Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but love is still in the air. However, all too often we get caught up in the moment of love and forget to think long-term.

The UW Vocal Arts faculty took concertgoers on a journey Sunday through the entire gamut of love in their concert entitled Reflections on Love: Songs of Joy, Desire and Madness. 

Five UW professors sang songs from a variety of composers that told of happiness, and sorrow, fulfillment and pain, but were filled with intimacy and compassion.

Nicole Lamartine, David Bowyer, Larry Hensel, Katrina Zook and Maureen Sorenson dazzled the audience not only their vocal prowess but also their attachment to the music.

The first section of the concert concentrated primarily on the music of “Women of Exhibition”, which was music composed by women at the 1893 World’s Fair and featured each member in a solo capacity.

Lamartine, Hensel, Katrina Zook and James Bowyer perform “Nächtens”, by Johannes Brahms during their Sunday concert.

Married in 1841, the Schumanns wrote a dairy starting the first day they were married, which was not uncommon for the time period. What is unique about them is they did a dual diary.

The diary began with the explanation of happiness shared by Robert and Clara, even though Robert suffered from severe depression. Sorensson and Bowyer performed a duet about the “blissful first years of marriage” and the high register and timbre of their voices balanced well in the piece entitled “Liebesgarten”. 

 Zook and Hensel, both lower voices, performed another piece about the happiness experienced in love in their duet, So wahr die Sonne schneint.

As the program continued, the feelings of doubt, confusion and madness crept in as Zook sang Sie libten sich beide, (they once loved each other). The performance spoke of the madness Robert experienced toward the end of his life.

The section of music that began on a happy note ended with a somber tone with a song about the death of Clara, sung by Hensel.

The second half of the concert was much more lively as the faculty performed music entitled Opera in America: Joy, Desire and Madness. The concert ended with a performance by Lamartine and Hensel from the musical “The Telephone” and was very well received by the audience. 

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