Q&A Hero

Q: Each movement of William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony is prefaced by lines from a poem by A. Paul Laurence Dunbar. B. Zora Neale Hurston. C. W. E. B. Du Bois. D. James Weldon Johnson.

Q: The flowering of African American culture called the "Harlem Renaissance" spanned the years ______. A. 1880s-1900 B. 1900-17 C. 1917-35 D. 1935-45

Q: William Grant Still's opera dealing with the Haitian slave rebellion is _______. A. Trouble in Tahiti B. Troubled Island C. Emperor Jones D. Once on this Island

Q: William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony ______. A. uses a blues theme in the first movement which reappears as a unifying thread in various transformations in the three later movements B. uses a pre-existing blues theme briefly in the last movement C. uses only jazz themes D. has very few African American elements, in spite of its name

Q: As a composer, William Grant Still ______. A. restricted his works to symphonies and orchestral compositions B. was best known as a composer of hit songs C. wrote film scores, concert works, operas, and band arrangements D. was best known for his ragtime pieces

Q: William Grant Still's works in African American style, such as his Afro-American Symphony of 1931, were _______. A. never performed during his lifetime B. severely criticized by audiences and critics C. panned by critics, but popular with audiences D. performed to critical acclaim in New York

Q: As a result of his studies in composition with composers from two opposing musical camps, the conservative George Whitefield Chadwick and the modernist Edgard Varse, Still did what? A. Composed in a very conservative style B. Composed in a highly dissonant style C. Composed in a mixture of conservative and avant-garde styles D. Turned away from avant-garde styles and wrote compositions with a uniquely African American flavor

Q: After serving in the navy and a brief return to studies at Oberlin College, William Grant Still moved to New York where he ______. A. made band arrangements and played in the orchestras of all-black musical shows B. practiced medicine C. served as a navy recruiter D. composed full time to satisfy his many commissions

Q: William Grant Still _______. A. had little formal training in music B. taught himself music and composition on the job in musical show orchestras C. studied medicine at Wilberforce University, but he played the violin and eventually pursued music D. held a graduate degree from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music

Q: "Harlem Renaissance" was the name ______. A. sometimes given to a flowering of African American culture during the years 1917-1935 B. given to a housing project in New York City's Harlem C. of a city in Holland D. of a symphony by William Grant Still

Q: The special concert at which Gershwin premiered his Rhapsody in Blue took place at Aeolian Hall in New York in ______. A. 1919 B. 1924 C. 1935 D. 1945

Q: Rhapsody in Blue was commissioned by ______. A. Ira Gershwin B. Paul Whiteman C. Walter Damrosch D. Ferde Grof

Q: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue opens with ______. A. a solo flute B. the full orchestra C. a muted trumpet D. a solo clarinet

Q: Porgy and Bess is a(n) ______. A. Broadway musical B. popular song C. rhapsody for piano D. opera

Q: George Gershwin usually collaborated with the lyricist ______. A. Jerome Kern B. Irving Berlin C. Paul Whiteman D. Ira Gershwin

Q: The Gershwin song that became a tremendous hit in 1920 was ______. A. La, La, Lucille B. I Got Rhythm C. Embraceable You D. Swanee

Q: Which of the following musicals is not by George Gershwin? A. Funny Face B. Anything Goes C. Of Thee I Sing D. Lady, Be Good

Q: Gershwin left high school at the age of fifteen to ______. A. become a pianist demonstrating new songs in a publisher's salesroom B. study theory and composition in Paris C. work in his father's store D. develop his athletic talents

Q: George Gershwin grew up in _______. A. New York, New York B. Charleston, South Carolina C. Anatevka, Russia D. Paris, France

Q: Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut, illustrates Charles Ives's technique of quoting snatches of familiar tunes by presenting fragments of _______. A. Yankee Doodle B. God Save the Queen C. Home on the Range D. Battle Hymn of the Republic

Q: Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut, is a child's impression of _______. A. a summer at camp B. a Fourth of July picnic C. a fishing trip D. army life in the war

Q: Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut, is a movement from Charles Ives's ______. A. Three Places in New England B. Essays before a Sonata C. Concord Sonata D. The Unanswered Question

Q: Charles Ives's large and varied output includes works in many genres, but not _______. A. symphonies B. operas C. songs D. chamber music

Q: Which of the following compositions is not by Charles Ives? A. Three Places in New England B. An American in Paris C. Concord Sonata D. Putnams Camp, Redding, Connecticut

Q: Charles Ives's music contains elements of _______. A. revival hymns and ragtime B. patriotic songs and barn dances C. village bands and church choirs D. All answers are correct.

Q: During most of his lifetime, Charles Ives's musical compositions _______. A. were enthusiastically received in public performances B. were quickly published by a major firm C. accumulated in the barn of his Connecticut farm D. were sought after by musicians eager to perform them in public

Q: After graduating from Yale, Charles Ives _______. A. went into the insurance business B. began playing the trumpet professionally C. began teaching D. went into professional athletics

Q: Charles Ives's father was a(n) ______. A. insurance salesman B. physician C. professional athlete D. bandmaster

Q: During World War I (19141918), the Metropolitan Opera in New York would not ______. A. play any concerts out of respect for the soldiers B. perform German operas in the 19171918 season C. hire European conductors beginning in 1914 D. All of these are correct.

