Music Appreciation Test 2 Study Guide

The position of the composer during the baroque period was that of

a high-class servant with few personal rights

Modern historians use the term "baroque" to indicate

a particular style in the arts

The word "movement" in music normally refers to

a piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger composition

A characteristic often found in baroque melodies is

a short opening phrase followed by a longer phrase with an unbroken flow of rapid notes

Most early baroque operas were based on Greek mythology and

ancient history

When the subject of a fugue is presented in the dominant scale, it is called the

answer

A song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment is called a/an

aria

Presenting the subject of a fugue in lengthened time values is called

augmentation

A _________ is a singer with a low range who usually takes comic roles.

basso buffo

A bass part together with numbers (figures) that specify the chords to be played above it is called

basso continuo

The most characteristic feature of baroque music is its use of

basso continuo

A _________ is a singer with a very low range and powerful voice, who usually takes roles calling for great dignity.

basso profundo

The stage machinery of baroque opera

bordered on the colossal

In the baroque period, the ordinary citizen's opportunities for hearing music usually came from the

church

A popular keyboard instrument in which sound was produced by means of brass blades striking the strings was the

clavichord

The ____________ is the person who beats time, indicates expression, cues in musicians, and controls the balance among instruments and voices.

conductor

In many figures, the subject in one voice is constantly accompanied in another voice by a different melodic idea called a(n)

countersubject

Presenting the subject of a fugue in shortened time values is called

diminution

A(n) _________ is a musical number for two solo voices with orchestral accompaniment.

duet

Baroque melodies give the impression of

dynamic expansion

One of the most revolutionary periods in music history was the

early baroque

Baroque melodies often are

elaborate and ornamental

Affections in baroque usage refers to

emotional states or moods of music

A(n) ___________ is an operatic number involving three or more leading singers.

ensemble

Transitional sections of a fugue that offer either new material or fragments of the subject or countersubject are called

episodes

The concerto grosso most often has three movements whose tempo markings are

fast, slow, fast

The early and late baroque periods differed in that composers in the early baroque

favored homophonic texture

The solo instruments in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 are the _______, violin and harpsichord.

flute

A polyphonic composition based on one main theme is the

fugue

The main keyboard instruments of the baroque period were the organ and the

harpsichord

The early baroque was characterized by

homophonic texture

Turning the subject of a fugue upside down, or reversing the direction of each interval, is called

inversion

Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 is unusual in that

it gives a solo role to the harpsichord

Instrumental music became as important as vocal music for the first time in the ________ period.

late baroque

The text, or book, of a musical dramatic work is called the

libretto

Members of the Camerata wanted to create a new vocal style based on the

music of the ancient Greek tragedies

The word "baroque" has at various times meant all of the following except

naturalistic

A baroque musical composition usually expresses _________ within the same movement.

one basic mood

An _________ is a play, set to music, sung to orchestral accompaniment, with scenery, costumes and action.

opera

In Italy, music schools were often connected with

orphanages

An ____________ is an orchestral composition performed before the curtain rises on a dramatic work.

overture

To get a job, a musician had to

pass a difficult examination

Monteverdi, an early baroque composer, strove to create music that was

passionate and dramatic

A _______ is a single tone, usually in the bass, that is held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it.

pedal point

Very often an independent fugue is introduced by a short piece called a(n)

prelude

The music director of a baroque court was usually not responsible for

publicity in reaching an audience

________ refers to a vocal line that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech.

recitative

The compelling drive and energy in baroque music are usually provided by

repeated rhythmic patterns

Presenting the subject of a fugue from right to left, or beginning with the last and proceeding backward to the first note, is called

retrograde

The first and last movements of the concerto grosso are often in _____ form.

ritornello

________ is a musical procedure in which a fugue subject is imitated before it is completed.

stretto

The main theme of a fugue is called the

subject

In the baroque era, dynamics consisted mainly of sudden alterations between loud and soft called

terraced dynamics

The members of the Camerata wanted the vocal line of their music to follow

the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech

Melodic sequence refers to

the successive repetition of a musical idea at higher or lower pitches

Terraced dynamics refers to

the sudden alteration from one dynamic level to another

A concerto grosso most often has ______ movement(s).

