# 10 Key Works of 20th Century



## Ulfilas (Mar 5, 2020)

Having just read Boulez' interesting list of what he considers the most important works of the 20th century, I thought it would be interesting to have some of your thoughts?

Here's the link to Boulez' list:

https://www.newsounds.org/story/10-great-works-20th-century-pierre-boulezs-90th-birthday/

For what it's worth, here's my slightly eccentric list (in alphabetical order):

Berg: Wozzeck

Copland: Appalachian Spring

Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

Mahler: Symphony No. 9

Messiaen: 20 Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus

Reich: Music for 18 Musicians

Shostakovich: Symphony no. 10

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Varèse: Ionisation

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

This is a difficult task to ask of any era. Here's my best shot at creating a fairly objective list of the 10 "most important":

*Bernstein: West Side Story* - brought a new vitality to the music theater industry in its original fusing classical, jazz, and Latin rhythms
*Boulez: Le Marteau sans maître* - demonstrated a new potential for the expressiveness of serialism by loosening the rules of strict serialism
*Cage: 4'33''* - reevaluated the boundaries of music, sound, and what it means to be a composer
*Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande* - forged a new direction of musical/moral ambiguity and aloofness in a post-Wagnerian operatic landscape
*Grisey: Les espaces acoustiques* - helped create the spectral movement which focused on spectral series and harmonic overtones to craft unique timbres and textures
*Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire* - cultivated the sprechstimme style in an expressive, atonal work with a unique instrumentation
*Stockhausen: Gesang der Jünglinge* - pioneered the fusion of musique concrète and pure electronic music as well as the use of spatiality
*Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring* - overthrew all prior notions of the use of rhythm, meter, tonality, harmony, and dissonance
*Varèse: Ionisation* - eschewed any notion of melody and harmony to focus on the textural, expressive capabilities of percussion
*Young: The Well-Tuned Piano* - examined the infinite musical possibilities achievable with minimal means: long, sustained notes on a piano in just intonation


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

It would perhaps be easier to make a list of 30 works if one aims not to "offend" anyone, but I don't have the time now.

Here's my top 5 instead:

1. Rite of Spring
2. Pierrot Lunaire
3. Mahler's 9th
4. Pelléas et Mélisande
5. Star Wars


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## Lilijana (Dec 17, 2019)

Trout said:


> This is a difficult task to ask of any era. Here's my best shot at creating a fairly objective list of the 10 "most important":
> 
> *Bernstein: West Side Story* - brought a new vitality to the music theater industry in its original fusing classical, jazz, and Latin rhythms
> *Boulez: Le Marteau sans maître* - demonstrated a new potential for the expressiveness of serialism by loosening the rules of strict serialism
> ...


I think this is a fantastic list.

I would probably remove the Bernstein and replace is with Nono's _Intolleranza_, a forceful and innovative piece of music theatre (in the classical sense!) that draws its inspiration from the contemporary political landscape and how it affects human beings. As a piece of music and theatre, it has paved the way for further developments in interdisciplinary works later in the century and into the 21st.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

I don't know much about electronic/serialist music, but I agree mostly with the OP's list, except I would choose Messiaen's _Quatuor_ instead of the _Regards_ and definitely add Bartok's quartets in there somewhere. I would maybe consider Ives's Concord Sonata too considering it came a decade before Schoenberg's first atonal experiments.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Ulfilas said:


> Having just read Boulez' interesting list of what he considers the most important works of the 20th century, I thought it would be interesting to have some of your thoughts?
> 
> Here's the link to Boulez' list:
> 
> ...


A very interesting list. Somehow I was expecting Boulez to choose radical and avant-garde works of the second half of the century, including that one in which a certain pseudo-composer sends his educated but naive audience to listen to nothing, but instead he came with what in my opinion are true masterpieces. I think that it was very humble of Boulez to not place one his own works on the list, considering that he is one of the most famous and influent composers of the XXth century.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Allerius said:


> A very interesting list. Somehow I was expecting Boulez to choose radical and avant-garde works, including that one in which a certain pseudo-composer sends his educated but naive audience to listen to nothing, but instead he came with true masterpieces. I think that it was very humble of Boulez to not place one his own works on the list, considering that he is one of the most famous and influent composers of the XXth century.


