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