Sonnet—Silence

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Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite authors of all time. As an avid creator and consumer of both music and writing, I decided to put one of his iconic poems to music.   

“Sonnet—Silence” is one of Poe’s works that isn’t as popular as poems like “The Raven” or “Annabel Lee”, but it is one that holds a lot of emotion and intense themes. Having written a prose tale called “Silence—a Fable” as well, it is clear that the subject of silence was something heavy on Poe’s mind.  The poem “Sonnet—Silence” portrays two sides to silence: how it can bring people both joy and sorrow. Silence can be great as it can drive the creative mind and help people concentrate, but it can also be a breeding ground for dark thoughts to grow, with no noise to drown the thoughts out. Silence, as Poe writes in the poem, is two-fold.   

These emotions are something that I wanted to portray in this piece not just through Poe’s words, but through the music itself. The minor chords of the piano play with the smooth tones of the soprano singer in this eerie and contemplative work. Something that was really important to me in this piece was to highlight silence itself as part of the music in moments of rest. The silence is just as important to the song as the music that you hear.  

I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I did writing it.