Music Module 6

Listen to the excerpt from Hensel's Il Saltarello Romano. How can you discern that this is the coda?

A descending ritardando

Listen to the excerpt from Liszt's Petrarch Sonnet No. 104. What device does Liszt use to prepare the listener for the main theme?

A descending ritardando

What did Clara Schumann have in common with W.A. Mozart?

Both were child prodigies who studied music with their fathers

Listen to the excerpt from Robert Schumann's "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai." How does the composer avoid providing closure at the end of this piece?

By closing with a sustained dissonant chord

Listen to the excerpt from Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat major. How does the performer create the blurring effect?

By using the damper pedal

Which composer discussed in this chapter composed an opera based on the age-old tale in which a mortal makes a deal with the devil?

Carl Maria von Weber

Harold in Italy

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Mendelssohn's enthusiasm for the oratorios of Handel prompted him to create a story based on the life of which figure from the Bible?

Elijah

After Robert Schumann's death in 1856, the friendship between his wife Clara and budding composer J. Brahms eventually dissipated.

False

Hensel was the first composer to play solo recitals, concerts in which she appeared alone.

False

One of the many new genres on display in the Romantic era is the character piece, a free-standing movement for orchestra often inspired by a non-musical subject.

False

Romantic songwriters found their texts from a variety of sources, but primarily Spanish Ossianic poems.

False

Set in seventeenth-century Italy, La Muette de Portici ends with a climactic display of the sack of Rome.

False

Unlike their Classical counterparts, Romantic composers viewed tonality as an orderly, rational system of musical planning rather than another agent of expression.

False

Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen was composed in record time-the composer took the entire piece from concept to final copy in just under two months.

False

After which composer did Fanny Hensel NOT name her son?

Franz J. Haydn

Which composer discussed in this chapter was the dominant piano virtuoso of the 19th century?

Franz Liszt

Which statement about French opera in the 19th century is NOT true?

French composers declined to use choruses in their works

Which statement about Chopin's life is NOT true?

He pursued a career as a public concert pianist only late in life, after already living in Paris for over a decade

Listen to the excerpt from Verdi's Rigoletto. What does this song reveal about the Duke's character?

He views women as fickle, justifying his callous treatment of them

How is Chopin's Prelude in D minor an example of the Romantic approach to melody?

Its melody is freer and more spontaneous than a typical Classical melody

What term is used to describe the short recurring motives found in Wagner's work?

Leitmotif

Beatrice et Benedict

Much Ado about Nothing

Which composer's work represents the critical stage of development of the various innovations of the Romantic era?

Richard Wagner

How was the Romantic approach to dynamics different from the Classical?

Romantic composers used a much broader range of dynamics

Romeo et Juliette

Romeo and Juliet

Which Classical composer took notice of the young Franz Schubert?

Salieri

Which composer studied in this chapter is known for two great song cycles, Die schöne Müllerin (The Lovely Miller's Daughter) and Winterreise (Winter's Journey)?

Schubert

Listen to the excerpt from the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen and describe the performance forces at work.

Second, because the flute and voice are featured while the cello imitates

Listen to the excerpt from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, movement five. What is Berlioz mocking in this section?

Stretto

Listen to the excerpt from Chopin's Prelude in D minor. What term is used for the extremely loud increase in tempo used here?

Stretto

The Trojans

The Aeneid

Listen to the excerpt from Schubert's Erlkönig. Which character is speaking, and why?

The child, because of the high pitch level and frenetic accompaniment

Listen to the excerpt from Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Which character or character group is signified here?

The elves

Listen to the excerpt from Wagner's Das Rheingold. Which leitmotif is on display in this passage?

The sword's motive

Which is NOT a character type represented in Liszt's "Faust Symphony"?

The valiant warrior who defeats the villain

Bellini, whose lyrical melodies suggest the soulful elegance of Chopin, is most well known for his masterpiece, Norma.

True

During the Romantic era, composers drew increasing support from the growing middle class.

True

Franz Liszt's By Lake Wallenstadt begins with lines from a long narrative poem by Lord Byron entitled Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.

True

Listen to the selection from Brahms's Violin Concerto, mvt. 3. What is the term for this type of section in a concerto?

cadenza

What is the term for a first violinist who, up until the Romantic era, typically led the orchestra?

concertmaster

Listen to the selection from Dvoøák's New World Symphony, mvt. 2. What instrument has the main theme in this selection?

english horn

As a youth, Berlioz received musical instruction from his uncle, a professor at the Paris Conservatory.

false

Wagner's large-scale music dramas are an example of realism, or faith in observable truth, thanks to their grounding in scientific philosophy

false

Listen to the selection from Mussorgsky's The Great Gate of Kiev. What section of the piece is this?

final, majestic statement of the opening theme

rubato

flexible approach to rhythm

To what do the terms "damper," "sostenuto," and "una corda" refer?

foot pedals on the piano

modified strophic

form in which music is repeated from stanza to stanza with some variations

thorough-composed

form in which new music is composed for each stanza

strophic

form in which the same music is used from one stanza to the next

accelerando

increase in speed

Listen to the excerpt from Clara Schumann's "Liebst du um Schönheit." What type of form does this piece exhibit in this example?

modified strophic

ritard

reduction in speed

Listen to the excerpt from Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Which strophe is this, and why?

second, because the flute and voice are featured while the cello imitates

Which of the following is the term for a small, two-sided drum with wire strings stretched across the lower side?

snare drum

Double aria

song that starts with a slow, lyrical section and ends with a fast, brilliant section

Bel Cant

style of singing that emphasizes melodic lines against unobtrusive accompaniments

Mahler's output is best understood as a fusion between what two genres?

symphonies and song cycles

Listen to the selection from Strauss's Death and Transfiguration. Which theme is presented here?

the agitation theme

cavatina

the term for the entire "aria" structure common to Italian operas during the Roman...

Listen to the selection from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. Which character or group of characters is represented by this thematic idea?

the warring families

In the Romantic era, the art of scoring music for an orchestra gained recognition as a particular skill in its own right.

true