Final Examination

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Question #1

The absence of key or tonality in a musical composition is known as

A polytonality.

B atonality.

C ostinato.

D a tone cluster.

Question #2

The poetic and musical form of the blues was popularized in the early years of the twentieth century through the publication of Memphis Blues and St. Louis Blues, composed by

A Louis Armstrong.

B King Oliver.

C William C. Handy.

D Bessie Smith.

Question #3

The backbone of a jazz ensemble is its

A brass section.

B clarinet section.

C director.

D rhythm section.

Question #4

When a voice is answered by an instrument, or when one instrument (or group of instruments) is answered by a chorus, the pattern is referred to as

A call and response.

B jazz.

C polyphonic texture.

D calling the beat.

Question #5

Minimalist music is characterized by

A the use of twelve-tone techniques to organize the dimensions of music.

B a steady pulse, clear tonality, and insistent repetition of short melodic patterns.

C rapidly changing dynamics and textures.

D the development of musical materials through random methods.

Question #6

Twelve-tone compositional techniques used to organize rhythm, dynamics, tone color, and other dimensions of music to produce totally controlled and organized music are called

A chance music.

B serialism.

C minimalism.

D Klangfarbenmelodie.

Question #7

George Gershwin grew up in

A Charleston, South Carolina.

B New York, New York.

C Anatevka, Russia.

D Paris, France.

Question #8

Outside France, Berlioz enjoyed a great career as a(n)

A concert pianist.

B singer.

C conductor.

D impresario.

Question #9

A ____________ is an instrumental composition in several movements based to some extent on a literary or pictorial idea.

A concert overture

B nocturne

C polonaise

D program symphony

Question #10

Nonprogram music is also known as _____________ music.

A pure

B concert

C absolute

D symphonic

Question #11

Program music is

A music that depicts aspects of nature.

B vocal music that tells a story.

C instrumental music associated with a story, poem, idea, or scene.

D All answers are correct.

Question #12

Liszt abandoned his career as a traveling virtuoso to become court conductor at __________, where he championed works by contemporary composers.

A Weimar

B Budapest

C Paris

D Rome

Question #13

A study piece, designed to help a performer master specific technical difficulties, is known as

A ein lied.

B an etude.

C a polonaise.

D a nocturne.

Question #14

Most of Chopin’s pieces

A are for a wide range of media.

B have a limited variety of moods.

C are exquisite miniatures.

D have literary programs or titles.

Question #15

Chopin expressed his love of Poland by composing polonaises and

A folk songs.

B waltzes.

C polkas.

D mazurkas.

Question #16

Schubert

A was widely acknowledged as a composer in his lifetime.

B was the first great master of the romantic art song.

C was very self-critical, which accounts for his meager output.

D produced his greatest works after the age of forty.

Question #17

The word ___________ is commonly used for a romantic art song with a German text.

A lied

B chanson

C durchkomponiert

D ballade

Question #18

An art song is a musical composition for

A All answers are correct.

B multiple voices.

C solo voice and orchestra.

D solo voice and piano.

Question #19

When music conservatories were founded, women

A could only study musical composition, since performance was considered undignified.

B were not admitted.

C were at first accepted only as students of performance, but by the late 1800s could study musical composition.

D were admitted only as vocalists.

Question #20

The rise of the urban middle class led to the

A All answers are correct.

B development of regular subscription concerts.

C piano becoming a fixture in every middle-class home.

D formation of many orchestras and opera groups.

Question #21

A romantic composer who earned his living as a touring virtuoso was

A Hector Berlioz.

B Franz Liszt.

C Frédéric Chopin.

D Franz Schubert.

Question #22

The composer whose career was a model for many romantic composers was

A Ludwig van Beethoven.

B Johann Sebastian Bach.

C Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

D Joseph Haydn.

Question #23

While Wagner’s Ring cycle features fantastical elements such as gods, giants, and magic, the opera is really about

A nineteenth-century society and culture.

B the Renaissance.

C his family lineage.

D the colonisation of Africa.

Question #24

A short musical idea associated with a person, object, or thought, used by Richard Wagner in his operas, is called

A unending melody.

B lied.

C leitmotif.

D speech-song.

