Music to romance by

Looking for the perfect romantic music for your candlelit dinner or to share a glass of wine at sunset? Try the Second Movement of Bach's Double Violin Concerto in D Minor.

Yes, it's a mouthful, but well worth the effort to locate this piece.

String orchestras are some of the most romantic musical instruments, especially violins when playing a movement like this one. The two violas compete with each other like two lovers desperate to let the other know, "I love you".

While most musicians will tell you the construction of this piece is an excellent example of a technical composition known as counterpoint, you don't have to know anything about music in order to appreciate its beauty. It'll carry you to emotional highs that are a perfect backdrop for a romantic evening.

Still, if you're curious, it might make good table conversation to know a little about the piece. The technique, counterpoint, focuses on two instruments or sections of the orchestra playing different melodies in a kind of duel - note against note. Each violin's melody is independent of the other yet when played together, they fit. The two harmonize and blend into a wonderful bigger sound that is exciting and breathless.

As you listen to the building of the melody, the strings wail with heartfelt emotion and rise almost to a crescendo only to fall back into the melancholic rhythm gradually rising once more.

So set your table, light those candles and enjoy this piece while dining, knowing you're setting the perfect romantic mood.

Music's Role In Romance

Music's role in romance is greater than most of us realize. How many times has a song burst through the air and brought joyous memories to you so powerful it's as though you're reliving them?

Music can set the mood of any moment or event. The wrong music can destroy that special moment while the perfect music can add to the ambiance of the evening.

==Music's role in romance ==

This new section of National Romance Examiner where I''ll be examining some of the most powerful pieces of music that carry their magic through the centuries. These concertos, symphonies and modern pieces remain just as impressive and emotional as the first time ever performed for the public.

==Adagio for Strings==

Chords filled with the melancholy of stringed instruments convey one of the most bittersweet pieces of music carrying the listener through a range of emotions from emptiness to bittersweet sadness. The harmonies seize you and send you on an emotional rollercoaster ride.

Granted, this isn't the kind of music you'd play to seduce, but it's still very romantic and of course is classified as belonging to that wonderful genre - Romantic Era. It's powerful and emotional. One to experience when in the right mood.

==Composer, Samuel Barber==

Written by the American composer, Samuel Barber, (1910-1981), during the Great Depression, it's no wonder this piece carries such a depth of emotion in its dramatic lifting and falling melody. The sorrowful yet bittersweet music was used in The Elephant Man and Platoon.

This is definitely the kind of music you'd play when needing a moment to relive some of those lost love memories. Barber's music was typically classified as belonging to the Romantic era genre, even though he was a contemporary composer. He also wrote two American operas, Vanessa (Pulitzer Prize winner of 1958) and Antony and Cleopatra (1966).

==Romance and Music==

Try to recall one of your most memorable moments of love and music's role in romance. You may be surprised to discover how often you associate a certain song or piece of music with a romantic moment.