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a large body of unaccompanied monophonic vocal music, set to Latin texts, composed for the Western Church over the course of fifteen centuries, from the time of the earliest fathers to the Council of Trent |
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the five sung portions of the Mass for which the texts are unvariable: Kyrie, gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) |
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a curriculum of four scientific disciplines (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music) taught in medieval schools and universities |
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a term applied to unaccompanied vocal music; originated in the expression a cappella sistina "in the Sisteine chapel " of the pope. where instruments were forbidden to accompany the singers |
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a male adult sinfer who had been castrated as a boy to keep his voice from changing so that it would remain in the soprano or alto register |
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a high, soprano-like voice produced by adult male singers when they sing in head voice |
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a popular genre of secular music that originated in Italy during the Renaaissance, in which usually four or five voices sing love poems |
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a composition for choir or larger chorus setting a religious, deovtional or solemn text; often sung a cappella |
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an ensemble of at least two instrumentalists who provide a foundation for the melody or melodies above; heard almost exclusively in Baroque music |
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a motive of phrase in the bass that is repeated again and again |
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a multi-movement concerto of the Baroque era that pits the sound of a small group of soloists (the concertino) against that of the full orchestra (te tutti) |
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Vivaldi's set of violin concertos which popularized the ritornello form |
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all or the full orchestra |
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Bach's last project an encyclopedic treatment of all known contrapunctal procedures set forth in 19 canons and fugues |
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German word for the hymn of the Lutheran Church, hence a simple religious medoldy to be sung by the congregation |
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an aria in two sections with an obligatory return to and repeat of the first hence an aria in ternary form (ABA) |
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a passage of free non-imitative counterpoint found in a fugue |
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a large-scale genre of sacred music involving an overture arias, recitatives and choruses but sung whether in a theater or a church without costumes or scenery |
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The Well Tempered Clavier |
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Bach's large-scale contrapunctual project, with two sets of twenty four prelufes and fugues. One prelude and one fugue in each of the twelve major and minor keys. The piece that pianists must learn everywhere WTC |
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Mozart's principal competitor in Vienna - the court composer to Emperor Joseph II and his two sucessors, later taught Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and one of Mozart's sons |
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the original name for a piano |
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the right-most pedal on the piano; when it is depressed, all dampers are removed from teh strings allowing them to vibrate freely |
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often known as the soft pedal the leftmost one which shifts so that ,hammers that normally strike all three of the strings for a note strike only two of them. This softens the note and also modifies its tone quality. |
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the middle pedal he middle pedal is usually a sostenuto pedal. It sustains only notes which are depressed at the time the pedal is depressed. |
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a showy passage for the soloist appearing near the end of the mocement in a concerto usually incorporates raid runs, aarpeggions and snippits of previously hear themes into a fantasy-like interpretation |
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a triad chord (one which consists of three pitches and two intervals of a third) made up entirely of minor thirds producing a tense unstable sound |
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a triad consisting of two major thirds |
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Composer: Hildegard of Bingen "O Greenest Branch" Style: Medieval Genre: Plainsong/Chant Vivid text, stepwise motion, no overt rhythm |
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Composer: Josquin, "Ave Maria" Style: Renaissance Genre: Motet sections in imitative counterpoint alternate with passgesof chordal witing (homophony) creating a variety of textures |
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composer: palestrina style: renaissance genre: 4th/5th parts of the ordinary mass long notes give way to shortwe ones without catch rythyms, stepwise motion, imitative counterpoint has 4 poitns of imitation SATB |
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Composer: Vivaldi, The Spring Concerto, First movement of The Seasons Style: Baroque Genre: Concerto Ritornello form with the non-tutti parts expressing how he feels about springs with birds and a thunderstorm |
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Composer: Bach, bradenburg concerto no. 5 Style: Baroque Genre: concerto grosso Form: ritornello |
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composer: mozart, piano concerto in a minor style: classical genre: concerto (with 3 movements) form: sonata-allegro? this one in particular is in double exposition form which means there is an orchestal exposition and then a solo exposition with orchestra ans soloist before the development |
