Ron Chaplin:

>I wonder if you could explain to me what tension-release is in music?

Sing the "A" without the "men."

For Mahler, sing the "A," go grocery shopping, then sing the "men."

For Bruckner, sing "A A A A A A A A," then "men."

For Copland and Tchaikovsky, sing "Ah....."men."

For early Schoenberg, sing "A...."

For later Schoenberg, sing "A, C, B, F, C#, D#," then "F#, Eb, etc."

John Smyth