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When words fail

Brenda Tremblay

A music critic wrestles with the limitations of lexicon.

"Music, especially purely instrumental music, resists being described in language. It’s very hard to convey sounds through words. Perhaps that’s what we most love about music: that it’s beyond description, deeper than words."

Anthony Tommasini is The New York Times’s classical music critic. Read his essay here.

Brenda Tremblay has served as weekday morning host on WXXI Classical since 2009.