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composer: mozart, piano concerto in a minor style: classical genre: concerto this is an example of he beginning of the decelopment in which the woodwinds transorm new rheme as piano interjects scales |
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Composer: Mozart from Don Giovanni Style: classical genre:opera |
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Composer: Beethoven, symphonie pathetique Style: Romantic/Classical Genre: Piano Sonata Form: Sonata-allegro This is the intro |
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Composer: Beethoven, symphonie pathetique Style: Classical with a hint of romanticism Genre: Piano Sonata Exposition with a rising agitated melody in the right hang against broken octaves it he left (first theme), second theme = more call and response |
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Composer:Beethoven Style: Classical Genre: Symphony Form: Sonata Alegro This is the start of the development |
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Composer: Schubert Style: Romantic Genre: Art Song/Lied |
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Beethoven’s will written when he realized he would go deaf in which he threatened suicide |
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low pitched oboe used in Berlioz’symphone fantastique |
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slow freamy genre of piano music that became popular in the 1820s |
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love-death the piece sang by Isolde and their passionate deth |
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Wagner’s intense composition – a cycle of four interconnected music dramas by Richard Wagner that collective tell the tale fo the Germanic legend De Ring des Nibelungen |
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Bayreuth Festival Theater |
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he town between Munich and Leipzig where Wafer is buried and where the first festical took place in 1876 with three performances of the entire Ring cycle, and every summer it’s all Wagner all the time v |
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five pitches per octave, exotic sounding |
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– a 6 note scale each pitch of which is a whole one away from the next |
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a triad plus a not forming an interval of a seventh above the chords root |
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a method of composig music devised by Arnold Schoenberg that has each of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale sound in a fixed regularly recurring order |
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a genre of music emerging in the 19th centurny – voice + WHOLE orchesra |
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2. Throughout our course we have stressed that during the last five hundred years composers and listeners have agreed upon a “vocabulary of musical gestures and symbols”: minor=sad, diminished-chord=tension, fast notes=speed, long repeated notes=stasis and solidity, the trumpet=the heroic, solo voice=a lonely person, dissonance-moving-to-consonance=pain resolving to inner peace, etc. etc. etc. Review the major examples of program music discussed in your text (Weelkes, “As Vesta was from Latmos Hill Descending;” Vivaldi, “The Spring Concerto;” Schubert, “The Erlking;” Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet; and Beethoven, “The Pastorale Symphony” heard at the Saybrook Orchestra concert (or Mendelssohn, Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream (at the JE Orchestra concert). In one way or another, these are all examples of program music. Using specific moments from three or four specific pieces, explain how these composers have made use of this “vocabulary of musical gestures and symbols” to convey to the listener the intended program of each composer’s piece. How did they use this vocabulary to get across the program to the listener? Finally, identify one good thing about (or advantage to) having a program for a piece and one liability or potential danger in having a program written into a piece. |
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Erlking: the introduction of fast notes racing as the horse races through the woods as the narrator sets the scene, the erlking tries to seduce the son in tocoming with him though the major key and hushed singing. The son’ts fear is then portrayed through tenstion depicted by tight chromatic movement in the voice. The next same plea for his father to see the erlking becomes more intense with a step higher and in a minor key. Death is then portrayed through the end of the halting left hand of the piano and silence.
Beethoven’s 6th symphony, 4th movement – the storm, pounding timpani = turbulence, crescendo and decrescendo lead to the feel of a swell, rapid quickening of the pace of the strings makes it seem like its leading to something, all of the instruments playing loudly at the climax to create the feeling the storm has peaked, the flute at the end is a gesture of hope
Tchaikovsky – Romeo an Juliet, In the Exposition the Montague and Capulet fighting scene feels intense because of the loud agitated minor, angry rhythmic motice, racing scales in the strings, crashing syncopations with cymbal – the brass and percussion. Meanwhile the love theme is soft and played by horn and viola and the second love theme is with mutes. Softness and major /simple melody, high woodwinds
Symphonie fantastique: At the very end, Col legno – violins using the back of their bow to creak a crackling sound, Dies irae used to remind people of a perverted sacrilege, striking shifts in harmony
Vivaldi – songbirds of may = rapid violins playing stacatto at a high register,ethe bre “and the brooks kissed by the breezes, meanwhile flow with sweet murmuring” – running sixteenth notes “Dark clouds cover the sky announced by bolts of lightning and thunder” tremelo and shooting scales
2.the erlking tries to seduce the son in tocoming with him though the major key and hushed singing. 3.The son’ts fear is then portrayed through tenstion depicted by tight chromatic movement in the voice. 4.The next same plea for his father to see the erlking becomes more intense with a step higher and in a minor key. 5.Death is then portrayed through the end of the halting left hand of the piano and silence. |
