Absence

Holidays, like music, have dramatically different meanings for different people. This year, I'm learning that Valentine's Day has a complicated meaning for a person in a long-distance relationship. I can't capture that meaning in words, so I'll yield the remainder of my time to Janet Baker and her rendition of Hector Berlioz's "Absence" from Les Nuits d'été. Although the song contains soaring moments of beauty and ponderous statements of yearning, my heart is wrenched most by the silences that punctuate the performance. Today, "Absence" is une chanson pour ma Anna, and it gives voice to all the emotions that accompany me when I tell my special someone that je l'aime.