A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the first of my ‘Three Shakespeare Songs’, and this week I thought I would introduce the last one. Like the first, Full Fathom Five, and the second, Hark, Hark, the Lark, this is for soprano, alto, and optional baritone, with piano accompaniment.
The text of You Spotted Snakes is from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and is sung by a group of fairies to their queen, Titania, to protect her from danger.
It contrasts two ideas. The first is a list of poisonous or scary creatures and a command to them to keep away:
You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen.
And the second idea is a simple lullaby:
Philomel, with melody,
Sing in our sweet lullaby (etc.)
Then the first mood returns, referring now to spiders, beetles, worms and snails, followed by a repetition of the lullaby.
In my setting I used different material and textures to contrast the two different moods, and between each the piano introduces a slightly unsettling pattern based on falling fourths, bringing a feeling of unease and mystery to the whole.
You can hear a synthesised version of the song here, the three songs are published in the Oxford Book of Flexible Choral Songs, and you can visit this page to see details of all three songs.