Download storage/MUS001-Quiz Three

Quiz Three - 20th Century
Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. The years following 1900 saw more fundamental changes in the language of music than any time since the
beginning of the baroque era.
B. Twentieth-century music follows the same general principles of musical structure as earlier periods.
C. Twentieth-century music relies less on pre-established relationships and expectations.
D. After 1900 each musical composition is more likely to have a unique system of pitch relationships, rather
than be organized around a central tone.
2. The most important impressionist composer was
A. Richard Wagner.
B. Béla Bartók.
C. Arnold Schoenberg.
D. Claude Debussy.
3. Claude Debussy's most famous orchestral work was inspired by a poem by
A. Stéphane Mallarmé.
B. Paul Verlaine.
C. Jean-Paul Sartre.
D. Arthur Rimbaud.
4. In music, the early twentieth century was a time of
A. revolt and change.
B. the continuation of old forms.
C. stagnation.
D. disinterest.
5. Serialism is a compositional technique in which
A. the World Series was the unifying idea of a composition.
B. a series of five pitches could be constantly repeated.
C. a series of rhythms, dynamics, or tone colors could serve as a unifying idea.
D. a series of musical ideas would follow each other in quick succession.
6. In contrast to opera, the American musical tends to
A. use simpler forms.
B. use simpler melodies and harmonies.
C. contain more spoken dialogue.
D. all of these
7. In addition to being a composer, Schoenberg showed skill as a
A. chemist.
B. painter.
C. music critic.
D. economist.
8. Because of the Nazis seizing power in Germany, Schoenberg
A. returned to Judaism.
B. emigrated to the United States.
C. was dismissed from the faculty of the Prussian Academy of Arts.
D. all of these
9. In chance or aleatoric music, the composer
A. takes a chance on which performers will perform the work.
B. chooses pitches, tone colors, and rhythms by random methods.
C. writes a rhythmic pattern but leaves it to the performer to determine the actual pitches.
D. writes the music in a traditional manner, but allows the recording engineer to make changes.
10. The first significant atonal pieces were composed around 1908 by
A. Igor Stravinsky.
B. Claude Debussy.
C. Arnold Schoenberg.
D. Aaron Copland.
11. 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.
12. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. Twentieth-century compositions are often organized around a central chord other than the triad.
B. In some twentieth-century works, the traditional relationship between dominant and tonic triads is replaced
by other chord relationships.
C. The use of two or more keys at the same time is known as polytonality.
D. Atonality is the use of all twelve major keys at the same time.
13. The technique of using two or more tonal centers at the same time is called
A. expanded tonality.
B. polytonality.
C. atonality.
D. twelve-tone.
14. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. Composers in the 1950s and 1960s were fascinated by Webern's techniques and often imitated his
deceptively "cool" sound.
B. While very popular in his own lifetime, Webern's music has been neglected and forgotten since his death in
1945.
C. The texture of Webern's music is delicate and transparent.
D. Webern's twelve-tone works often contain strict polyphonic imitation.
15. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. John Cage invented the prepared piano, a grand piano whose sound is altered by objects such as bolts,
screws, rubber bands, pieces of felt, paper, and plastic inserted between the strings of some of the keys.
B. During the 1920s and 1930s, Edgard Varèse pioneered the exploration of percussive and noise-like sounds,
and wrote the first important work for percussion ensemble, Ionisation.
C. Milton Babbitt was a pioneer in writing music distinguished by a steady, driving pulse, clear tonality,
constant repetition of melodic and rhythmic phrases, and a slow rate of change.
D. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Concerto Grosso 1985 uses compositional techniques associated with the baroque.
16. The immense success of Igor Stravinsky's 1910 ballet ________ established him as a leading young
composer.
A. The Firebird
B. The Rite of Spring
C. Petrushka
D. Pulcinella
17. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. Because of the hostility of the conservative Viennese public, Schoenberg abandoned musical composition in
1908 and turned instead to painting.
B. In Schoenberg's atonal music from 1908 to 1914, all twelve tones are used without regard for their traditional
relationship to major and minor scales.
C. Schoenberg developed a more systematic method of organizing atonal music in the early 1920s, a system he
called the "method of composing with twelve tones."
D. Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire is a cycle of 21 songs for female voice and five musicians playing eight
instruments.
18. Edvard Munch was an expressionist
A. poet.
B. painter.
C. musician.
D. playwright.
19. Striking a group of adjacent keys on a piano with the fist or forearm will result in
A. a tone cluster.
B. a broken piano keyboard.
C. a polychord.
D. polytonality.
20. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. In the twentieth century, new rhythmic procedures are drawn from many sources, including folk music from
all over the world, jazz, and European art music from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century.
B. The rhythmic resources of twentieth-century music have been expanded through the use of unconventional
meters.
C. Twentieth-century composers depended on predictable rhythmic patterns.
D. Twentieth-century music often uses two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the same time.
21. 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.
22. Minimalist music is characterized by
A. the development of musical materials through random methods.
B. rapidly changing dynamics and textures.
C. a steady pulse, clear tonality, and insistent repetition of short melodic patterns.
D. use of twelve-tone techniques to organize the dimensions of music.
23. Which of the following characteristics is not true of minimalist music?
A. a fast rate of change
B. clear tonality
C. constant repetition of melodic and rhythmic patterns
D. a steady, driving pulse
24. Alban Berg and Anton Webern were Schoenberg's
A. teachers.
B. students.
C. predecessors.
D. jealous rivals.
25. Schoenberg developed an unusual style of vocal performance, halfway between speaking and singing,
called
A. Klangfarbenmelodie.
B. Sprechstimme.
C. atonality.
D. serialism.
26. The famous riot in 1913 was caused by the first performance of Igor Stravinsky's ballet
A. Pulcinella.
B. The Fairy's Kiss.
C. The Rite of Spring.
D. Agon.
27. Since World War II, musical styles have
A. taken many new directions and changes.
B. remained relatively stable.
C. returned to the styles of the nineteenth century.
D. concentrated on perfecting the twelve-tone system.
28. Stravinsky's second phase is generally known as
A. neoclassical.
B. primitive.
C. serial.
D. postromantic.
Quiz Three - 20th Century Key
1. B
2. D
3. A
4. A
5. C
6. D
7. B
8. D
9. B
10. C
11. C
12. D
13. B
14. B
15. C
16. A
17. A
18. B
19. A
20. C
21. A
22. C
23. A
24. B
25. B
26. C
27. A
28. A
Quiz Three - 20th Century Summary
Category
# of Questions
Kamien - 006 Part...
28