I think you misread, Boulez chose his own piece - Repons.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Allerius said:


> A very interesting list. Somehow I was expecting Boulez to choose radical and avant-garde works to the second half of the century, including that one in which a certain pseudo-composer sends his educated but naive audience to listen to nothing, but instead he came with true masterpieces. I think that it was very humble of Boulez to not place one his own works on the list, considering that he is one of the most famous and influent composers of the XXth century.


Boulez did place one of his own works on the list. The list in the post is the OP's list. Here is Boulez's list from the link:

1. Varese - Ameriques
2. Berg - Three Pieces for Orchestra
3. Stravinsky - Rite of Spring
4. Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
5. Webern - Six Pieces for Orchestra
6. Berio - Sinfonia
7. Stockhausen - Gruppen
8. Mahler - Symphony No. 6 "Tragic"
9. Schoenberg - Erwartung
10. Boulez - Repons


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Boulez did place one of his own works on the list. The list in the post is the OP's list. Here is Boulez's list from the link:
> 
> 1. Varese - Ameriques
> 2. Berg - Three Pieces for Orchestra
> ...


was it the cowbells d'ya think ?...


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

janxharris said:


> I think you misread, Boulez chose his own piece - Repons.





Allegro Con Brio said:


> Boulez did place one of his own works on the list. The list in the post is the OP's list. Here is Boulez's list from the link:
> 
> 1. Varese - Ameriques
> 2. Berg - Three Pieces for Orchestra
> ...


You're right, I misread.  Thanks for the correction. Looking at it, I still think that it's a solid list.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

mikeh375 said:


> was it the cowbells d'ya think ?...


If you're referring to Mahler 6, I really do think it's the first "real" 20th century symphony. An immense achievement in all facets, though I would still pick M9 by a hair as the most significant symphony of (at least) the first quarter of the century. And the lack of Sibelius on these lists makes me sad!


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Sibelius Seventh Symphony
Sibelius Tapiola
Sibelius Fifth Symphony
Stravinsky Rite Of Spring
Shostakovich Fifth Symphony
Messiaen Quartet For The End Of Time
Vaughan Williams Third Symphony
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Vaughan Williams Fifth Symphony
Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

*Mahler's Symphony 3*, written 1896, is the longest symphony ever written. While not in the 20th century it had enormous influence over late and post-romantic 20th century composers.

The two 20th century pieces that started the revolution were:

Stravinsky *La Sacre du Printemps*
Schoenberg *Pierrot Lunaire*.

Other significant music included:

*Berg Wozzeck* for 12 tone opera
*Debussy's La Mer* for impressionism
*Ives Three Places In New England* for expressionism and dissonance
*Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue* for merging jazz and classical
*Elgar's Symphony 1* for the new English school
*Cage Imaginary Landscape* for postmodernism
*Reich Music for 18 Musicians* for minimalism

These all either introduced, popularized or were early masterpieces of changing form in the 20th century.


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

I'd like to see Britten's _Peter Grimes_ in there somewhere. Made opera in English/England a truly viable art-form for the first time in centuries.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

composer jess said:


> I think this is a fantastic list.
> 
> I would probably remove the Bernstein and replace is with Nono's _Intolleranza_, a forceful and innovative piece of music theatre (in the classical sense!) that draws its inspiration from the contemporary political landscape and how it affects human beings. As a piece of music and theatre, it has paved the way for further developments in interdisciplinary works later in the century and into the 21st.


And I'd take out the Debussy (I think Trout's comments exaggerate its importance) I'm also very sceptical about Grisey!

