"... a composer who treads the realms of jazz, bossa nova, and classical music.

English translation: a jazz composer who traverses a range of styles . . .

18:48 Jul 29, 2013
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism / word choice
English term or phrase: "... a composer who treads the realms of jazz, bossa nova, and classical music.
This is from a concert review I translated from Spanish into English.

"... a composer who treads the realms of jazz, bossa nova, and classical music with unrivaled mastery and passion."

My use of "treads the realms" was labeled as "awkward" by my editor.
The Spanish original went like this:

"...un compositor que transita por las sendas del jazz, el bossa nova y la música clásica con igual maestría y pasión insuperables."

What do you think, my fellow Prozians. Is it really awkward?
George Rabel
Local time: 11:00
Selected answer:a jazz composer who traverses a range of styles . . .
Explanation:

I would suggest something like:

"... a jazz composer who traverses a range of styles, bossa nova, and classical music with unrivaled mastery and passion."

Selected response from:

Demi Ebrite
United States
Local time: 10:00
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +7a jazz composer who traverses a range of styles . . .
Demi Ebrite
3 -1straddles the realms
Arabic & More


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
a jazz composer who traverses a range of styles . . .


Explanation:

I would suggest something like:

"... a jazz composer who traverses a range of styles, bossa nova, and classical music with unrivaled mastery and passion."




    Reference: http://www.jazz.com/music/archives/2008/4
    Reference: http://www.jasonbodlovich.com/press.php
Demi Ebrite
United States
Local time: 10:00
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much. I shall forever more refrain from treading any more realms!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Yes, might still be polished up, but already a vast improvement on the original ;-)
18 mins
  -> I agree with your comment and your discussion entry Tony - well said.

agree  British Diana
31 mins
  -> Thank you, Diana.

agree  Sheri P
6 hrs
  -> Thank you, Sheri.

agree  Phong Le
9 hrs
  -> Thank you, Phon Le.

agree  638556 (X)
13 hrs
  -> Thank you, Jo.

agree  Yvonne Gallagher: I'd rephrase...maybe, "composer who is unrivaled in his mastery and passion across/over a range of styles...
13 hrs
  -> Thank you, gallagy2. Your suggeston for a rephrase would work as well.

neutral  B D Finch: Like the first part, but not too sure about classical and jazz being musical "styles".// Yes, "genres" sounds good.
14 hrs
  -> Thank you, Barbara. There are many ways to rephrase the sentence. I was most concerned about the verb usage, as 'treads' is quite awkward; 'genres' would be a decent choice.

agree  Anna Herbst: This sounds much better than the askers suggestion.
1 day 7 hrs
  -> Thank you, Anna.
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
straddles the realms


Explanation:
My Spanish is not good enough to understand the sentence you posted, but just based on the English, I might have said "straddles" instead of treads. If you Google "straddles the realms," you will see that it is a common expression and fits the context of your sentence.

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Note added at 33 mins (2013-07-29 19:21:49 GMT)
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Yes, I do think your version is slightly awkward. The reason is because "straddles the realms" is so common that "treads" feels as though you picked the wrong word. I do not think that "treads" is necessarily "wrong," but I was slightly distracted by the word...thinking to myself that there is another, more common way to put it.

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Note added at 36 mins (2013-07-29 19:24:48 GMT)
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Example:

http://www.reverbnation.com/abbiestands

Abbie Stands is an Inspirational Christian Singer who just completed her debut album "Hope Comes Running". Her music straddles the realms of classical and pop, infused with bits of jazz and gospel.

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Note added at 1 hr (2013-07-29 20:18:16 GMT)
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Some other options could be:

"threads together the realms of..."

"weaves together the realms of..."

Arabic & More
Jordan
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: I don't think 'straddle' is really quite right here; one might talk of a style that straddles between 2 genres, but the SP clearly conveys the idea of moving through/between these different genres.
22 mins

disagree  B D Finch: He'd need extremely long legs to "straddle realms"! A realm is a kingdom. The metaphor is fine when the subject of the sentence is more abstract and not a person. Try Googling "he straddles the realms" and you will see very few (ill-conceived) examples.
14 hrs
  -> It seems you are taking the metaphor too literally as "straddle the realms" is quite common in this context (example and link provided above).

neutral  Sheila Wilson: Your link talks about two realms, but the singer's straddling the border between them, and you can't really say the same for the THREE genres here
1 day 2 hrs
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