Question #25

The librettos to The Ring of the Nibelung were written by

A Hans von Bülow.

B Arrigo Boito.

C King Ludwig of Bavaria.

D Richard Wagner

Question #26

During Wagner’s time in Paris, he

A finished his masterpiece, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

B was unable to get an opera performed and was reduced to musical hackwork.

C conducted the famous premiere of his opera, Rienzi.

D built an opera house according to his specifications.

Question #27

A slight holding back or pressing forward of tempo in music is known as

A fermata.

B rubato.

C accelerando.

D ritardando.

Question #28

The composer who had an overwhelming influence on the young Wagner was

A Ludwig van Beethoven.

B Johann Sebastian Bach.

C Hector Berlioz.

D Johannes Brahms.

Question #29

Some of Puccini’s operas feature exoticism, as in his use of melodic and rhythmic elements derived from Japanese and Chinese music in his operas

A Tosca and Turandot.

B Madame Butterfly and Turandot.

C La Bohème and Madame Butterfly.

D Turandot and Manon Lescaut.

Question #30

Brahms’s works, though very personal in style, are rooted in the music of

A All answers are correct.

B Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

C Ludwig van Beethoven.

D Joseph Haydn.

Question #31

Brahms wrote masterpieces in many musical forms, but never any

A choral works.

B art songs.

C chamber music.

D operas.

Question #32

Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet is

A a medley of popular melodies taken from his opera of that name.

B a ballet based on Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.

C an early programmatic symphony inspired by the characters in Shakespeare’s play.

D a concert overture consisting of a slow introduction and a fast movement in sonata form.

Question #33

Which of the following was not a member of the Russian five?

A Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

B Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

C César Cu

D Modest Mussorgsky

Question #34

Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony

A ends with a slow, despairing finale.

B is in the usual four-movement form.

C was left unfinished by the composer.

D has five movements.

Question #35

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

A studied music theory and violin as a teenager.

B was a child prodigy, learning music at an early age.

C began to study music theory at the age of twenty-one.

D preferred his government position to music.

Question #36

Composers expressed musical nationalism in their music by

A using the rhythms of the dances of their homelands.

B All answers are correct.

C using their national legends as subject matter.

D basing their music on the folk songs of their country.

Question #37

The favored solo instrument in the classical concerto was the

A clarinet.

B piano.

C cello.

D harpsichord.

Question #38

A concerto is a large-scale work in several movements for

A an instrumental soloist.

B symphonic orchestra.

C an instrumental soloist and orchestra.

D any combination of instruments.

Question #39

The last movement of a classical symphony

A All answers are correct.

B is most often in sonata or sonata-rondo form.

C is always in the tonic key of the symphony.

D is usually fast, lively, and brilliant, but somewhat lighter in mood than the opening movement.

Question #40

The first movement of a classical symphony is almost always fast, and in _____ form.

A ABA

B sonata

C rondo

D minuet

Question #41

The scherzo differs from the minuet in that it

A All answers are correct.

B has a different meter.

C has a different form.

D moves more quickly.

Question #42

The minuet is in _______ meter.

A quadruple

B common

C triple

D duple

Question #43

The movement of a symphony that is often patterned after a dance is the

A second.

B first.

C fourth.

D third.

Question #44

Each successive variation in a theme with variations

A presents a new melodic idea.

B is usually in the same key.

C is usually in a new key.

D retains some elements of the theme.

Question #45

Sonata form should be viewed as

A another term for the symphony.

B a set of principles that serve to shape and unify contrasts of theme and key.

C a set of variations on a theme.

D a rigid mold into which musical ideas are poured.

Question #46

Short musical ideas or fragments of themes that are developed within a composition are called

A melodies.

B rides.

C motives.

D codas.

Question #47

A feeling of harmonic tension and forward motion is created in the exposition of a sonata form movement by

A the introduction of a new theme in the bridge.

B retaining the same tonality for both themes.

C changing the meter of the second theme.

D the conflict of tonalities between the first and second themes.

Question #48

In the classical period, comic operas sometimes

A All answers are correct.

B were based on the Old Testament.

C were in Latin.

D ridiculed the aristocracy.

Question #49

Haydn’s contract of employment shows that he was considered

A a visiting guest composer.