Q: Antonin Dvork predicted in the late nineteenth century that the foundation for American music would come from _______. A. the European classical tradition B. Protestant hymns C. African American and Native American melodies D. Irish jigs

Q: Who was the leading American composer and conductor of band music? A. Amy Beach B. Charles Ives C. William Billings D. John Philip Sousa

Q: Up until the early twentieth century, ______ were the favorite instrumental organizations in America. A. bands B. orchestra C. string quartets D. piano trios

Q: Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony has been described as _______. A. "a blatant example of all that is wrong with twentieth-century music" B. "a sinister combination of evil intent and discordant harmonies" C. "a ridiculous parody of eighteenth-century form" D. "a Soviet artist's practical creative response to just criticism"

Q: Babi Yar, a poem by the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko about Jews massacred by the Nazis in Kiev, _______. A. was used by Shostakovich as a text of the opening movement of his Thirteenth Symphony B. was applauded and embraced by the communist authorities C. was spurned by Shostakovich as a text for his Thirteenth Symphony because it would be rejected by the Communist authorities D. was used for the Communist Party's official anthem

Q: Shostakovich's Seventh (Leningrad) Symphony was inspired by _______. A. the beauty of Leningrad's churches B. the Communist take-over of the city of Leningrad C. Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 D. Hitler's attack of the Soviet Union and the 1941 siege of Leningrad

Q: As a Soviet composer, Shostakovich was required to _______. A. follow the dictates of the Communist Party B. write music that was accessible and melodic C. reject modernism D. All answers are correct.

Q: Shostakovich's opera Lady MacBeth of the Mtsensk District _______. A. established the composer as a major figure in twentieth-century music B. caused the composer to be expelled from the Soviet Union C. met with unanimous approval from Stalin and the Communist Party D. followed the Communist Party's dictates of an accessible musical style. Feedback: In 1934, the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District established Shostakovich as a major figure in twentieth-century music. Though the opera was modernistic in its dissonance, violence, pessimism, and sexual explicitness, it had an extraordinary initial success in the Soviet Union and was soon performed throughout the world.

Q: Bla Bartk's Concerto for Orchestra _______. A. is his most popular work B. received its title because it was written for an orchestra of virtuosi C. is romantic in spirit because of its emotional intensity, memorable themes, and vivid contrasts of mood D. All answers are correct.

Q: While remaining within the framework of a tonal center, Bla Bartk often used _________ in his music. A. harsh dissonances B. polychords C. tone clusters D. All of these

Q: Bla Bartk's ______________ are widely thought to be the finest since those of Ludwig van Beethoven. A. symphonies B. string quartets C. concertos D. solo piano works

Q: Bla Bartk evolved a completely individual style that fused folk elements with _______. A. changes of meter and a powerful beat B. twentieth-century sounds C. classical forms D. All answers are correct.

Q: While not rejecting any influence, Bla Bartk emphasized that the strongest influence on his music was _______. A. American B. Arabic C. Hungarian D. Romanian

Q: While in the United States, Bartk held a position as research scholar in folk music at ____________ University. A. Yale B. Harvard C. Princeton D. Columbia

Q: The melodies Bla Bartk used in most of his works are _______. A. authentic folk melodies gathered in his research B. original themes that have a folk flavor C. reminiscent of nineteenth-century symmetrical themes D. exclusively Hungarian and Rumanian folk tunes

Q: Bla Bartk evolved a completely individual style that fused folk elements with _______. A. changes of meter and a powerful beat B. twentieth-century sounds C. classical forms D. All answers are correct.

Q: Bla Bartk was a leading authority on ______. A. peasant music B. twelve-tone music C. American jazz D. the music of ancient Greece

Q: From 1907 to 1934 Bla Bartk taught __________ at his alma mater, and gave recitals throughout Europe. A. piano B. cello C. cimbalom D. violin

Q: Bla Bartk's principal performing medium was ______. A. conducting B. the piano C. the violin D. the flute For twenty-seven years (19071934), Bartk taught piano at his alma mater, the Budapest Academy of Music, and gave recitals throughout Europe.

Q: The least important element in Webern's music is _______. A. texture B. tone color C. dynamic level D. tonality

Q: The most important elements in Webern's music are texture, tone color, and ______. A. tempo B. rhythm C. harmony D. dynamics

Q: Webern's Five Pieces for Orchestra are scored for _______. A. a chamber orchestra of eighteen soloists B. solo voice, chorus, and orchestra C. mandolin, harmonium, and strings D. the traditional large romantic orchestra

Q: Anton Webern's twelve-tone works contain many examples of _______. A. long singing melodies B. melodic and harmonic repetition C. strict polyphonic imitation D. homophonic texture

Q: Webern's melodic lines are ______. A. "atomized" into two- or three-note fragments B. reinforced by frequent tutti unison passages C. folklike, with narrow ranges and frequent repetitions D. basically in major and minor keys

Q: Anton Webern ______. A. had little formal musical training B. taught himself piano and cello C. earned a doctorate from the University of Vienna, where he studied with Arnold Schoenberg D. enjoyed frequent performances of his own music

Q: The vocal lines in Wozzeck include _______. A. distorted folk songs B. speaking C. Sprechstimme D. All answers are correct.

