Music and the Humanities Final Exam Review

Final Essay Question: Pick a composer and talk about how their life/music was influenced by social or political realities of the time (Classical, Modern, or Romantic era)

Example: Amy Beach wasn't allowed to be a musician professionally due to a promise to her family.

Sonota Form: 3 Main Parts, How are they different?

Exposition, Development, Recapitulation

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (Piece to know)

Fate knocking at the door

Haydn

Father of the symphony and string quartet

American Composers known for using Jazz elements

Gershwin, William Grant Still, Aaron Copland

Size of orchestra by era

Grows from Baroque to Modern

Classical Era Composers

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

Program Music

Instrumental music that portrays nonmusical things through music (Examples: Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream; Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet)

Haydn: Emperor Quartet (2nd Movement)

Known for theme and variations; Theme = birthday song for emperor

Romantic Era length of pieces

Longer and shorter than classical; more variety in length

Do classical composers prefer major or minor keys?

Major keys

Neoclassicism

Modern composers playing at Baroque or Classical textures such as Mozart

Dynamics in Romantic Era V.S. Classical Era

More extreme in general; Louder and Softer

How is rhythm in the Classical era different from the Baroque era?

More variety within each movement and rhythmic energy

Nationalism

Music brings in 'national' or 'ethnic' or 'local' musical elements or folk music

Fortepiano

New classical instrument

Atonal

No key center

What is the Perrot Lunaire by Schoenberg piece about? (Has a clown singing...)

BONUS QUESTION

Whole Tone Scale

Claude Debussy used it

Verdi's Regoletto (Piece to know)

Count is revealing his shallow view of women

Electronic Music

Created on computers or synthesizers; composer gets to control every single facet of every single sound

Impressionism

Debussy

Dvorak's New World Symphony (Piece to know): What instrument is playing in given section?

English Horn

Recapitulation

Themes are returned to bring a sense of closure to the piece

Stravinsky

Three Periods: Russian, Neoclassical, Serial

Beethoven

Transitional figure between classical and romantic eras

Exposition

Two contrasting themes are introduced in a Sonota

Development

Variations and explorations in different keys

Hub of Classical Era (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven)

Vienna, Austria

Jazz

A new 20th century style of music characterized by improvisation, freedom, and African-American dance music

Melody of Chopin's D minor prelude

Agitated, Asymmetrical, Wide Range

Serial Music (Serialism)

All musical elements determined by patterns/series (bleep bloop kind of music (controlled chaos))

Wagner (Essay Question)

One controversy and one contribution Controversies: Most beloved composer of Hitler, Anti-Jew, Operas were really long without set musical numbers without interruption (really exhausting) Contribution: Exploring extreme chromaticism without a tonal center, Leitmotif (smaller occurring theme in a piece)

Non-Diagetic Music

Only the audience can hear it

Diagetic Music

People in a movie can hear it

Debussy (Piece to know)

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Modulation

Process of changing key/tonal center

Rondo Form

Refrain, repeating, alternating with contrasting episodes (ABACA, ABACADA, or ABACABA)

Schubert

Remembered for Art Song/Lieder

Mozart

Remembered for operas

Chopin

Remembered for virtuosic piano music

Minimalism

Repetition of short melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic patterns with little variation

Innovations in 20th Century that influenced music

Sampling, computers, electronics; Widespread music education; Recording technology; Movies

Sprechstimme (talk/singing)

Schoenberg

Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1st Movement)

Serenade for strings in sonata form

Four Postmodern Genres

Serial Music (Serialism), Chance Music, Minimalism Music, Electronic Music

Orchestration

Skill of writing for orchestra; each instrument is given it's own musical line

Chance Music

Some element of creation is left up to chance (bleep bloop (less controlled chaos))

Schubert's Erlkonig (Piece to know): Who is singing?

Son singing to father (same person using different voices)

Ballet Russes - Which composer?

Stravinsky

Chopin Prelude in D minor (piece to know): What is this moment called when the music speeds up?

Stretto

Stravinsky (Piece to know)

The Rite of Spring

Melody

series of single tones that add up to a recognizable whole

Form

shape

Tempo

speed of music