Round 2: Tossup 1

This symphony’s second movement ends on an unusually voiced B-flat minor chord, in which there are four octaves’ worth of D-flats but only one F. At this symphony’s premiere, its composer was seated next to an unspecified French musician who said “merde” upon hearing the piece’s (10[1])final A-major chord. (10[1])All of the movements begin Lento in this symphony, which opens with a canon (10[1])centered around a 24-bar theme, which cycles through different modes. This symphony continues the shift toward consonant tonality begun in its composer’s “Copernican” symphony. A chart-topping 1991 recording of this symphony (10[1])featured (-5[1])David Zinman (-5[1])and soprano (10[1])Dawn Upshaw. (10[1])This symphony’s (10[1])texts (10[1])include a 15th-century lament (10[1])of the Virgin Mary (10[1])and an inscription written on the wall (10[1])of a Gestapo (10[3])prison cell. For 10 points, (-5[1])name this (10[1])most popular symphony by Henryk Górecki (10[2])■END■ (10[3]0[1])

Back to tossups

Buzzes

Summary