Take, O Take Those Lips Away by Amy Beach
Kochavia G.
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Like many art songs, this piece is about love and heartbreak; however, the poem (originally by Shakespeare) lacks explicit explanation, leaving the piece open to the listener's interpretation. Why was this person left in such a heartbreaking situation? What happened? When I perform it, I try to overplay the emotion, especially since it is in English and the audience can likely understand it. I try to imagine what it is like to love someone and think they love you back, yet to find out that all their promises were false and you were misled. This is the most significant part of my artistic process, and in my opinion, the most important part of any art song performance. What makes songs unique from all other music is their ability to convey a specific message and character. Without emotion behind a performance, I think that songs are not songs, but noise.
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Creativity to me means being able to express yourself and your ideas through artistry, such as making your own interpretation of a song and preforming it that way, or by adding other elements of yourself to your art.
