This collection gathers musical settings of brief lyric fragments referenced in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Drawing from songs embedded in the play’s comic and theatrical world, the set combines Baxter’s lyrical modern traditionalist voice with historical echoes from Shakespeare’s stage.

Genre / Category: Vocal Music, Theater / Shakespeare, Art Song
Style / Era: 21st Century / Contemporary Classical / Modern Traditionalist
Text / Source: Fragmented lyrics referenced in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
Instrumentation: Voice and piano, unless otherwise specified

Songs / Text Sources

Hold Thy Peace
Anonymous
Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III, line 67

Three Merry Men Be We
Garth Baxter
Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III, line 76

There Dwelt a Man in Babylon
Garth Baxter
Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III, line 78

O’ the Twelfth Day of December
Garth Baxter
Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III, line 85

Farewell, Dear Heart
Robert Jones, c. 1600
Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III, line 103

Hey Robin, Jolly Robin
Garth Baxter
Twelfth Night, Act IV, Scene II, line 75

In Music Set to Fragmented Lyrics Referenced in Twelfth Night, Garth Baxter responds to the scattered song fragments that appear throughout Shakespeare’s comedy. Some of the musical material draws on historical or anonymous sources, while other settings are newly composed, allowing Baxter to place his own lyrical and tonally grounded language in conversation with the play’s theatrical wit and musical atmosphere.

The resulting set is well suited for performers interested in Shakespearean repertoire, art song, and contemporary tonal music with a clear dramatic connection. Each song offers a compact musical reflection on a moment of text, character, or stage action within Twelfth Night.