Chapter 55. War Is Hell: Berg and Expressionist Opera

Match the musical example to its correct part of Berg's Wozzeck.

Act III, scene 4 (By the pond) - 4:43 Act III, scene 5 (Children playing) - 1:30 Orchestral interlude - 3:45

The most commercially successful Expressionist composer in the first half of the twentieth century was

Alban Berg

Who of the following composers were students of Arnold Schoenberg?

Correct Answers - Alban Berg - Anton Webern

Berg's opera Wozzeck is considered to be a(n) - work.

Expressionist

Alban Berg wrote only one opera, Wozzeck.

False

Alban Berg's use of harmony in Wozzeck is completely atonal.

False

Arnold Schoenberg was a student of Alban Berg.

False

In what language is Berg's Wozzeck sung?

German

Berg's music is rooted in the - Romanticism of Brahms and Wagner and the post- - of Mahler, but is also influenced by the twelve-tone system devised by his teacher, -

German, Romanticism, Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern are known as the

Second Viennese School

Berg uses Sprechstimme vocal style in his opera Wozzeck.

True

In Wozzeck, the title character has hallucinations and is the subject of experimentation by his superiors.

True

Berg's Wozzeck was inspired by which?

an Expressionist play by Buchner

Although Berg's Wozzeck is primarily - in harmony, it also anticipates - and looks back to the - tradition.

atonal, twelve-tone serialism, tonal

In Berg's opera Wozzeck, the main character's final breakdown is the result of which?

having killed his lover

What genre is Berg's Wozzeck?

opera

Match the characteristics of Act III, scene 4 (By the pond) from Berg's Wozzeck to their correct musical elements.

rhythm - metric and free-flowing melody - use of Sprechstimme harmony - tonal and atonal - dissonance

Match the characteristics of Act III, scene 5 (Children playing in front of Marie's house) from Berg's Wozzeck to their correct musical elements.

rhythm - metric and free-flowing melody - use of Sprechstimme harmony - tonal and atonal - dissonance

Another term to describe Schoenberg's twelve-tone compositional method is

serialism

The final scene of Wozzeck revolves around which?

the children's discovery of the murder

Match the name of the compositional technique/idea to the definition.

the notes in the series move in the opposite direction of the original row - inversion the original row is turned upside down and backwards - retrograde inversion an arrangement of twelve pitches in serial composition - tone row the pitches of the original row are in reverse order - retrograde

When Hitler came to power, the works of the - composers were banned in Germany.

twelve-tone