And, on "The Wind," he's used an occasion that might have proven ponderous or sentimental to say goodbye to his audience in a way that is at once dignified, high-spirited and touching.
The third movement and the anthemic finale threaten to break into full-blown fugues a number of times yet prove anything but ponderous or academic.
He has only signed on loan for two months, so Arsenal fans have precisely that length of time to forget about how ponderous Marouane Chamakh proved in front of goal, or how irritatingly inconsistent Gervinho's finishing has been, and savour Henry linking up with Robin van Persie.
Still, this was an accommodating audience, as it proved during Seal's set by patiently waiting out a ponderous obscurity, "State of Grace".
Opulence, in the form of gilded and painted screens, proved particularly effective for decorating interiors of fortified shogunal castles, with their thick walls, small windows and ponderous eaves.
It may have proved tougher than they expected, if only because Copland switches gears so frequently, putting supple string lines in the spotlight one moment, then shifting to ponderous wind and percussion figures the next.
The adventurous New Victory Theater seems to be on a mission to prove that theater for children can be serious without being ponderous.
Its protagonist, Captain Ahab, represents a return to what Melville called (defending Ahab's status as tragic hero) a "mighty pageant creature, formed for noble tragedies," whose "ponderous heart," "globular brain," and "nervous lofty language" prove that even an old Nantucket sea captain can take his place with kings and princes of the ancient drama.
Despite its gentle – some might say ponderous – pace, this politically charged tale of a Blair-like former prime minister and the man brought in to help write his memoirs proves the film-maker's ability to create gripping cinema without succumbing to the action-movie tropes that have infiltrated the thriller genre in recent years.
Each week we will pre-ponder the ponderous and de-hype the hype.
