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The Tragedy of Lear

from On the Street Again by Marc Nerenberg

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I originally wrote this around 15 years ago, to be played before a short run of performances of Shakespeare's King Lear, specifically to be used as a sort of musical prologue (and thumb-nail plot synopsis) to precede the play. I've subsequently also used it as accompaniment to a puppet show that opened a play that I wrote entitled "Lear In Limbo”. It is played here on a 1910 Fairbanks banjo with Nylgut strings, that is tuned in the range that banjos were often tuned in the 19th century prior to the introduction of metal strings, about a tone and a half lower than modern tuning. On opening night of the King Lear play, I was supposed to leave the stage when the lights went down after I had finished the song, and before the curtain went up. I had not realized that the theatre would be in total blackout at that moment, and found myself on my hand and knees, carrying my banjo in one hand, crawling to the staircase at the end of the stage, feeling my way with my free hand, because I could not see the edge of the stage, and was afraid of falling off and breaking my banjo! The lighting was adjusted for subsequent performances!

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from On the Street Again, released December 8, 2020

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Marc Nerenberg Montreal, Québec

Marc Nerenberg is a veteran Montreal folksinger who plays old time banjo styles and blues harmonica. He has a narrative- centric repertoire, recounting stories in song and wrapping stories around songs. You may “be drawn in by a combination of Marc’s mastery of traditional banjo styles, his idiosyncratic singing, and [his] richly detailed ballads.” (Mike Regenstreif – Folk Roots/Folk Branches 2019) ... more

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