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3. Discuss the development of the orchestra in the West from its earliest beginnings in the Baroque period (pp. 130-136), to its mild expansion in the Classical period (Chapter pp. 209-210), to its explosion in the Romantic period (pp. 258-260, 275-277, 324-325), concluding with the orchestra of Strauss and Mahler. What instruments were gradually added? Which composers were especially important in bringing new instruments and sounds into the orchestra? In what iconic pieces by these composers do we see these new instruments being employed and to what purpose? |
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Orchestral an ensemble of musicians organized around a core of strings, with added woodwinds and brasses playing under a leader
Baroque Orchestra: no more than 20 people with no parts doubled until the end of the 17th when you would have three or four ie the one led by Lully for Louis XIV with 80 people) Earlier Seventeenth Century: an impressive variety of instruments but usually not more than one or two of each type Middle Seventeenth Century: older instruments began to be replaced with those in the violin family added to the string nucleus were woodwinds: flutes, oboes, bassoons occasionally a pair of trumpets or timpanis End of Seventeenth Century: French horns add to lend sonic renosance
Expansion in the Classical period: Symphony had emerged (around the 1750s) as a major musical genre with a four movement format: fast-slow-minuet-fast Expanded as the performance moved into public auditoriums
Instruments Added: More woodwinds to balance the strings (now 2 clarinets, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons etc) Mozart to thank for the Clarinet Number: Haydn: in private 1770s 25, in London in 1795 60 players, Mozart: mid-1780s = 35-40 players (but once with 80 and lots of strings)
Explosion in the Romantic period Response to greater dynamic extremes and in time a time of industrialization made mass production easier and when valves and new fingering mechanisms made instruments easier to play Now a conductor was needed and virtuosos gained force
Instruments: Emphasis on French horn – rich dark tone and association with the hunt make it a popular choice in the time Piccolo Trombone contrabassoon (Thanks to Beethoven’s 5th) Ophicleide English horn Cornet two harps (Berlioz’s Fantastique)
Number: Now 100 was not uncommon Fantastique in 1830 had 89 Mahler had 1889 had 119
Late Romantic meant bigger concert halls (1870-1910) biggest growth of all |
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4. How did opera evolve from the Baroque period, as represented by the style of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, to the mid 19th century, as represented by the style of Verdi’s La traviata? What changed with regard to subject matter, the constituent parts of the opera, and the nature of the role assigned to the orchestra and accompanying instruments? How did the German opera of Wagner differ from the Italian opera of Verdi and Puccini? How does Wagner’s method of signaling the “meaning” of the opera at any given moment differ from that of Verdi? Finally (and slightly off the point) why is it that opera did not have to engage in overtly onomatopoetic music, as did the symphony or tone poem when communicating program music? |
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Baroque Opera (Purcell and Handel) Subject matter: Serious – opera seria – based on historical evenrs or mythology – triumphs and tragedies of kings queens gods or goddesses Constituent parts of the opera: Most of the action happens offstage and is retold in reciatives. Arias expressed stock emotions: hope, anger, hate frenzy despair Nature of the role assigned to orchestra/accompaniment: Recitative semplice meant that the orchestra only accompanied recitative very sparsely, Ground bass accompanies
Classical Opera Subject matter: funny! Italian: Opera buffa championed middle class values with everyday characters, on some level seen as a threat to the nobility Singspiel – German comic opera Parts: Spoken dialogue and simple songs, liberally spiced with gags etc. the music itself became more expressive with changes of emotion in the middle of a song (aka if you want to dance in Figaro Orchestra: only light accompaniment (aka Marriage of Figarro), but uses the orchestra to underscore emotions and changes
Romantic Opera Italian Opera Focused on melodies for the solo voice and the art of beautiful singing bel canto Orchesta acts as a mere guitar framing the voice of the prima donna Subjects ranged from the political (with Verdi’s Nabucco) to the normal personal drama Dramaturgy of Verdi – intense passion and non stop action with recitatico accompagnato which allows a smooth transition between one ot the other and in the area he wrote incredible lines German Opera - Wagner Emphasize the dramatic power and instrumental color of the orchestra which led to the need for more powerful singers Uses lietmotifs Called “music dramas” not opera “gesamtkunstwerk” total art work. Different from Italian: 1. Did away with the traditional “number” opera – a string of separate units such as aria recitative, duet etc. instead writing “endless melody” 2. Removed ensemble singing almost entirely 3. Banished the idea of aria and it’s melodic repetition, symmetry and regular cadences
Realist Opera Different from the star crossed lovers meet and reunite plots with plots embracing the gritty side of life – Carmen
Italian verismo opera not that different just had a fancier name – Puccini embodies
Why did opera have to engage in overtly onomatopoetic music? Because it had lyrics which could do much of the expressing! |
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5. Discuss the development of the piano from its earliest manifestation as the harpsichord until the end of its development during the late nineteenth century. What advantages did the pianoforte first offer (and why was it so called)? Who at first played the piano, at both the professional and amateur level? What innovations did Beethoven bring to the music for the piano, and why did that change the construction of the instrument? What other changes affected the instrument during the decades immediately after Beethoven’s death? Who were some of the leading composers for the piano during the nineteenth century? Finally, what were one or two innovations brought to the piano during the second half of the nineteenth century, including the insertion of a third pedal (and what were all three called and what did each do)? (In preparing this essay use your index to find several discussions of this instrument. There is also a piano demo available on the website for the course—get into the CengageNow site (see below) and go to chapter 7, all chapter content, piano demonstration.) |
