A.Z. Foreman | "Once More Unto the Breach" — Act 3, Chorus & Scene 1 from Henry V in Early Modern Pronunciation @a.z.foreman74 | Uploaded 1 year ago | Updated 2 hours ago
This here is yet another passage by Shakespeare in the so-called "original pronunciation" i.e. a reconstruction of how London English (or rather a couple varieties thereof) was pronounced in the early 1600s, from your friendly neighborhood historical linguist and poetry nerd. This time it's the prologue and first scene from Act 3 of Henry V.
If you're here for the "Once More Unto the Breach" speech, just skip to 2:13
This video's previous iterations got ding'd for copyright twice over music, so I redid it with different music. Ultimately I ended up redoing all the vocal parts.
I voiced the narrator/chorus with a slightly more innovative accent, such as I imagine was more typical of younger cultivated people around 1600, with raised mid vowels and lack of /x/ after front vowels. I voiced the King with lower more conservative mid vowels, and preservation of /x/ in all places where it should be etymologically, both after front vowels (as in "height") and back vowels (as in "fought") except in weak function words like "through".
Also, I decided my middle initial in Early Modern English would be pronounced "Izzard".
Also the king gets interrupted during his speech. I was reading about late medieval battle tactics a while ago and found myself pondering the use of sally ports by besieged defenders to launch small raids on attackers. Given how close to the kill-zone the king and his party must be for the stage directions to make sense and for the king himself to be readying to personally participate in assault on a breach in the walls, it seemed in character for Shakespeare's rash version of Henry V to leave himself open to a desperate attack by a sally party's surviving member who managed to get through the line. It also seemed in character for him to handle it by taking a moment and moving on.
Anywho, if you like this video and want to help me make more things like it, wherein I read texts in dead accents, consider making a pledge at my patreon.
http://patreon.com/azforeman
There you can get access to all kinds of subscriber-only stuff like my weekly readings of Shakespeare's sonnets and the King James Bible in various 17th century accents, and you'll get advance access to my public recordings as well.
Got questions? (Like "Why does this not sound like Crystal's OP!?") Check my FAQ
patreon.com/posts/faq-64053058
This here is yet another passage by Shakespeare in the so-called "original pronunciation" i.e. a reconstruction of how London English (or rather a couple varieties thereof) was pronounced in the early 1600s, from your friendly neighborhood historical linguist and poetry nerd. This time it's the prologue and first scene from Act 3 of Henry V.
If you're here for the "Once More Unto the Breach" speech, just skip to 2:13
This video's previous iterations got ding'd for copyright twice over music, so I redid it with different music. Ultimately I ended up redoing all the vocal parts.
I voiced the narrator/chorus with a slightly more innovative accent, such as I imagine was more typical of younger cultivated people around 1600, with raised mid vowels and lack of /x/ after front vowels. I voiced the King with lower more conservative mid vowels, and preservation of /x/ in all places where it should be etymologically, both after front vowels (as in "height") and back vowels (as in "fought") except in weak function words like "through".
Also, I decided my middle initial in Early Modern English would be pronounced "Izzard".
Also the king gets interrupted during his speech. I was reading about late medieval battle tactics a while ago and found myself pondering the use of sally ports by besieged defenders to launch small raids on attackers. Given how close to the kill-zone the king and his party must be for the stage directions to make sense and for the king himself to be readying to personally participate in assault on a breach in the walls, it seemed in character for Shakespeare's rash version of Henry V to leave himself open to a desperate attack by a sally party's surviving member who managed to get through the line. It also seemed in character for him to handle it by taking a moment and moving on.
Anywho, if you like this video and want to help me make more things like it, wherein I read texts in dead accents, consider making a pledge at my patreon.
http://patreon.com/azforeman
There you can get access to all kinds of subscriber-only stuff like my weekly readings of Shakespeare's sonnets and the King James Bible in various 17th century accents, and you'll get advance access to my public recordings as well.
Got questions? (Like "Why does this not sound like Crystal's OP!?") Check my FAQ
patreon.com/posts/faq-64053058
