Final Examination

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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 William C. Handy.

B Bessie Smith.

C King Oliver.

D Louis Armstrong.

Question #3

The backbone of a jazz ensemble is its

A brass section.

B director.

C clarinet section.

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 jazz.

B call and response.

C polyphonic texture.

D calling the beat.

Question #5

Minimalist music is characterized by

A the development of musical materials through random methods.

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

C rapidly changing dynamics and textures.

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

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 minimalism.

B serialism.

C chance music.

D Klangfarbenmelodie.

Question #7

George Gershwin grew up in

A Paris, France.

B Anatevka, Russia.

C Charleston, South Carolina.

D New York, New York.

Question #8

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

A concert pianist.

B impresario.

C singer.

D conductor.

Question #9

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

A polonaise

B concert overture

C nocturne

D program symphony

Question #10

Nonprogram music is also known as _____________ music.

A pure

B concert

C symphonic

D absolute

Question #11

Program music is

A vocal music that tells a story.

B All answers are correct.

C music that depicts aspects of nature.

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

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 a polonaise.

B ein lied.

C a nocturne.

D an etude.

Question #14

Most of Chopin’s pieces

A have a limited variety of moods.

B have literary programs or titles.

C are for a wide range of media.

D are exquisite miniatures.

Question #15

Chopin expressed his love of Poland by composing polonaises and

A polkas.

B mazurkas.

C folk songs.

D waltzes.

Question #16

Schubert

A was widely acknowledged as a composer in his lifetime.

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

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

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 ballade

C chanson

D durchkomponiert

Question #18

An art song is a musical composition for

A solo voice and piano.

B multiple voices.

C All answers are correct.

D solo voice and orchestra.

Question #19

When music conservatories were founded, women

A were not admitted.

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

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 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 Liszt.

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 Joseph Haydn.

D Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Question #23

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

A his family lineage.

B the Renaissance.

C the colonisation of Africa.

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 speech-song.

C lied.

D unending melody.

Question #25

The librettos to The Ring of the Nibelung were written by

A Richard Wagner

B Arrigo Boito.

C Hans von Bülow.

D King Ludwig of Bavaria.

Question #26

During Wagner’s time in Paris, he

A built an opera house according to his specifications.

B conducted the famous premiere of his opera, Rienzi.

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

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

Question #27

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

A ritardando.

B fermata.

C accelerando.

D rubato.

Question #28

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

A Johann Sebastian Bach.

B Johannes Brahms.

C Hector Berlioz.

D Ludwig van Beethoven.

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 Turandot and Manon Lescaut.

D La Bohème and Madame Butterfly.

Question #30

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

A Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

B Joseph Haydn.

C Ludwig van Beethoven.

D All answers are correct.

Question #31

Brahms wrote masterpieces in many musical forms, but never any

A operas.

B chamber music.

C choral works.

D art songs.

Question #32

Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet is

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

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

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

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

Question #33

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

A Modest Mussorgsky

B Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

C César Cu

D Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Question #34

Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony

A has five movements.

B was left unfinished by the composer.

C ends with a slow, despairing finale.

D is in the usual four-movement form.

Question #35

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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

B preferred his government position to music.

C studied music theory and violin as a teenager.

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

Question #36

Composers expressed musical nationalism in their music by

A All answers are correct.

B using their national legends as subject matter.

C using the rhythms of the dances of their homelands.

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

Question #37

The favored solo instrument in the classical concerto was the

A cello.

B clarinet.

C harpsichord.

D piano.

Question #38

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

A any combination of instruments.

B symphonic orchestra.

C an instrumental soloist and orchestra.

D an instrumental soloist.

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 most often in sonata or sonata-rondo form.

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 sonata

B ABA

C minuet

D rondo

Question #41

The scherzo differs from the minuet in that it

A has a different meter.

B has a different form.

C moves more quickly.

D All answers are correct.

Question #42

The minuet is in _______ meter.

A triple

B quadruple

C common

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 retains some elements of the theme.

C is usually in a new key.

D is usually in the same key.

Question #45

Sonata form should be viewed as

A a set of variations on a theme.

B another term for the symphony.

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

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 codas.

C rides.

D motives.

Question #47

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

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

B the introduction of a new theme in the bridge.

C changing the meter of the second theme.

D retaining the same tonality for both themes.

Question #48

In the classical period, comic operas sometimes

A ridiculed the aristocracy.

B were in Latin.

C All answers are correct.

D were based on the Old Testament.

Question #49

Haydn’s contract of employment shows that he was considered

A a freelance musician.

B a visiting guest composer.

C an equal by his employer.

D a skilled servant.

Question #50

Social mobility during the classical period was

A promoted and encouraged by the church.

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

C a limited sociological factor.

D ruthlessly stamped out by the aristocracy.

Question #51

A symphony is a

A sonata for orchestra.

B work for piano solo.

C work for chorus and orchestra.

D work for solo instrument.

Question #52

Beethoven’s only opera is entitled

A The Magic Flute.

B Don Giovanni.

C Madame Butterfly.

D Fidelio.

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 showed his workflow in musical sketchbooks.

B described his struggles in letters to friends.

C told his troubles to his biographer.

D keept a diary.

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 strings with harpsichord continuo.

B woodwinds, trombones, drums, and strings.

C a loose ensemble of available instruments.

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

Question #58

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

A 1750-1820.

B 1820-1900.

C 1450-1600.

D 1600-1750.

Question #59

Homophonic texture consists of

A a single melodic line without accompaniment.

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

C one main melody accompanied by chords.

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

Question #60

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

A scale.

B dominant.

C tonic.

D modulation.

Question #61

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

A resolution.

B dominant chord.

C progression.

D tonic chord.

Question #62

A sequence may be defined as

A the emotional focal point of a melody.

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

C a part of a melody.

D a resting place at the end of a phrase.

Question #63

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

A staccato.

B legato.

C vibrato.

D glissando.

Question #64

Staccato refers to playing or singing a melody

A in a smooth, connected manner.

B in small steps.

C in a short, detached manner.

D at a higher or lower pitch.

Question #65

In musical notation, silence is indicated by

A clefs.

B notes.

C rests.

D beams.

Question #66

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

A allegro

B andante

C adagio

D vivace

Question #67

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

A A metronome

B A ritardando

C Expiation

D Syncopation

Question #68

The frequency of vibrations is measured in

A cycles per second.

B noiselike sounds.

C dynamic levels.

D cycles per minute.

Question #69

Pizzicato is an indication to the performer to

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

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

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

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

Question #70

The relative highness or lowness of a sound is called

A dynamics.

B octave.

C timbre.

D pitch.

Question #71

The range of a singer’s voice depends on

A training and physical makeup.

B 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 pianissimo.

B crescendo.

C blooper.

D dynamic accent.

Question #73

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

A pitch range.

B dynamic accent.

C timbre.

D an octave.

Question #74

Music can be defined as

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

B sounds produced by musical instruments.

C a system of symbols that performers learn to read.

D sounds that are pleasing, as opposed to noise.

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