Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

words by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564 - 1616)

music by RASMUS KRIGSTRÖM (1986 - )

Forces | SATB divisi

Duration | 4’

Difficulty | Medium-Difficult

An uplifting setting that uses the full harmonic palate to express a timeless text. More advanced choirs will relish the challenge of making every chord ring, while at the same time giving direction and flow to the phrases.

About the piece

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? was the first piece I did for my male choir Zero8, back in the early spring of 2017. The text is obviously very famous, but I didn't know of a male choir version so I thought why not compose something over these legendary words. Knowing my own choir, a bit too well perhaps, I wanted to test their limits when it comes to vocal range and tonal complexity but without making the song sound too harsh or incomprehensible. This resulted in a freely modulating tune, with a clear melody in the top voice, and a spectacular range.

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