Final Examination

Navigation » List of Schools » California State University, Northridge » Music » Music 105 – Understanding Music » Spring 2022 » Final Examination

Need help with your exam preparation?

Existing Quiz Clients Login here

Below are the questions for the exam with the choices of answers:

Try The Exam

Question #1

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

A atonality.

B polytonality.

C a tone cluster.

D ostinato.

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 William C. Handy.

C Bessie Smith.

D King Oliver.

Question #3

The backbone of a jazz ensemble is its

A brass section.

B clarinet section.

C rhythm section.

D director.

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 rapidly changing dynamics and textures.

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

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

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 Klangfarbenmelodie.

B serialism.

C chance music.

D minimalism.

Question #7

George Gershwin grew up in

A Anatevka, Russia.

B New York, New York.

C Charleston, South Carolina.

D Paris, France.

Question #8

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

A concert pianist.

B conductor.

C singer.

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 absolute

B pure

C symphonic

D concert

Question #11

Program music is

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

B vocal music that tells a story.

C All answers are correct.

D music that depicts aspects of nature.

Question #12

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

A Budapest

B Paris

C Rome

D Weimar

Question #13

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

A an etude.

B a polonaise.

C a nocturne.

D ein lied.

Question #14

Most of Chopin’s pieces

A have literary programs or titles.

B are exquisite miniatures.

C have a limited variety of moods.

D are for a wide range of media.

Question #15

Chopin expressed his love of Poland by composing polonaises and

A mazurkas.

B folk songs.

C waltzes.

D polkas.

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 ballade

D durchkomponiert

Question #18

An art song is a musical composition for

A solo voice and orchestra.

B All answers are correct.

C multiple voices.

D solo voice and piano.

Question #19

When music conservatories were founded, women

A were not admitted.

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

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

D were admitted only as vocalists.

Question #20

The rise of the urban middle class led to the

A formation of many orchestras and opera groups.

B development of regular subscription concerts.

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

D All answers are correct.

Question #21

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

A Hector Berlioz.

B Frédéric Chopin.

C Franz Schubert.

D Franz Liszt.

Question #22

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

A Johann Sebastian Bach.

B Ludwig van Beethoven.

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 the colonisation of Africa.

B his family lineage.

C the Renaissance.

D nineteenth-century society and culture.

Question #24

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

A leitmotif.

B unending melody.

C speech-song.

D lied.

Question #25

The librettos to The Ring of the Nibelung were written by

A Richard Wagner

B King Ludwig of Bavaria.

C Hans von Bülow.

D Arrigo Boito.

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 accelerando.

B fermata.

C ritardando.

D rubato.

Question #28

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

A Johann Sebastian Bach.

B Hector Berlioz.

C Ludwig van Beethoven.

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 Turandot and Manon Lescaut.

B La Bohème and Madame Butterfly.

C Tosca and Turandot.

D Madame Butterfly and Turandot.

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 Joseph Haydn.

D Ludwig van Beethoven.

Question #31

Brahms wrote masterpieces in many musical forms, but never any

A chamber music.

B art songs.

C operas.

D choral works.

Question #32

Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet is

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

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

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

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

Question #33

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

A Modest Mussorgsky

B Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

C Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

D César Cu

Question #34

Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony

A was left unfinished by the composer.

B is in the usual four-movement form.

C ends with a slow, despairing finale.

D has five movements.

Question #35

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

A studied music theory and violin as a teenager.

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

C preferred his government position to music.

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

Question #36

Composers expressed musical nationalism in their music by

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

B using their national legends as subject matter.

C using the rhythms of the dances of their homelands.

D All answers are correct.

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 an instrumental soloist and orchestra.

C any combination of instruments.

D symphonic orchestra.

Question #39

The last movement of a classical symphony

A is always in the tonic key of the symphony.

B All answers are correct.

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

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

Question #40

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

A minuet

B ABA

C rondo

D sonata

Question #41

The scherzo differs from the minuet in that it

A All answers are correct.

B has a different meter.

C moves more quickly.

D has a different form.