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Harpsichord found in norther Italy as early as 1400, with hey day in Baroque period - Produces sound by when a key is depressed it drives a lever upward that, in turn, forces a pick to pluck a string - Lever mechanism does not allow the performer to control the force with which the string is pluced so it alwas sounds at the same collume
Piano (developed in Italy around 1700) - Responding to the dynamic limitations of the harpsichord, piano srings are hit by soft hammers not plucked - Originally called pianoforte (soft-loud) because it could offer different dynamics - Became a domestic status symble – actually most newsonatas for piano were played by amateur women for society’s sake and Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven all served as piano teachers erlier in their career - Bach claimed he earliers solo concerto for piano in orchestra and Mozart orchestrated some of them and Mozart is the father of the modern piano concerto
Under Beethoven - expanded with Pathetique greatly the skill needed to play well with high and low range and dramatic shits, the louder sound wider range and greater length made them appropriate for concert halls and thus piano’s got bigger to ste up
After Beethoven - Internal frame, because of Industrial revoliution, now cast iron, for greater tension on the strings - Thickers steel strings which allowed greater vlume - Spanned 7 octaves in 1840 (from 5 in the early days) - Mid-Century two pedals added – sustaining pedal and soft pedal - 1850s – Steinways’ cross stringing (overlaying the lowest-sounding strings across those of a middle register greater a richer more homogenous sound)
Leading Composers: Chopin, Liszt (side profile, from memory) |
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6. Discuss the development and stylistic attributes of Impressionism. In which countries and under what historical circumstances did this style develop? How might it have been a reaction to the German Romanticism of the late nineteenth century? Which composers were particularly active in creating this music, and what were some of the compositional techniques that they employed? If possible, use examples from art and literature to aid in your discussion. |
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Reaction to the German Romanticism of Wagner and most strong reaction in France (especially given that Germany and France had recently gone to war) French began to ridicule sentimentality Said to be too heavy too pretentious and too bombastic
In art they tried to recreate the impression that an object is produced upon the senses in a single, fleeting moment – as it was a world awash in vibrant light (Monet, waterlilies, woman with an umbrella, Impression: Sunrise) and these artists turned to music as Van Gogh said “using color as the music of tones”
DEBUSSY: In reaction, some Impressionist composers (namely Debussy) called his own works sketches etc. and was inspired by them Prelude to the afternoon of a faun, first a poem by Mallarme, later painted as well
Compositional Technique: Creating a mere impression or painting in music through the use of the color of the instruments to paint a clear picture – call on the instruments to demonstrate sonorities independent of theme Tonal impressions which swirl, dissolve and form again but don’t progress No clear rhythm (like the poetic language of Symbolists) or discernible meter preferring shifting accents to obscure the pulse Simply insinuates a motive Avoids climax by placing a diminuendo before the cadence, creating an anticlimax Irregular scales – whole tone, pentatonic Parallel motion (as the antithesis of counterpoint)
RAVEL and Bolero (who also composed based on a Mallarme poem) Satie |
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7. The nature of musical genius has been a topic that has emerged in multiple ways throughout this course. Identify two or three composers throughout music history who have exemplified this concept of the musical genius. What did he or she do, in specific musical terms, that was truly exceptional, truly innovative or revolutionary? In other words, how did this individual “think outside the box” (outside musical convention of that time). Identify the time period in which each of these individuals lived and (to the extent possible) identify how the public reacted to their musical innovations. |
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Bach In his fugues progressed counterpoint to a place it had never been before – one of the most prolific composers of all time, writing an incredible amoung and essentially mastering the craft – the well-tempered clavelier and the art of fugue making this expressly clear. Wtc is set of twenty four preludes and fugues in each of the 12 minor and major keys and art of the fugue was an encyclopedic treatment of all known contrapunctual procedures in 19 canons and fugues. After his death he was soon forgotten – his music was appreciated in his church at the time, but not raved about (in fact he was thrown in jail early on).
Mozart Mozart, besides being a child prodigy able to identify notes played in any chords or write down a two-minute motet note for note. He was recognized as genius and traveled appreciated in his time with everything so grand as a special honor conferred on him for his musical skills. But as he continued to produce genius he was appreciate less and less in Vienna as his style went out of vogue (in Figaro for example) Wrote 650 pieces. Pioneered the piano and piano concerto (23 written), colorful solo woodwinds
Beethoven
Had a cult like following in how own day. Foresaw romanticism using an intense lyrical expression with pounding rhythms and dynamics all new for this day. Pushes Classical foms to the breaking point. Played piano loudly and more violently then anyone had ever. Unexpected compositions with dynamic changes and he is able to contrast within the same movement the intensely lyrical and the incredibly heroic. Took the third movement in a whole new direction in his 5th symphony. From minimal material he derives maximum sonority. First to recognize that massive sound could be a potent psychological weapon. Composed the first symphony with a chorus. Gve music the grand gesture made music grandiose and lyrics. |
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