Climax

How Composers Use It

Plan where the climax falls, because a passage with several equal high points has none. It often comes well past the middle of a phrase or movement and lines up several parameters at once — highest pitch, loudest dynamic, densest texture, sharpest dissonance — though holding one of them back can make the arrival hit harder. Approach it in waves rather than a straight line, and give the music time to come down afterwards.

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