Shakespeare 400 (R&J)

 

There’s the music at the end of Act 2, in Romeo's ..

 

… then sweeten with thy breath

This neighbor air, and let rich music’s tongue

Unfold the imagined happiness that both

Receive in either by this dear encounter.

 

But then Act 3 ends with the Capulet’s servant, Peter, brawling with the wedding musicians because they won’t play. What a scene! The whole Capulet household has been shrieking their horror at discovering Juliet apparently dead. The musicians are too polite to ask to be paid and just try to quietly exit. But no, somebody decides the disaster entitles them to a distraction.