He was deaf when he composed it, a feat in itself, and is the first composer to add the human voice to a symphonic piece.
He composed it in the late fifties, after having published three novels, and its main subject is his frustrated efforts and ongoing plans to write another, vastly ambitious set of novels (for which, in effect, the book serves as an advertisement or trailer).
He composed it on his iPad.
He composed it in 1732, to an anonymous libretto based on Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso".
Its effectiveness is doubly impressive because Schubert was only 18 years old when he composed it.
When the president gives a speech, few Americans believe he composed it.
If I was playing Beethoven's Fifth, it would be irrelevant if I had been there when he composed it.
He composed it in the Dix Hills house, in the spacious room above the garage where he practiced.
Though he was nearly 50 when he composed it, Hippolyte et Aricie was Rameau's first opera, and dramatically it's not without its flaws.
For that matter, there is no record proving that he performed the Vespers at all, either in Venice or in Mantua, Italy, where he composed it.
