This is one of my first pieces that I have ever "finished," although I find it completely inadequate and due for serious revisions in the future. My Senior year I took AP Literature and Composition with Mr. Gary Brett, and the class was given a project. We were to create something artistic relating to Shakespeare. Whether it be painting a ceiling tile or recreating a scene from Macbeth, you had to create something original, preferably something you enjoy doing; so of course I took one of Shakespeare's sonnets and put it to music. I read through my 1901 copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets and came across what soon became one of my favorite sonnets: Sonnet XIV. I read over it and said to myself, "Wow, that's extremely cheesy." So I knew which sonnet I would be arranging. It is a solo art song for Baritone with piano accompaniment. I played the piano and my choir director Mr. Matthew Levine, who is an incredibly talented singer, performed the solo. Mr. Levine was sight-reading a difficult piece, and due to sneaking deadlines, we had little over an hour to record it; this all to say that the recording and performance on all accounts does not represent our best work. Maybe one day we can rerecord the piece with better equipment and preparation. The text of course was written by William Shakespeare.
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