Test 6 Modern Music Review
Honors Humanities 2015
Be prepared for any of the six musical selections listed below to be played. Schoenberg will not
be included on the test. There will be 12-14 questions on the music tracks. We will play a track
for 20-40 seconds and then play it a second time. We will play any track you need to hear again
afterwards.
You will be expected to recognize the composer and important facts about each composition,
but not the title of the composition. Remember that the pieces are available for listening on
ePark2. The tracks can also be found at the links on YouTube provided below.
Ives The Unanswered Question
Which instruments are used? Where are they located? Is this music tonal or atonal? How
many layers are there? Are these different layers in different tempos and keys? How does
the piece end? What inspired Ives to compose this way? Ives learned to experiment with
sound when his father had his two sons sing or play different songs simultaneously, or play a
piece in different keys with the left and right hand. This piece has a series of “questions”
posted by trumpets behind the audience and a series of “answers” given by flutes on the
stage. There is a low hum of string instruments emanating from around the audience. They
are all in different keys. The music is atonal, meaning all 12 notes on the scale are used
without regard to a “key” (a required set of notes that sound nice together).
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trkFgIMC-Ks
Stravinsky “Dances of the Adolescents” from The Rite of Spring
What were the reactions at the performance? Were musicians the only performers? What was
Stravinsky’s inspiration? Define polyphony (know this term, especially, since it’s been repeated
throughout the semester in other music lectures). Know that Stravinsky used polyphony,
polyrhythm, polymeter, polytonality, and syncopation. Know about the dream that inspired the
story behind this music: a pagan dance in which a virgin dances herself to death for the god of
Spring.
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNt0mvjoS08 (modern version with
choreography by Bejart)
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XedawBHB-uc (another scene with Bejart
choreography and fabulous 1970s locks; fast forward and start at 2:55)
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4coES_ei4PU&feature=related (recreation
of original Diaghilev performance with Nijinsky’s choreography)
Cage 4 minutes 33 seconds (a.k.a. “4’ 33”)
AND Cage Amores
Some questions to explore for 4’33”: What was the point of 4’ 33” and how was it inspired by
Zen Buddhism? What is the composer’s role in the composition? Cage, in 4’ 33”, attempts to
extinguish the artist’s personality, ego, and control. He embraces all sounds as equal and also
embraces chance. This is a completely new approach to music.
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypmW4Yd7SY&feature=related (4'33")
For Amores: What is the quotation that explains Cage’s philosophy about objects? He said, “[I
am] letting sounds be themselves instead of reflecting my ideas and feelings.”
What instruments are used in Cage’s music, and what are “found objects”? What is ”prepared
piano” and what did Cage do with it? How is Cage different from other composers? Cage
employed “prepared piano,” in which the strings inside the piano are twisted around metal and
wooden objects, distorting the traditional tone when the string is struck. Cage used “found
objects” such as glass, nuts, bolts, erasers, etc. This was all completely new, as well.
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_SWvUa7Guw (Amores)
Glass Dance IX from In the Upper Room
OR Akhnaten: Act I, Scene I: Funeral of Amenhotep III
Glass was the grandfather of electronic music. He created minimalist music with order,
repetition, and structure.
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPdLu8GQprE&feature=related (In The
Upper Room: Dance IX)
 You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQTGEAqqRzs (Akhnaten: Act I, Scene I:
Funeral of Amenhotep III)