Q: Georg Bchner's play Woyzeck was written in the ______. A. 1830s B. 1890s C. 1920s D. 1940s

Q: Which of the following statements is not true? A. Typical of expressionist composers, Berg scored his opera Wozzeck for a small chamber orchestra. B. The vocal line in Berg's opera Wozzeck includes speaking, shrieking, Sprechstimme, distorted folk songs, and melodies with wide leaps that are difficult to sing. C. Though written in the early 1830s, Georg Bchner's play Woyzeck is amazingly modern in its starkly realistic dialogue and disconnected scenes. D. A novel feature of Berg's opera Wozzeck is that the music for each scene is a self-contained composition with a particular form or of a definite type.

Q: A Survivor from Warsaw used three languages: English, German, and _______. A. Italian B. French C. Hebrew D. Russian

Q: The text of A Survivor from Warsaw _______. A. was written by Schoenberg B. is partly based on a direct report of a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto C. is set to a kind of speech-singing D. All answers are correct.

Q: Which of the following terms is not used to describe the special ordering of the twelve chromatic tones in twelve-tone composition? A. Polychord B. Set C. Tone row D. Series

Q: The ordering of the twelve chromatic tones in a twelve-tone composition is called a ______. A. series B. tone row C. set D. All answers are correct.

Q: Schoenberg developed an unusual style of vocal performance, halfway between speaking and singing, called ______. A. Klangfarbenmelodie B. Sprechstimme C. atonality D. serialism

Q: Schoenberg's third period, in which he developed the twelve-tone system, began around ______. A. 1874 B. 1908 C. 1921 D. 1933

Q: When Schoenberg arrived in the United States after the Nazis seized power in Germany, he obtained a teaching position at ______. A. Harvard B. Yale C. UCLA D. Columbia

Q: Alban Berg and Anton Webern were Arnold Schoenberg's ______. A. teachers B. jealous rivals C. predecessors D. students

Q: Schoenberg acquired his profound knowledge of music by ______. A. going to concerts B. playing in amateur chamber groups C. studying scores D. All answers are correct.

Q: Schoenberg's teacher was ______. A. Johannes Brahms B. Richard Wagner C. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov D. himself

Q: Expressionist composers _______. A. contributed many patriotic songs to the war effort B. avoided tonality and traditional chord progressions C. tried to capture atmosphere with rich, sensuous harmonies and pleasant subjects D. All answers are correct.

Q: The expressionists rejected _______. A. conventional prettiness B. reality C. imagination D. morality

Q: All of the following painters may be considered part of the expressionist movement except _______. A. Claude Monet B. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner C. Oskar Kokoschka D. Edvard Munch

Q: Expressionism is an art concerned with ______. A. depicting the beauties of nature B. emotional restraint, clarity, and balance C. social protest D. All answers are correct.

Q: 91. Which of the following statements is not true? A. Twentieth-century musical expressionism grows out of the emotional turbulence in the works of late romantics like Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler. B. Expressionist artists favored pleasant subjects, delicate pastel colors, and shimmering surfaces. C. A stress on harsh dissonance, an exploitation of extreme registers, fragmentation, and unusual instrumental effects are all characteristics of expressionistic compositions. D. Expressionist painters reacted against French impressionism; they often used jarring colors and grotesquely distorted shapes to explore the subconscious.

Q: Expressionist painters, writers, and composers used ______________ to assault and shock their audience. A. pastel colors B. deliberate distortions C. clearly defined forms D. vague nature scenes

Q: The operas of Richard Strauss use chromaticism and dissonance to depict ______. A. peace and harmony B. perversion and murder C. joy and sadness D. fear and trembling

Q: Richard Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra were known for their ______. A. chromatic and dissonant music B. rhythmic and dynamic simplicity C. rhythmic and dynamic complexity D. lack of harmony and rhythm

Q: One of the immediate predecessors of expressionism was the composer _______. A. Edvard Munch B. Claude Debussy C. Charles Ives D. Richard Strauss

Q: Twentieth-century musical expressionism grew out of the emotional turbulence in the works of late romantics such as ______. A. Richard Wagner B. Richard Strauss C. Gustav Mahler D. All answers are correct.

Q: Expressionism grew out of the same intellectual climate as Freud's studies of _______. A. hysteria and the unconscious B. anatomy C. the past D. mystical literature Expressionists sought to communicate the tensions and anguish of the human psyche.

Q: Expressionism as an artistic movement was largely centered in ______. A. the United States B. Germany and Austria C. Spain D. Norway

Q: The twentieth-century artistic movement that stressed intense, subjective emotion was called ______. A. impressionism B. primitivism C. expressionism D. neoclassicism