Question #42

The minuet is in _______ meter.

A quadruple

B triple

C duple

D common

Question #43

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

A first.

B second.

C fourth.

D third.

Question #44

Each successive variation in a theme with variations

A is usually in the same key.

B presents a new melodic idea.

C retains some elements of the theme.

D is usually in a new key.

Question #45

Sonata form should be viewed as

A a rigid mold into which musical ideas are poured.

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

C another term for the symphony.

D a set of variations on a theme.

Question #46

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

A motives.

B melodies.

C codas.

D rides.

Question #47

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

A changing the meter of the second theme.

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

C retaining the same tonality for both themes.

D the introduction of a new theme in the bridge.

Question #48

In the classical period, comic operas sometimes

A were based on the Old Testament.

B All answers are correct.

C were in Latin.

D ridiculed the aristocracy.

Question #49

Haydn’s contract of employment shows that he was considered

A a skilled servant.

B a freelance musician.

C an equal by his employer.

D a visiting guest composer.

Question #50

Social mobility during the classical period was

A promoted and encouraged by the church.

B a limited sociological factor.

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

D ruthlessly stamped out by the aristocracy.

Question #51

A symphony is a

A work for chorus and orchestra.

B work for piano solo.

C work for solo instrument.

D sonata for orchestra.

Question #52

Beethoven’s only opera is entitled

A Don Giovanni.

B Madame Butterfly.

C Fidelio.

D The Magic Flute.

Question #53

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

A Basso continuo

B Monophony

C Fugal counterpoint

D Operatic form

Question #54

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

A keept a diary.

B showed his workflow in musical sketchbooks.

C described his struggles in letters to friends.

D told his troubles to his biographer.

Question #55

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

A Sir John Falstaff.

B a despotic Italian nobleman.

C the servant to Leporello.

D the legendary Spanish lover.

Question #56

Mozart was born in

A Salzburg, Austria.

B Bonn, Germany.

C Rohrau, Austria.

D Eisenach, Germany.

Question #57

The typical orchestra of the classical period consisted of

A strings with harpsichord continuo.

B woodwinds, trombones, drums, and strings.

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

D a loose ensemble of available instruments.

Question #58

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

A 1820-1900.

B 1600-1750.

C 1450-1600.

D 1750-1820.

Question #59

Homophonic texture consists of

A a single melodic line without accompaniment.

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

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

D one main melody accompanied by chords.

Question #60

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

A dominant.

B tonic.

C scale.

D modulation.

Question #61

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

A progression.

B tonic chord.

C resolution.

D dominant chord.

Question #62

A sequence may be defined as

A a part of a melody.

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

C a resting place at the end of a phrase.

D the emotional focal point of a melody.

Question #63

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

A vibrato.

B staccato.

C glissando.

D legato.

Question #64

Staccato refers to playing or singing a melody

A in small steps.

B at a higher or lower pitch.

C in a short, detached manner.

D in a smooth, connected manner.

Question #65

In musical notation, silence is indicated by

A beams.

B clefs.

C notes.

D rests.

Question #66

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

A adagio

B vivace

C allegro

D andante

Question #67

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

A Expiation

B Syncopation

C A ritardando

D A metronome

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

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

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

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

Question #70

The relative highness or lowness of a sound is called

A pitch.

B timbre.

C dynamics.

D octave.

Question #71

The range of a singer’s voice depends on

A physical makeup.

B training and physical makeup.

C which microphone the singer uses.

D training and musical style.

Question #72

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

A crescendo.

B blooper.

C pianissimo.

D dynamic accent.

Question #73

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

A an octave.

B pitch range.

C timbre.

D dynamic accent.

Question #74

Music can be defined as

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

B a system of symbols that performers learn to read.

C sounds that are pleasing, as opposed to noise.

D sounds produced by musical instruments.

Try The Exam

Fresh Grad Lands Job as Real Estate Agent With Help from Professional Writers

Need help with your exam preparation?

Below are the questions for the exam with the choices of answers:

Christian S.

Tyra

Linda

Manush

We accept payment