Word: minor
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Monday's chemical spill at the Lyman Physics Laboratories was a minor accident, according to University officials...
...Aubrey admits, "I scrape a little, sir. I torment a fiddle from time to time." As chapters end--chapters of blood, crashing seas and weevily sea biscuit--the two are likely to take solace together, tormenting Locatelli or Boccherini. Friendship, lifelong and ramified, between these two and with recurring minor characters, is the bedrock theme of the novels...
...concert, at Symphony Hall, opened with Beethoven's Egmont Overture. It was obvious from the get-go that this was not the Beethoven of Bernstein's New York Philharmonic or Solti's Chicago Symphony. The first powerful f minor chord, an expression of force that often drowns the listener with its weight, had a subdued, chamber-like quality not normally associated with the work. The timbre of the period woodwinds, as heard in their ensuing dialogue, differed slightly from the sound of a modern performance. This distinction in tone colors became more noticeable in the well-executed solo horn sections...
...controlled and more restrained interpretation makes more sense when considered historically. Beethoven wrote this piece in 1810 as incidental music for Goethe's play Egmont, a story of enlightened monarchy struggling against despotic oppression. Who today would ever think to characterize Beethoven's Egmont as "incidental," as just some minor work, secondary to some greater artistic creation? Modern audiences are so used to hearing this piece by itself, that we forget it was meant to summarize the important themes of a play and to warm up the audience. Even if at times the orchestra's execution lacked a certain precision...
...pure tones of the unaccompanied quartet intoning the "Et incarnatus..." The Credo ended on a lighter note with a playful fugue on the text of "Et vitam venturi saeculi," (and the life of the world to come.), inspired by Bach's similar usage in his Mass in b minor. Brewer and Clemont's capricious interplay, along with the matching figures in the winds, added a touch of lightheartedness to contrast with the introspective mood of the Credo...