There is More to Love Lyrics — Aspects of Love

Song Overview

This number arrives like a glass of cold water in a warm room. After Pau politics and Paris friction, the story cuts to Venice and lets Giulietta speak without anyone interrupting. Not a love triangle scene, not a confrontation, not even a plea. More like a private manifesto said aloud.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. What it is: an Act II solo for Giulietta, set away from the main household.
2. What it does: it states the show thesis in plain clothes - love has multiple shapes, and one shape is not enough.
3. Cast album spot: between "A Cafe in Venice" and "The Garden at Pau" on the 1989 two-disc release.
4. Sound: a steady, singer-forward line with orchestral shading that stays elegant, never showy.
5. Why it hits: the song argues for maturity while quietly exposing longing.

Aspects of Love (1989) - stage musical - not. Giulietta, alone in Venice, weighs stable love against the easy rush of attraction (full number, about 0:00-2:10). Why it matters: it reframes the romance mess as philosophy, then pushes the plot back toward Pau with sharper stakes.

The writing keeps its posture. Giulietta does not lash out. She does not beg. She lays out terms. And because she does it calmly, the words land harder. It is the kind of song that makes a performer look fearless, even when the character is anything but.

Creation History

The show premiered in London in 1989, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart. On the original cast album, the track sits inside the sung-through fabric the way a diary page sits inside a novel: it feels separate, yet it explains everything around it. As stated in Concord Theatricals licensing notes, the story follows love and loss across three generations, and this number is one of the clearest moments where the score says what the characters keep refusing to admit.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Act II has already pulled Rose and Alex back toward Pau, with George trying to keep the household running on his rules. Then the show cuts away. In Venice, Giulietta gets the stage to herself. She thinks through what lasting love could mean, and why the bright, simple story people tell about romance rarely survives contact with real life. After this, the action returns to Pau, and the family tension feels newly named.

Song Meaning

The title line sounds generous, but it is also a warning. Giulietta is not saying "love is bigger, relax." She is saying "love is bigger, so stop pretending one arrangement can carry everyone." The song treats intimacy as craft. It suggests that steadiness is not the enemy of desire, but that desire alone makes a flimsy foundation. That is a dangerous thought in a story full of people who confuse appetite with destiny.

Annotations

"There is more to love"

A simple phrase, almost too simple, which is why it works. It is the one line nobody in Pau can say without starting a fight. In Venice, Giulietta can say it like a fact.

"than simply making love"

The lyric draws a line between pleasure and connection without shaming either. That balance matters. The song does not lecture. It observes. Then it lets the character live with what she just admitted.

"stable, long-lasting love"

This is where the number becomes a mirror. Stability sounds like comfort until you realize it can also sound like a cage. Giulietta is not offering an easy answer. She is weighing costs.

Style, rhythm, and arc

The pulse stays measured, like someone choosing each word carefully before it escapes. The melody moves in clean steps rather than big leaps, which keeps the focus on meaning. The emotional arc (quiet, not flashy) travels from assertion to vulnerability. The last lines do not land like a victory. They land like a person trying to talk herself into the truth.

Symbols and setting

Venice functions as distance. Not just geographic distance from Pau, but moral distance from the family bargaining table. Giulietta is a sculptor in the story. That detail fits: she shapes ideas with her hands, then she shapes a philosophy with her voice.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

• Song: There Is More to Love
• Artist: Original London Cast of Aspects of Love
• Featured: Giulietta Trapani (character focus)
• Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyricists: Don Black; Charles Hart
• Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Release Date: August 30, 1989
• Genre: Musical theatre
• Instruments: Voice; orchestra
• Label: Really Useful - Polydor
• Mood: Reflective; firm; quietly yearning
• Length: 2:10
• Track #: Disc 2, Track 8
• Language: English
• Album (if any): Aspects of Love (Original London Cast Recording)
• Music style: Chamber-leaning theatre ballad with operetta polish
• Poetic meter: Speech-led phrasing with flexible stresses

Frequently Asked Questions

Who sings this number in the story?

