The lavish use Shakespeare makes of musical allusion has often been the subject of comment Several well-known books exist which explain his references to music. They are antiquarian treatises of high value, describing to their readers the lute, the viol, and the recorder, giving the sources of the songs that are sung, and expounding the character of the dances. Technical expressions are explained, musical stage-directions enumerated, and the place of music on the Elizabethan stage set out.