN PIPES 17 putting shaKespeare to musiC contributions to the understanding of certain major 19 th –century writers like Browning, Longfellow, Victor Hugo, George Elliot, ackeray, Jane Austen, Tennyson, and well as earlier writers like Dante, Chaucer and, of course, Shakespeare. 7 Every literary writer or poet, Simpson maintained, was a metaphysician whether they knew it or not, and his book on Shakespeare's sonnets detailed Shakespeare's own philosophical design behind the sonnets sequence. As a significant Shakespearean scholar, Simpson was one of the early members of the New Shakespeare Society that had its first meeting on March 13, 1874 at the University College in London. He was on the core committee and gave a number of important lectures and papers on Shakespeare. His participation in this significant literary society lasted only two years, however, when he suddenly died of cancer. It is, however, perplexing to note that a few years aer Simpson's death, the New Shakespeare Society had two significant musical events where they performed musical settings of Shakespeare's songs, one on May 11, 1883 and one on May 9, 1884, but no Simpson songs were included, even though in 1884 the Society published a book entitled A list of all the songs and passages in Shakspere which have been set to music listing Simpson as a composer who "had set all the Sonnets to music…and Mrs. G. A. Macfarren (had) chose(n) a thin folio volume for publication." 8 Aer Simpson's death in 1876, his wife, Elizabeth Mary asked Mrs. Macfarren, "wife of the eminent Professor and Principal of the Royal Academy of Music" to select some songs that Richard Simpson had composed for the purpose of publishing them in a book to be enjoyed by friends and family. She selected twenty-five songs, thirteen of which were from his settings of Shakespeare's Sonnets. On the "Notice" page at the beginning of the volume, the purpose of the posthumous publication is detailed: By a wide circle of friends, many of whom occupy such a position in the world of Letters as to be eminently qualified judges, the late Mr. Richard Simpson was well- known and appreciated as a man of high literary attainments and general culture, as an acute critic, and a vigorous writer. But only his intimate friends-and they were not a few-knew how far his study and research had extended, in many directions, beyond the field of pure literature, that his range included all that is commonly understood by the term, Art. In the investigation of musical theory, and its practical application, he took much delight. His taste directed him to the Great Masters, and in critical analysis of their works he so exercised himself as to acquire a thorough knowledge of their methods and peculiarities of treatment. e artistic organization, as a rule, implies the desire to create, and Mr. Simpson was no exception. He wrote with facility, and his numerous compositions, for the most part, were developed in the form of songs. It was natural enough for the author of e Philosophy of Shakespeare's Sonnets, to find especial satisfaction in translating them into the language of music, in which he could express his ideas with so much ease, and latterly he confined himself mainly to the setting and re-setting of the whole of the Sonnets; for he was not easily satisfied with his own work and did not spare himself the task of revision. In publishing the present selection from his composition, Mrs. Simpson adopts the counsel of many of his attached friends, and trusts to do honor to his memory. Popularity he never sought, but it is believed that the verdict of cultivated musicians will justify her decision. 9 is extended quote provides the basis for comments about the thirteen settings of Shakespeare's sonnets that appear in this published volume as well as in the musical manuscripts from the British Library. It is obvious that "in the investigation of musical theory, and its practical application (Simpson) took much delight." He must have had considerable training either in his schooling or in his private education on his own in music theory, because his knowledge of tonal harmony, tonal organization, and chord progressions down to even the most subtle details was quite amazing in his compositional writing. He must have also been familiar with composers such as Mendelssohn and Schubert in the construction of small song forms. He appears to have quite a sophisticated and intricate intellectual understanding of musical theory. Simpson had a "desire to create," "wrote with facility," and "could express his ideas with so much ease." He had a vivid musical imagination. He also had a sophisticated understanding of tonal key relationships, creating a myriad of contrasts and Simpson's rate of composition based on Shakespeare's sonnets. SIMPSON continued on page 18

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