16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardLetter excerpt supporting a claim about a composer's revisions

Information and Ideas practice question

A biographer claims that the composer Aurelie Marchand could not stop revising her music even after it had been performed.

Which quotation from Marchand's letters would best support the biographer's claim?

  1. A. 'The quartet was played on Tuesday to warm applause, and on Wednesday I tore out its slow movement and began it again.'Correct
  2. B. 'I finished the quartet in a single fortnight and have not looked at it since.'
  3. C. 'The hall was cold and the audience small, but the players were kind.'
  4. D. 'I have promised my publisher a new sonata by spring.'

Answer: A. 'The quartet was played on Tuesday to warm applause, and on Wednesday I tore out its slow movement and began it again.'

Performed on Tuesday, torn up on Wednesday: revising after performance, exactly what the biographer claims.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. 'I finished the quartet in a single fortnight and have not looked at it since.'
Not looking at it since is the opposite of compulsive revision.
C. 'The hall was cold and the audience small, but the players were kind.'
Describes a concert, not what she did with the music afterwards.
D. 'I have promised my publisher a new sonata by spring.'
A promise of new work says nothing about revising old work.

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