I’m Melody Yang and in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I will be exploring some of the most famous love stories adapted into classical music.
Oh, February. The last month of winter, the shortest month of the year, and most famously, the month of love. Valentine’s Day is one of the more prominent holidays, along with Thanksgiving or Halloween, and it has made its place with a reputation built from chocolates and fluorescent pink stuffed bears.
Let’s distract ourselves from our impending awareness of our single status by reflecting on some of the most famous love stories adapted into classical music.
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous pieces of romantic music. A story that starts with two households, both alike in dignity, whose feud ends in the tragic deaths of the young lovers Romeo and Juliet. Now, we can argue about Shakespeare’s satirical intentions or the empty-headed impulsivity of our two leads, but this is not a literature class.
Tchaikovsky’s Overture perfectly adapts the play, splitting the five acts into three sections of Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation: in other words, the sonata form. Various manipulation of musical techniques, such as minor chords to display the dissent between the Montagues and Capulets as well as pure, melodic flutes to represent Juliet, clearly translate prominent themes of love, unease, and tragedy into a lively and soul-touching orchestral adaptation.
Tchaikovsky’s other works, such as the Swan Lake and the Nutcracker ballets, are also examples of romance adapted into music for the world to enjoy. Yet unfortunately these pieces are more focused on performance art, so we will not be diving too deep into them.
A slightly less mainstream, but just as popular, piece depicting romance is the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao. For those who are unfamiliar, the Butterfly Lovers follow similar themes to Romeo and Juliet: star-crossed lovers Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, separated by society and familial circumstance, who ultimately die together in an act of union through their love. The titular scene comes from the ending, where two butterflies representing our protagonists fly together out of their shared tomb.
The Butterfly Lovers Concerto takes melodies from the Chinese Opera with the same name, spinning the threads of chamber music with traditional Chinese tones. Similarly to the Romeo and Juliet overture, characters are musically represented with specific instruments: Zhu Yingtai by the violin solo, and Liang Shanbo with the cello accompaniment. These techniques instill a stronger sense of narrative presence, unfolding the events of romance as clearly as if it were from a book.
I encourage everyone to listen to every piece mentioned. Sink into the crooning of the cello with the twittering of the flutes, and indulge in the beautiful imagery of love.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_Lovers%27_Violin_Concerto
Chamber Music International Youth Ambassadors 