There are three big area that seemed missing to me. One is all the music where the composer hands over more control either to chance or to the performers - things like Cornelius Cardew's Great Learning. The other is music which pushes instruments - things like Lachenmann's quartets or pieces by Hans Joachim Hespos. The third is some broad sense of minimalism - things like Alvin Lucier's _I am sitting in a room. _


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bbbbs,n. Be en NBA’s


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I do wish the question concerned a musical era rather than a century but even then this is difficult. What is a key work? An important one, an especially powerful one or a really influential one? And then, considering the way that approaches to music diversified during the period, how can we choose only 10 works that cover all the different strands through a 100 year period? I do know that I would have to give Stravinsky two places - one for the Rite and another for a neoclassical piece (Apollo? Symphony of Psalms?) - that it would be hard to leave out Shostakovich (even if I personally do not value his influence so highly) and that it isn't easy to choose the key work of the 2nd Viennese School (but _at least_ one work is a must). As for Bartok, I feel his piano concertos had a big influence on what followed (so choose the 1st?) and that one of his quartets is a must (but which one?). Vaughan Williams and Britten both seem vital figures to someone in Britain ... but may not outside of our little islands? And now I have barely reached 1950! Another 50 years of even more diversification to go! Help!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Boulez did place one of his own works on the list. The list in the post is the OP's list:
> 
> 10. Boulez - Repons


An interesting choice, Repons, and a fine work, a great one, that I enjoy a lot. It really does get under your skin. But I'm not really sure why this, among all his works, is singled out as his contribution to the 10 key works of the century. Can anyone hazard a reason?


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Boulez did place one of his own works on the list. The list in the post is the OP's list. Here is Boulez's list from the link:
> 
> 1. Varese - Ameriques
> 2. Berg - Three Pieces for Orchestra
> ...


That is a great list. My only (minor) quibble is the bias (imvho) towards orchestral works. One could pick Wozzeck or even the Lyric Suite for Berg, Quatuor pour la fin du temps for Messiaen, Pierrot lunaire for Schoenberg, and Le Marteau sans maître for Boulez himself.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Boulez's list is "10 Great Works". So with that in mind, I'll pick 10 that don't necessarily represent all the different developments of the 20th century. I'll just pick 10 off the top of my head that I think are great. Here goes!

1. Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
2. Messaien: Quartet for the End of Time
3. Sibelius: Symphony No.5
4. Berio: Sinfonia
5. Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
6. Adams: Nixon in China
7. Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas 6-8 (I know it's cheating)
8. Rzewski: The People United Never Will be Defeated
9. Debussy: La Mer
10. Bernstein: West Side Story


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Enthusiast said:


> An interesting choice, Repons, . . . But I'm not really sure why this, among all his works, is singled out as his contribution to the 10 key works of the century. Can anyone hazard a reason?


The way electronics is used maybe.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I am no musician or historian, and so cannot comment on the importance of the works in terms of the influence they had. I can just list 10 20th century works I would take to a desert island at this moment in time (my tastes might evolve in the future)

Shostavich - Lady McBeth
Prokofiev - Fiery Angel
Messiaen - Catalogue d'oiseaux
Bartok - Bluebeard's Castle
Schoenberg - Moses und Aron
Ravel - Daphnis et Chloé
Debussy - Préludes
Scriabin - Piano sonatas
Berg - Wozzeck
Puccini - Turandot


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

20centrfuge said:


> Boulez's list is "10 Great Works". So with that in mind, I'll pick 10 that don't necessarily represent all the different developments of the 20th century. I'll just pick 10 off the top of my head that I think are great. Here goes!
> 
> 1. Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
> 2. Messaien: Quartet for the End of Time
> ...


