Epic, Grand, Moody, Pathos

The portion of the nineteenth century that posterity has dubbed the Romantic era saw the birth of one of Western culture's greatest archetypes: the Romantic genius. The spirit of the age was incarnated in several dozen men and women, artists whose powers of expression were matched only by the origina

Dramatic, Grand, Monumental, Moody

Shostakovich is often, in musical circles, called the greatest composer of the twentieth century. Yet the quality of his music is so uneven that, while a third of it is the brain-bombing work of a divine genius, another third is almost worthless, and another third scares young violinists into abandon

20th-century music, Catastrophe, Lyrical, Melancholy, Moody, Pathos, Visceral

The harmonic foundations on which Western music had rested since the Renaissance got a strong shaking in the earthquake that was Romanticism. Dissonant notes were sounded -- and left unresolved. In time, the need for a tonal center was questioned, and by the turn of the century, atonal music had arri

20th-century music, Dissonant, Moody