Soprano and violinist Makayla Lane is a freshman at the University of Rhode Island. Read her thoughts ahead of our November 3rd event, CONTRASTS.
Makayla Lane
Contrasts can be found in everything—especially art and music.
An oft-forgotten part of the musical repertoire is theater, and when it comes to vivid illustrations of contrast, there happen to be an incredible amount in "If I Loved You" from Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel. The character of Julie Jordan sings the duet “If I Loved You” not long after meeting a man named Billy Bigelow. He's known for being the bad man in town, and he is of significantly lower class than Julie and others around her.
But Julie doesn’t care. She sees the good in him despite his outward flaws. The words she sings and the music accompanying her create a contrast against her inner personal character struggles. The music is big and emotional, and at times quiet and pensive, while Julie sings about not being able to tell the person she might love how she really feels. The stark contrast between music and words helps us feel the conflict she is really feeling emotionally.
The main impulse for the contrast stems from the word “if” that she uses before every phrase about what she wants to tell the person she loves. She is trying to convince herself that she isn’t actually in love with Billy, but by the end of her part of the duet, she does fully realize her feelings for him. Regardless, she tries to brush them away.
The mood of the song changes as well—from light and fluttery at the beginning, to heavy and romantic in the middle where she fully realizes her feelings, to pulled back and restrained at the end when she states the final part of her duet, a self-correction: “if I loved you.”
The needle is so seamlessly thread between these extremes that the result truly shows the contrast between orchestra and words. That contrast helps the audience understand the true feelings and story being told.
Hear Makayla sing—along with music and art by a wide variety of talented community members—this Saturday, November 3rd, at 2pm at the North Kingstown Library! Browse the page here, and be sure to RSVP and share on Facebook!