A virtual choir enables ordinary people 【小题1】 (add) their voices to those of other individuals while alone at home. The virtual choir was the idea of award-winning 【小题2】 (compose) and conductor Eric Whitacre. From 1997, Whitacre’s 【小题3】 (origin) compositions began to become quite popular among choirs and singers, 【小题4】 led to the creation of the virtual choir.

Why is Beethoven so popular?

In the 18^th century, kings and dukes competed by employing larger and larger orchestras 【小题1】 (boost) their image. Financially, Beethoven 【小题2】 (support) by Viennese aristocrats (贵族), but his music did not return their 【小题3】 (generous). He was free, the first free composer, whose works expressed the feelings of great happiness and excitement of the crowd that 【小题4】 (storm) the Bastille (巴士底狱). 【小题5】 filled his works were uncontrolled feelings—passion, love, hate and aggression.

Innovators are not always perfectionists. They tend to dedicate themselves 【小题6】 what is new, often ignoring other aspects of their craft. Beethoven was an 【小题7】 (except). He always found 【小题8】 difficult to be satisfied when composing music. There is not a single note in Beethoven’s compositions that is not the best choice. He wanted to be as perfect as his idol Mozart was, and he had the ambition to be considered a 【小题9】 (similar) great craftsman. He made it. This goal was certainly achieved. He presented the world with a huge gift: the simple melody in his 【小题10】 (nine) symphony.

Kenneth Williams 【小题1】 (consider) one of the greatest British comedy actors of the twentieth century. His voice is his outstanding gift; it virtually defined him as a 【小题2】 (perform).

Williams would often spend weeks deciding how a character should sound and this “voice” determined his approach to each role. 【小题3】 even after he had chosen his “voice”, he didn’t always stick to it. In the middle of 【小题4】 single performance, he would sometimes change the tone or speed of his speech, for 【小题5】 (great) comic effect. While still a beginner, he felt he should be given the freedom to do as he wished on stage and often 【小题6】 (ignore) his directors’ instructions. This greatly annoyed some directors, who refused 【小题7】 (work) with him. Sometimes, he would completely ignore the script and make up his own lines during performance. Although he was proud of his ability to go “off scripts”, he became extremely angry if other actors tried to do the same, 【小题8】 (argue) that they were simply not good at it.

Williams loved to make his audience laugh. When performing a scene 【小题9】 there were few laughs, he would often make up 【小题10】 own jokes, which always entertained the audience, but sometimes also ruined the scene.