How dost thou like this tune?

 As Orsino is conversing with Viola, some music begins playing, and Orsino asks Viola, "How dost thou like this tune?" to which she responds, "It gives a very echo to the seat/where love is throned" (Twelfth Night, 2.4.22-24). After using the Folger notes to help me understand what Viola's response meant, I fell in love with this exchange between Viola and Orsino. Here, Viola is saying that the music is like an echo of a lover's heart - as if someone had taken a lover's emotions and turned them into sound. I think this is an excellent way to describe music, and the reason humans are so passionate about music. Expressing ourselves is not always easy; how does one find the words to describe the pain of a heartbreak or the wonder of feeling on top of the world or the emptiness that comes from losing a loved one? This isn't always easy to put into words. But through music we are able to put these complicated emotions into a new form which enables us to show what we really feel. The slow stretches of solemn notes portray our grief in a way that words fail to. The race of upbeat harmonies allow us to celebrate and illustrate our excitement perfectly. This is the power of music. It echoes what is in our hearts in a way that people can hear and feel.

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