Word: constant
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...spectacle was too much for many antiCommunists. Constant defeat at the hands of an enemy whose might was plainly visible, and yet elusive as a shadow, put a crippling psychological strain on Communism's enemies. Not all were driven as far as Giuseppe Rapelli, Christian Democratic Labor leader who tried to break Communist Giuseppe di Vittorio's iron grip on the labor unions, and is now in the hospital with a nervous breakdown. But all seem paralyzed to ineffectually, a prey to fear and doubt...
...drama in these climactic moments. It gives a sense of the individuality and of stylistic coherence, but also has some measures which give a certain sense of reminiscence, while seldom of specific influences. One wondered whether, if heard apart from its choreography, it would sustain interest at a constant pitch--in the impression of a first hearing the use of the musical ideas is stronger than the ideas themselves--but then it should be considered primarily as an essential part of the dance drama as a whole...
...with brass interludes in his familiar fugal style, is perhaps a shade expeditious for so picturesque a subject. It trips, or rather bumps along in a jolly fashion that depicts little and scares no one; but it is distinguished music, if a bit ineffective (largely on account of the constant use of contrapuntal repeating-patterns) in its efforts at vividness. Its most vigorously expressive moment is one that describes the gnashing of teeth...
Malipiero's "La Terra," also in Latin, is Virgil in his loveliest pastoral vein and the Venetian master at his sweetest. All is suave and dreamy, with constant rhythmic complexities and a wealth of melody and grace that suggest the careless abundance of nature itself. Perhaps it is over-dreamy, for even the storm scene is mild; but the peaceful pastoral tone has rarely been achieved in our time with such expressive variety or with such sustained musical interest. "La Terra" is more than a distinguished piece of work. It is original, interesting, expressive, and beautiful...
...parts only. A few are more compact. The English declamation, though utterly clear, is not rhythmically idiomatic. It resembles rather Gregorian chant as sung by the Benedictine monks at Solesmes, except that the melodic intervals are neither proximate nor melismatic, lying chiefly between the fourth and the ninth. This constant skipping around is not unpleasant to hear, but it does not sound like English. It gives to the text an air of having been translated from the German...