three

A musical ornament consisting of the rapid alteration of two tones that are a whole of half step apart is a

trill

The large group of players in a concerto grosso is known as the

tutti

The baroque principle of _______ may be temporarily suspended in vocal music when drastic changes of emotion in a text inspires corresponding changes in the music.

unity of mood

Composers in the middle baroque phase favored writing compositions for instruments of the ________ family.

violin

The orchestra evolved during the baroque period into a performing group based on instruments of the ________ family.

violin

Which of the following statements is not true? A. The terms ensemble and chorus are synonymous. B. Voice categories in opera are divided more finely than in other musical genres. C. Operas may contain spoken dialogue, but most are sung entirely. D. Opera soloists must create a wide variety of characters, and so need acting skills as well as vocal artistry.

A. The terms ensemble and chorus are synonymous.

Which of the following statements is not true? A. A large courrt during the baroque period might employ more than 80 performers, including the finest opera singers of the day. B. Audiences in the baroque period were most anxious to hear old familiar favorites, and did not care for new music. C. In Italy, music schools were often connected with orphanages. D. Church musicians in the baroque period earned lower pay and had less status than court musicians.

B. Audiences in the baroque period were most anxious to hear old familiar favorites, and did not care for new music.

The two giants of baroque composition were George Frideric Handel and

Johann Sebastian Bach

The middle baroque was characterized by

a diffusion of the style into every corner of Europe

The early baroque period spanned the years

1600-1640

Baroque style flourished in music during the period

1600-1750

The baroque, as a stylistic period in western art music, encompassed the years

1600-1750

The middle baroque period spanned the years

1640-1690

By about _______, major or minor scales were the tonal basis of most compositions.

1680

The late baroque period spanned the years

1690-1750

A large court during the baroque period might employ about ________ performers.

80

Baroque painters exploited their materials to expand the potential of ____ to create totally structured worlds.

All answers are correct: color, ornament and detail, depth

Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, was a

All answers are correct: flutist, general, composer

Which of the following statements is not true? A. Baroque art is a complex mixture of rationalism, sensuality, materialism and spirituality. B. The late baroque period was one of the most revolutionary periods in music history. C. Early baroque composers favored homophonic texture over the polyphonic texture typical of Renaissance music. D. Regardless of form, baroque music features contrasts between bodies of sound.

B. The late baroque period was one of the most revolutionary periods in music history.

Which of the following statements are not true? A. Most early baroque operas were based on Greek mythology and ancient history. B. The members of the Florentine Camerata based their theories on actual dramatic music that had come down to them from the Greeks. C. The members of the Florentine Camerata wanted to create a new vocal style modeled on the music of ancient Greek tragedy. D. Polyphonic was rejected by the members of the Florentine Camerata because different words sounding simultaneously would obscure the text.

B. The members of the Florentine Camerata based their theories on actual dramatic music that had come down to them from the Greeks.

Which of the following statements are not true? A. A concerto grosso normally involves two to four soloists, and anywhere from eight to twenty or more musicians for the tutti. B. A concerto grosso persents a contrast of texture between the tutti and the soloists, who assert their individuality and appeal for attention through brilliant and fanciful melodic lines. C. A concerto grosso normally involves a large group of soloists accompanied by an equal number of supporting players. D. The first and last movements of a concerto grossi are often in ritornello form, a form that features the alteration between tutti and solo selections.

C. A concerto grosso normally involves a large group of soloists accompanied by an equal number of supporting players.

The earliest opera that has been preserved is Jacopo Peri's

Euridice

All of the following were baroque painters except

Isaac Newton

The first opera house in Europe to offer entry to anyone with the price of admission opened in 1637 in

Venice

All of the following were major baroque composers except

Wolfgang A. Mozart