Contemporary Period Assessment

Which of the following composers was known for using folk-based fiddle tunes like the one in the following example? [player :20]

Aaron Copland

Which of the following composers invented the twelve-tone system of composition?

Arnold Schoenberg

In 20th-century music, traditional harmony and tonality were redefined or rejected in favor of:

Atonality and serialism

Given the Hungarian folk music flavor of this example, which of the following is the most likely composer? [player :13]

Bartók

Which of the following is the composer for this excerpt? [player :31]

Cage

Which of the following composers developed the concept of total theater?

Carl Orff

Which of the following was not a French composer?

Carl Orff

Which of the following is the composer for this piece? [player 10:32]

Debussy

Which of the following composers most heavily influenced the music of the French post-WWI school of musicians known as Les Six?

Erik Satie

Which of the following excerpts is atonal music? [player 14]

Excerpt B

The factor that most clearly distinguishes this example from music of earlier periods is the use of: [player :31]

Extended dissonance that doesn't resolve directly to consonance

Audiences immediately embraced the dodecaphonic work of Arnold Schoenberg.

False

Which one of the following composers' style is most closely associated with that of the commercial music world known as Tin Pan Alley?

George Gershwin

Which of the following is the composer for this piece? [player :45]

Gershwin

Which of the following composers catapulted to the top of the 20th-century avant-gardeafter composing Firebird, Petrushka, and Le Sacre du Printemps?

Igor Stravinsky

Who composed the groundbreaking piece The Rite of Spring?

Igor Stravinsky

Which of the following movements is associated with Debussy and Ravel?

Impressionism

According to the text, what was the significance of Debussy's work? [player 10:32]

It represented the first viable alternative to tonal music.

Which of the following trends in contemporary music does this excerpt exemplify? [player :27]

Jazz influence

Which one of these composers wrote music for prepared piano?

John Cage

The following piece was written by a leading figure of the post-WWII Germanavant-garde. Identify this composer. [player 1:01]

Karlheinz Stockhausen

Which of the following best describes aleatory music?

Music that allows for an element of chance to enter the performance

Which of the following 20th-century trends sought to restore order, harmony, and emotional restraint to music?

Neoclassicism

What compositional technique is illustrated by the following excerpt? [player :32]

New ways to manipulate a traditional instrument

Which of the following composers did NOT employ total serialism in his work?

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Given the atonal nature of this example, which of the following is the most likely composer? [player :54]

Schoenberg

Many composers in the contemporary period sought alternatives to tonality, or key-centered music. Which of the following is one such alternative?

Serialism

Given the primitive flavor of this example, which of the following is the composer? [player :31]

Stravinsky

Which of the following were important composers in the Contemporary period?

Stravinsky and Schoenberg

Which of the following statements best describes the role of technology with regard to art music in the Contemporary period?

Technology has enabled art music composers to experiment with and change the way that they create music.

Which characteristic of texture in this example is most closely associated with music of the Contemporary period? [player :45]

Thick texture with full and frequently dissonant chords

Nadia Boulanger was a prominent music teacher who taught some of the most influential composers of the 20th century, including Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, and Walter Piston

True

The composers Samuel Barber, Thea Musgrave, and Ned Rorem resisted the 20th-century trend of serialism.

True

What unique feature of this example suggests that it was written in the Contemporary period? [player :31]

Use of a traditional instrument in a completely new way