[_Exit_ Bianca].
And for I know, she taketh most delight
In _music_, _instruments_, and _poetry_,
Schoolmasters will I keep within my house,
Fit to instruct her youth.--If you, Hortensio,
Or Signior Gremio, you, know any such,
Refer them hither; for _to cunning men
I will be very kind_, and liberal
To mine own children in _good bringing up_.
We find further on, in the same play, that to bring one's lady-love a
music master was thought a handsome compliment.
_Shrew_ I, ii, 170.
_Hortensio._ 'Tis well: and I have met a gentleman,
Hath promis'd me to help me to another,
_A fine musician to instruct our mistress_.
Moreover, in _Pericles_ IV, vi, 185, we find that Marina, daughter of
Prince Pericles, can '_sing_, weave, sew, and _dance_.' Also see V, i,
78, where Marina actually does sing, to rouse her father from his
melancholy.
III
SONGS AND SINGING
It is impossible here to give even an outline of the history of Songs
and Singing in England. The general statement must suffice that vocal
music, accompanied by viols and harps, with songs and catches, were
common in the year 1230 in France; and any reader of Chaucer and Gower
may see for himself that vocal music was flourishing in the 14th
century in England. The English Round or Catch, mentioned above,
'Sumer is icumen in,' is most probably of the 13th century, and that
alone would be sufficient to characterise the popular vocal music of
that day.
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