If Music Be the Food of Love
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other other name would smell as sweet.” – JulietRomeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
So surreal, yet so satisfying. To be adored for one’s true inner nature, rather than one’s physical beauty. Does this noble spirit of love translate to the heart and soul of some of the brightest musicians/singers of our time?
While one could not possibly propose an answer to this question without a thorough analysis of their personal styles and musicianship, let’s take a more light-hearted approach and have a little fun. Why don’t we start with something more tangible, say, the primary instruments that they are passionate about? What better instrument is there than the pianoforte?
Indeed, the piano sees everything. Take the piano king and queen of rock — Matt Bellamy and Tori Amos — as examples. At first glance, their musicalities seem as different as night and day. Matt obviously bases the structure of his compositions on the rudiments of the classical tradition, drawing on the sound bites from Chopin, Rachmaninoff and the like of the Romantic Period, fore example Exogenesis Symphony Part 2.
Tori, in contrast, has a more spontaneous and sentimental touch to her songs to the extent that the piano lines almost become a core part of her vocals, rather than just being the accompaniment, like in Silent All These Years.
That said, I have managed to find one common thread that somehow links them together on a number of occasions: their beloved (supposedly) grand piano on the performance stage.
