When I first listened to Joan Armatrading's 'Love and Affection', I couldn't help but draw parallels between this song, and a song cycle I'm much more familiar with; Dichterliebe.
So, what precisely is it that made these two rather contrasting pieces of music feel so connected to each other?
Firstly, we can consider the themes. Joan Armatrading says herself that ‘Love and Affection’, is about ‘love and friendship and about not being fickle’. It’s an unconventional love song, inspired by her own experience of unrequited love, and the pain stemming from that.
Not too far away from this is Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe, with its overarching theme of unrequited love. Schumann wrote this during a period of separation from his soon-to-be wife, Clara. And whilst the cycle is also a celebration of happier times they had together, it is also yet another attempt from Schumann at trying to put his feelings regarding his relationship into his music.
Both Armatrading and Schumann juxtapose their ideas within their songs, with the ideas of love, and unrequited love, perhaps drawing them closer together than we may have thought.
And then, there’s the music itself. Schumann’s Dichterliebe is notoriously famous for its key relationships, and what these tell us about the storyline of the cycle as a whole. Focusing on the first song, ‘Im wunderschönen Monat Mai’, there is this idea of sitting on the fence between two keys, A major, and F# minor, and only a true establishment of A major tonality in the second song, ‘Aus meinen Tränen sprießen’.
A similar concept is explored in ‘Love and Affection, in that the overall key would be E major, with moments of C# minor. It takes a while for this to feel settled, especially in the opening, where E major is only really established at ‘I’m open to persuasion’, but on a 7th chord, perpetuating a hint of uncertainty.
Perhaps, the idea of tonal uncertainty could reflect the singer/narrator and their thoughts in these situations. Would it be too far to say that this ‘sitting on the fence’ would be Schumann or Heine’s way of addressing the difficulties of unrequited love, and not knowing whether the romantic relationship in question will progress, or rather, not progress? As for Armatrading, it would be more sensible to relate this concept to the opening line of ‘I’m not in love, but I’m open to persuasion’, giving uncertainty (again) from the singer that they’re unsure where they are with this relationship- they’re on the fence, they could be persuaded, but they might not be.
Perhaps these are just bold assumptions or comparisons. Yet still, I can’t help but see the connection between two entirely different pieces of vocal music. Maybe it’s time for us to start considering this and draw parallels between pieces of music that on the surface, seem quite disconnected.
Here’s to a more connected musical bubble? Who knows. I guess this was good fun for me to ramble on about! Makes you wonder how many connections can be formed between even the most distant pieces of music...
See you soon!
leeky ♬
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