B a skilled servant.

C an equal by his employer.

D a freelance musician.

Question #50

Social mobility during the classical period was

A a limited sociological factor.

B ruthlessly stamped out by the aristocracy.

C promoted and encouraged by the church.

D an important factor in the rise of the middle class.

Question #51

A symphony is a

A work for piano solo.

B work for solo instrument.

C work for chorus and orchestra.

D sonata for orchestra.

Question #52

Beethoven’s only opera is entitled

A Fidelio.

B The Magic Flute.

C Madame Butterfly.

D Don Giovanni.

Question #53

What following technique did Beethoven use more extensively in his late works?

A Basso continuo

B Fugal counterpoint

C Monophony

D Operatic form

Question #54

We have a record of Beethoven’s struggle with his musical material because he

A told his troubles to his biographer.

B keept a diary.

C described his struggles in letters to friends.

D showed his workflow in musical sketchbooks.

Question #55

Don Giovanni, in Mozart’s opera of that name, is

A Sir John Falstaff.

B the servant to Leporello.

C a despotic Italian nobleman.

D the legendary Spanish lover.

Question #56

Mozart was born in

A Rohrau, Austria.

B Salzburg, Austria.

C Bonn, Germany.

D Eisenach, Germany.

Question #57

The typical orchestra of the classical period consisted of

A a loose ensemble of available instruments.

B strings with harpsichord continuo.

C strings, woodwinds, horns, trumpets, and timpani.

D woodwinds, trombones, drums, and strings.

Question #58

Classicism, as a stylistic period in western music, roughly encompassed the years

A 1450-1600.

B 1820-1900.

C 1750-1820.

D 1600-1750.

Question #59

Homophonic texture consists of

A one main melody accompanied by chords.

B two or more different versions of the same basic melody performed simultaneously.

C two or more melodies of relatively equal interest performed simultaneously.

D a single melodic line without accompaniment.

Question #60

The central tone around which a musical composition is organized is called the

A dominant.

B modulation.

C tonic.

D scale.

Question #61

The triad built on the fifth step of the scale is called the

A resolution.

B progression.

C dominant chord.

D tonic chord.

Question #62

A sequence may be defined as

A the repetition of a melodic pattern at a higher or lower pitch.

B the emotional focal point of a melody.

C a resting place at the end of a phrase.

D a part of a melody.

Question #63

A smooth, connected style of playing a melody is known as

A legato.

B vibrato.

C staccato.

D glissando.

Question #64

Staccato refers to playing or singing a melody

A in small steps.

B at a higher or lower pitch.

C in a smooth, connected manner.

D in a short, detached manner.

Question #65

In musical notation, silence is indicated by

A rests.

B clefs.

C notes.

D beams.

Question #66

The Italian term _____________ is a tempo marking to indicate a lively pace.

A vivace

B allegro

C adagio

D andante

Question #67

Which of the following is a characteristic feature of jazz music?

A A metronome

B A ritardando

C Syncopation

D Expiation

Question #68

The frequency of vibrations is measured in

A dynamic levels.

B noiselike sounds.

C cycles per minute.

D cycles per second.

Question #69

Pizzicato is an indication to the performer to

A repeat tones by quick up-and-down strokes of the bow.

B pluck the string with the finger instead of using the bow.

C draw the bow across two strings at the same time.

D veil or muffle the tone by fitting a clamp onto the bridge.

Question #70

The relative highness or lowness of a sound is called

A timbre.

B pitch.

C octave.

D dynamics.

Question #71

The range of a singer’s voice depends on

A training and musical style.

B which microphone the singer uses.

C physical makeup.

D training and physical makeup.

Question #72

When a performer emphasizes a tone by playing it more loudly than the tones around it, it is called a

A blooper.

B pianissimo.

C dynamic accent.

D crescendo.

Question #73

The distance between the lowest and highest tones a voice or instrument can produce is called

A dynamic accent.

B pitch range.

C timbre.

D an octave.

Question #74

Music can be defined as

A a system of symbols that performers learn to read.

B sounds that are pleasing, as opposed to noise.

C an art based on the organization of sounds in time.

D sounds produced by musical instruments.

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