The Marriage between Literature and Music

Book excerpt: Music and literature have often been interconnected through the centuries. This is an intellectual and spiritual marriage between two artistic worlds, which are both part of a creative system that lends voice to one another. As this book argues, while music is one single form of expression, literature can be expressed in the form of either poetry or prose. However, they find their apotheosis, their most natural relationship, when poetry is set to music, especially when it is lyrical and has similar phrasing and rhythms to music. The book, thus, shows that music offers an additional perspective to literature, while the latter gives words to the feelings that the former arouses. As such, though both can stand alone, if put together, they form a complementary entity that everybody can enjoy.