Giulietta sings it as a solo in most versions, including the original London song list.

Why is the scene set in Venice?

Venice gives Giulietta distance from the Pau household. The score uses that distance to let her think clearly, without anyone negotiating over her shoulder.

Is it a love song?

It is closer to a thesis statement. It treats love like a set of choices and trade-offs, not a lightning bolt.

Does it change in other productions?

Some Broadway documentation lists the number as involving both Giulietta and Rose, which suggests staging or vocal layering differences across versions.

Where does it sit on the original cast album?

It follows "A Cafe in Venice" and comes right before "The Garden at Pau" on Disc 2.

What is the main idea in one sentence?

Physical attraction is easy; lasting connection is the hard part, and it demands more than chemistry.

Is there a notable cover recording?

Yes. The song has been recorded outside the cast album world, including versions by Stephanie Lawrence.

What kind of performer thrives on it?

A singer-actor with clean diction and patience. The power comes from clarity, not volume.

How long is it?

About two minutes on the 1989 original London two-disc release.

Awards and Chart Positions

This track was not pushed as a pop single, so its story lives inside the show and its recordings. The bigger commercial headline came from the cast album: according to the Official Charts Company, the original cast release reached a UK Albums Chart peak of Number 1 and logged a 29-week Top 100 run. On the theatre side, the Broadway production earned six Tony nominations, including score, book, direction, and featured performance categories.

Additional Info

In the original London song list, this is Giulietta alone. In Broadway documentation, the same title is listed with Giulietta and Rose together, which hints at a staging twist: perhaps an onstage memory, a mirrored line, or a vocal overlay that turns the philosophy into a shared confession. Either way, the point stays the same. Giulietta gets to name what the others keep dodging.

The number also travels well outside the show. It has turned up as a stand-alone recording in Andrew Lloyd Webber tribute albums and in solo repertory, which makes sense: it is compact, self-contained, and built on text you can act rather than belt.

Key Contributors

How to Sing There Is More to Love

This is a thinker-singer number. The trick is to keep the line calm while the meaning keeps turning. As stated in the Musicnotes sheet-music listing, the published key is B major, the tempo marking is Andante with a metronome around q = 84, and the vocal range is G-sharp 3 to F-sharp 5.

Step-by-step performance plan

1. Tempo first: lock into the gentle forward pace. Do not drag. The song persuades through steadiness.
2. Diction: treat consonants like stage lighting. Place them cleanly, then get out of the way so the vowels can carry the thought.
3. Breathing: plan breaths around the argument, not the bar lines. If you breathe in the wrong place, the point loses its edge.
4. Flow and rhythm: keep the rhythm conversational. Let the orchestra feel like a room tone, not a wave that knocks you over.
5. Accents: aim emphasis at contrast words. The song lives on comparisons, so underline the shifts.
6. Register management: in the upper phrases, keep the sound tall and focused. Avoid pushing. It should feel like clarity, not force.
7. Acting note: do not sell it as heartbreak. Sell it as a person deciding what she believes, in real time.
8. Common pitfalls: rushing the text, over-sighing the phrasing, and turning a calm argument into a melodrama.

Practice materials

1. Spoken run: speak the full text at tempo, like a monologue. Add pitch only after the intention feels settled.
2. Breath map: mark two different breath plans, then choose the one that keeps the logic intact.
3. Dynamics drill: sing the piece twice - once all mezzo, once with sharper contrast. Keep the final choice in the middle.

Sources

Sources: MusicBrainz - Aspects of Love (1989 original London cast) release page; StageAgent - Aspects of Love song list; Aspects of Love - Wikipedia (plot context and song placement); IBDB - Aspects of Love (Broadway) musical numbers listing; Official Charts Company - Aspects of Love original cast album stats; Concord Theatricals - Aspects of Love licensing page; Musicnotes - There Is More To Love sheet music listing; YouTube - Aspects Of Love (Original 1989 London Cast) track upload; Spotify - There Is More To Love (live and cover listings).