GRE Reading Comprehension
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Women played a substantial role in the furthering of the Polish art song in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. One notable woman from this time period was Maria Szymanowska, who was both a concert pianist and a composer.
Szymanowska was a member of the Warsaw Music Society who contributed pieces to a cycle entitled Historical Songs. Her songs are by far the most creative and individualistic of the cycle. In addition, Szymanowska composed more than one hundred other pieces, mostly for the piano, including six romances.
Her songs most resemble French romances, and she also employs Polonaise rhythms in two of her songs. In all her works, the melodic line is technically superior. She employs idiomatic keyboard writing, wide chord-spacing, broad cantilenas, and interesting modulations. She also uses the most compelling registers of the instrument and pianistic keys. Her romances are on par with those of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mozart. In fact, Szymanowska was praised by her contemporaries, such as Schumann, who lauded her etudes. Her piano playing was frequently equated to that of Hummel, though Szymanowska's was said to be more ethereal. Thus, she is a progenitor of Chopin in both piano technique and composition.
Female contributors to the development of Polish music have been chiefly ignored. From the meager records which have been preserved, it is incontrovertible that Polish women were, in fact, playing, instructing, and writing music as early as the fifteenth century. However, patriarchal societal structures have precluded adequate documentation about, and preservation of, their work. Unless changes take place, human society will be made poorer for its inability to recognize the expertise and inventiveness of these women.
Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
- A Szymanowska's advancement of the music of Polish art songs in spite of patriarchal pressure demonstrates her feminist tendencies.
- B Szymanowska composed works beyond the genre of the Polonaise that are deserving of praise.
- C Szymanowska's works that contributed to the development of Polish art song garnered a disproportionate amount of attention, considering that such compositions were only a small part of her repertoire.