This coffee break tackes a BIG Topic--how music interprets death and mourning. But it's not a gruesome journey because we listen to some gorgeous music, especially Mozart's Don Giovanni and Beethoven's Egmont. Mr. Somers discusses the structures composers use to denote passing away, particularly the use of half-notes. Benjamin Britten's use of groaning in his opera Billy Budd can be startling, but generally we listen to some perfectly lovely dirges.

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