Which of Shakespeare's plays begins with the words `If music be the food of love, play on`?
Words and Music (play) as a specific character. His shuffling feet, choice of themes, self-torturing reminiscence and intense reactions to much of what Words and Music produce/perform all seem to indicate that he is a decrepit version of Orsino with his famous opening line from Twelfth Night: "If music be the food of love, play on," a hopeless romantic, in love with love, and the melancholy brought on by the mere thought of it. Croak could almost be the selfsame man, had he never moved from that spot for the rest of his life and now finds himself perhaps approaching the brink of death.
Music in the plays of William Shakespeare Music in the plays of William Shakespeare Music in the plays of William Shakespeare includes both music incidental to the plot, as song and dance, and also additional supplied both by Shakespeare's own company and subsequent performers. This music is distinct from musical settings of Shakespeare's sonnets by later composers. The following are among the most notable examples of songs in Shakespeare's plays: Among the dances associated with Shakespeare's company is "Kemp's Jig" named after the actor Will Kemp. The generations after Shakespeare saw many composers create or arrange music for his plays. Among the most notable were Thomas Morley,