Art Song – The Marriage of Poetry and Music
Poets express their thoughts and emotions through words. When words are not sufficient enough to convey the poets’ minds, music comes in. “Where words leave off, music begins” (Heinrich Heine). When a composer is touched by a poem and adds musical notes and melody to the words, he creates an art song. Art song is not the mere combination of poetry and music, more importantly, it’s the deep understanding and connection of two minds and two souls. The marriage of this mind-and-soul yields the fruit of an art song. An art song is sung by a singer with the collaboration of a pianist, presenting to the world of this art form the highest aesthetic beauty.
As a musical genre, art song is recognized with five languages:
- German (Lieder)
- French (Mélodie)
- Italian (Canzone)
- English (Art Song)
- Russian (Romance)