VCCS Litonline

Here is an answer to the question on the page that asks users of this site to--

Pick Music for this Module

contributed by Chrissie Schaeffer, August, 2004

Which of these five musical selections comes closest to matching your image of a theme for Sonnet 116? Why?

This question posed a very interesting and difficult decision for me.  After listening to all of the five musical selections, I was torn between two of the five.  The Mozart and the Chopin.  At fist listening, the Chopin style probably is the best fit for the time period and setting for Sonnet 116.  The music is a single instrument, a piano, which was common instrument in homes of Shakespeare’s time and a common use of entertainment.  Most young children of stature were able to play the piano.  The Chopin piece also has a consistent and constant meter throughout.  This beat easily and unknowingly assists the reader into the proper reading and flow of the sonnet.  However,  I prefer the Mozart selection to the Chopin. Like the Chopin piece, the Mozart selection also has a consistent and constant beat to assist the reader.  However, the Mozart selection builds in crescendo towards the end of the sonnet.  This helps the reader with closing the poem.  As the module suggests, a sonnet is 14 lines divided into an 8-line problem statement that is resolved in the last 6 lines.  Halfway through the sonnet, there is a shift in tone. Although Shakespeare adapted to this form and included two more rhymes at the end of his lines, there is still a shift in tone halfway through Sonnet 116.  The crescendo in the Mozart piece pairs nicely with this definition of a sonnet.

The URL for this page is: http://vccslitonline.vccs.edu/sonnet116/pickSchaeffer.htm