Actually, according to the linked article, Boulez was asked to pick what he thought were the 10 most important works of the 20th century, not just 10 great works. But I like your list anyway.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Just for comparison's sake, here's the original list from Boulez:

*Pierre Boulez Picks 10 Great Works of the 20th Century

Boulez: 10 Great Works of the 20th Century
March 26, 2015
*
I. Edgard Varèse, Ameriques
II. Alban Berg, Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
III. Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring
IV. Béla Bartók, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
V. Anton Webern, Six Pieces for Orchestra
VI. Luciano Berio, Sinfonia
VII. Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gruppen
VIII. Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 6
IX. Arnold Schönberg, Erwartung
X. Pierre Boulez, Repons


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

*Bernstein*: *West Side Story* - merged modern jazz, latin and classical
*Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring*
*Holst: The Planets* - 1916. Ended up heavily influencing film composers starting in the 1970s.
*Debussey: La Mer* - revolutionary impressionism
*Mahler: Symphony No. 6 *- Tough to choose between the 6th and the 9th, but the 6th revolutionized the symphony by example . . . starts normally, and slowly begins bulging, popping buttons, ripping seams with its intensity. And then again, there's his 1902 5th Symphony as well, well loved and oft-played. 
*Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue* - an early mainstream work that successfully merged the classical world with jazz. 
*Elgar: Cello Concerto* 
*Gorecki: Symphony No. 3*
*Ligeti, Atmosphères*
*Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta*


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Boulez list is questionable in my view, it basically says that Debussy's harmonic language (which influenced the harmonies in the Stravinsky and Bartok works listed, not to mention countless other works more popular and more frequently performed than the majority of pieces on his list), is not that important. Maybe his excuse is that Debussy's harmonic breakthrough actually occurred in the late 19th century. Still, putting a work by Berg in there over anything by Debussy or Ravel, shows his bias towards atonal music. I don't think the list is reflective of what the most important and _successful_ trends of the century were.

I don't consider highly innovative pieces that haven't yet produced pieces that have resonated with a wider audience or a high percentage of musicians to be 'key' works. They are original works with novel ideas that may or may not lead to other composers developing them into successful music.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

I really wanted to include some Ravel on my list, but maxed out . . . edged out by Gorecki.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

10 key works

*1)* Debussy - _Pelléas and Mélisande_, a masterpiece opera, highly influential and perhaps his first smashing success.
*2)* Ravel - _Miroirs_, while _Jeux d'eau_ is the first impressionist piano piece, I see _Miroirs_ as an expansion and refinement of those ideas.
*3)* Stravinsky - _Rite of Spring_, I grudgingly add this work for its impact and influence, though I don't like it. I find it a celebration of man's base primal instincts. A harbinger of the less tasteful aspects of 20th century culture. 
*4)* Bartok - _Bluebeard's Castle_, revolutionary use of harmony, rhythm and orchestration. A masterpiece by a master composer.
*5) *Sibelius - _Symphony 7_, A unique symphonist of evocative beautiful music. His music has aged like fine wine.
*6) *Ives - _The Unanswered Question_, This work is revolutionary in its structure and ahead of its time.
*7)* Mahler - _Das Lied Von der Erde_, Mahler deserves a work and in my view this is his finest.
*8)* Reich - _Music for 18 Musicians_, Minimalism, one of the few post WWII musical styles that isn't horrifically ugly. Reich's music is beautiful and has widespread appeal influencing classical and also popular music.
*9)* Partch - _Delusion of the Fury_ Brilliant use of instrumentation, an exotic masterpiece, also widespread appeal his music has influenced classical musicians as well as popular music. 
*10)* Takemitsu -_ From Me Flows What you Call Time_, Apparently Takemitsu was influenced by John Cage, so we see a skilled composer putting to musical use the ideas of an idea man.

I'll finish by saying I left out a lot of deserving works by deserving composers for the simple reason that it is not possible to reduce the greatness of the 20th Century to 10 works.

I'm mostly interested in acoustic music, so my list does not feature any electronic music. I'm not a fan of the way technology in general has been used in the 20th century, or in the present for that matter.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Keeping it at one per composer and one per decade.

