Music Piece

In this musical piece, the poem is arranged to suggest a narrative as the poet expresses his sorrow of his lover. He relates to his neighbor who feels melancholy and wonders why they have to go through such pain. This musical piece is played in a minor key because it goes along with the sad mood of the text.

The singer is a male and sings in baritone to express the deep pain he feels. The poem is strophic, but the song is in a modified strophic form with an overall form of ABA'. The A section begins when the voice sings the first stanza of the poem and sets the scene. Section B begins at the second stanza and describes his reaction of sympathy to his neighbor. The A' scheme begins in the third stanza and is a variation of scheme A, but portrays the mood of despair.

The piano is played with a 2/4 meter. This meter was used because it created a slow, but not too slow beat which allowed the singer to stretch out some words and express sorrow throughout the piece. The tempo is also slow for this piece because a slow song helps bring out the feeling of sorrow better than a fast tempo.

The opening of the song starts with only the piano and the voice weaves with the piano to make one unbroken melody. In this song, the piano is equal to the voice. This was used to emphasize the gloomy mood the text portrays.

There are appoggiaturas and suspensions in the music to reveal the bittersweet remembrance of the lover. Some suspensions in the piano are left unresolved when the voice sings "I shudder when his face I see" and "Why do you ape the love-sorrows" because it added tension as the vocal line builds to its climax. The song does not entirely close and leaves the listener hanging. This was used because the text asked a question "So many nights in times gone by?" and since the voice and piano are equal, the piano creates a feeling of wonderment.