User:Magicpiano/What is a good composer article?
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This is a reflection on what, in my opinion, constitute the elements of a high-quality composer biography. It is based on having read and reviewed over 300 such biographic articles on Wikipedia. It is intended to provide a set of markers against which an editor can judge how well, or how completely, an article about a composer covers its subject. For richly-documented composers, like Ludwig van Beethoven or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the full material may cover multiple articles; however, the main article on the subject should touch all of the important bases.
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I am a firm believer that biographic articles are essentially stories; they have plot elements needing development, beginnings, middles, and ends. Things that are important in the subject's life need to be introduced properly at the appropriate time, and developed when they become important. For example, for someone who is unhappily married and has an affair, we should probably know when s/he met the paramour, even if it is well before the affair. Family details are sometimes omitted from biographies; basic facts should be included: when a spouse was met, when they married, how many children. (If these actors are important to the music, that relationship should obviously be developed.)