1909 Mahler - Das Lied Von der Erde
1913 Stravinsky - Rite of Spring
1926 Sibelius - Tapiola
1935 Berg - Violin Concerto
1948 Strauss - Four Last Songs
1953 Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10 in E minor
1962 Britten - War Requiem
1976 Górecki - Symphony No. 3
1988 Reich - Different Trains 
1990 Takemitsu - From Me Flows What you Call Time


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

I am quite shocked that no one has yet to mention *Carl Nielsen's Fifth Symphony*, which pushes the limits of the symphony even further. It's one of the most original compositions in the history of music. *Ligeti's Atmospheres* and *Messiaen's Éclairs sur l'Au-Delà.…*(Illuminations of the Beyond....) also deserve a mention.

Moreover, *Scriabin's late works* (esp. for piano) had arguably immeasurable influences on composers who emerged in the 1910s and 1920s.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Orfeo said:


> I am quite shocked that no one has yet to mention *Carl Nielsen's Fifth Symphony*, which pushes the limits of the symphony even further. It's one of the most original compositions in the history of music. *Ligeti's Atmospheres* and *Messiaen's Éclairs sur l'Au-Delà.…*(Illuminations of the Beyond....) also deserve a mention.
> 
> Moreover, *Scriabin's late works* (esp. for piano) had arguably immeasurable influences on composers who emerged in the 1910s and 1920s.


Thoroughly agree about the Nielsen.


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## Common Listener (Apr 6, 2019)

Orfeo said:


> I am quite shocked that no one has yet to mention *Carl Nielsen's Fifth Symphony*, which pushes the limits of the symphony even further. It's one of the most original compositions in the history of music. *Ligeti's Atmospheres* and *Messiaen's Éclairs sur l'Au-Delà.…*(Illuminations of the Beyond....) also deserve a mention.
> 
> Moreover, *Scriabin's late works* (esp. for piano) had arguably immeasurable influences on composers who emerged in the 1910s and 1920s.


pianozach did mention the Ligeti.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Ferrari _Presque Rien_
Stockhausen _Kontakte_
Boulez _Marteau sans maitre_
Cardew _The Great Learning_
Lachenmann _Gran Torso_
Cage _Winter Music_
Xenakis _Kraanerg_
Hespos_ Z_
Reich _Different Trains_
Ferneyhough _Transit_


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I'm going to try this... tentatively...;

Gustav Mahler: _Das Lied von der Erde_
Pierre Boulez: _Pli selon pli_
Morton Feldman: _Rothko Chapel_
Igor Stravinsky: _Le sacre du printemps_
Arnold Schoenberg: _Pierrot Lunaire_
Sergei Prokofiev: _Piano Concerto No.2_
Jean Sibelius: _Symphony No.7_
Benjamin Britten: _War Requiem_
Olivier Messiaen: _Quatuor pour la fin du temps_
Anton Webern: _Symphony, op.21_

Argh, this is a terrible list. Too conservative/too heavily weighted toward the first half of the century. I give up. I stand by most of these choices but the 20thc. was just too massive to fit its key traits into just 10 selections.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

flamencosketches said:


> I'm going to try this... tentatively...;
> 
> Gustav Mahler: _Das Lied von der Erde_
> Pierre Boulez: _Pli selon pli_
> ...


I actually love this list...all works that I like and even love (except the Boulez and Feldman which I haven't heard) and I think made a big impact. For someone new to 20thc stuff, I would recommend most of these works! Though I think Webern's Five Pieces for Orchestra are more interesting than the Symphony.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> I actually love this list...all works that I like and even love (except the Boulez and Feldman which I haven't heard) and I think made a big impact. For someone new to 20thc stuff, I would recommend most of these works! Though I think Webern's Five Pieces for Orchestra are more interesting than the Symphony.


Thanks! The Boulez might be a little challenging but it's a real beauty of form and texture, IMO. Personally I found Pierrot Lunaire a lot harder to come to terms with. The Feldman is a work I've recently fallen in love with. I included it as a representative of the New York/American avant-garde music thing which was a big deal for the century. It's quite accessible by the standards of its time and place.

Personally I prefer Webern's Six Pieces to the Symphony (and the Five Pieces for that matter) but the symphony more closely reflects his legacy, cementing it more as a "key" work I think.


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