Understanding Music test 2 review
Music Listening Section
1. Monterverdi: L. Orfeo

The vocal technique heard in this excerpt is an example of:
o Monody
2. Barbara Strozzi: “lagrime mie”

This work is an example of a:
o Vocal Cantata
3. Handel: Messiah
a. “There were shepherds”

This music piece was not on any of the test files
b. “Halleluia” Chorus

What period does this work typify?
o The Baroque Period

This work is an example of a:
o Oratorio
4. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, la primavera

Which period does this work typify?
o Baroque

The form of this movement is in (this question was on the two
most recent tests)
o Ritornello Form
5. Bach: The Art of the Fugue, Contrapunctus III

What would you call this “style,” or “technique,” or “texture” of
writing? (This question was on all 3 of the tests)
o Fugue
6. Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice

This is an example of:
o Opera

What period does this work typify?
o Classical
7. Mozart: Piano Concerto Number 17 in G, K. 453

This is an example of:
o A Concerto

What instrument is featured in this work?
o Piano
8. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto Number 2 (Note that this was only on the one
older test, most likely it wont be on ours but thought I’d put it here just in
case)

The form of this movement is in:
o Ritornello Form
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The term movement in the music refers to: (III)
a. A large, self-contained section within a larger work, such as a
symphony.
2. The first section of a fugue is called: (III)
a. The Exposition
3. The artificially created male soprano who dominated the Italian opera stage
in the 17th century was known as: (III)
a. The Castrato
4. Instrumental music associated with a story, poem, or other extra-musical
idea is referred to as: (I)
a. Program Music
5. An episode in a fugue is: (III)
a. Short passages of other music, which provide contrast to later subject
entries
6. Speech-like singing, used to convey conversational dialogue, is called: (III)
a. Recitative
7. Oratorio differs from opera in that: (III)
a. There is no staging
8. The concept of word painting as used by Handel in “Messiah” means: (III)
a. The music directly portrays the meaning of the words, so as to invoke
dramatic imagery
9. The fact that J.S. Bach came from a long line of musicians shows that: (III)
a. Music was treated more as a craft than an art
10. An arioso is: (I)
a. A cross between the declamatory style of recitative in vocal music and
the lyric style called aria
11. In opera, a recitative serves as a: (III)
a. Bridge between other numbers, where the text keeps the story going
12. Bach’s technique of “Fortspinnung” (forward spinning) means: (II)
a. Just as one instrument’s melodic phrase is coming to an end, another
instrument enters with a fresh melodic idea
13. The instrument that was known as “The King Of Instruments” during the
Baroque Period was: (III)
a. The Pipe Organ
14. The “Doctrine of the Affections” is one aesthetic ideal that helps explain the
music of the Baroque Peroid. This idea draws on the notion that the arts
should move the emotions, so: (III)
a. The artist must select a desired affect, an emotional state that his or
her work will achieve in the viewer or listener, which evokes a single,
unadulterated emotional state
15. Music for a small ensemble of two to about ten players, with one player to a
part is called: (II)
a. Chamber Music
16. The Concerto is: (I)
a. An instrumental work for solo instrument and orchestra
17. Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, la primavera is an example of: (I)
a. Program Music
18. The Concerto Grosso is: (I)
a. A Baroque type of concerto for a group of solo instruments and small
orchestra
Fill in the Blank Questions
1. Give the dates of the Baroque Period. (II)
a. 1600-1750
2. What is the term used to describe the use of dynamics in the Baroque Period.
(III)
a. Terraced dynamics
3. What is the name of the new keyboard instrument in the Classical Period that
literally means soft-loud? (III)
a. Piano forte
4. What is the Ritornello Form? (Double meaning) (III)
a. Recording passage for an orchestra in the first or last movement of a
solo concerto.
5. Please list the three new, large-scale, dramatic-types of vocal genres that
developed in the Baroque Period. (III)
a. Oratorio
b. Opera
c. Vocal Cantata
6. Give the dates of the Classical Period. (I)
a. 1750-1825
7. In the Classical Period, the simple style of music (a style which Jean-Jacques
Rousseau favored) came to be known as the: (I)
a. Gallant style.
True or False Questions
1. During the Classical Period, Vienna became one of the main music centers of
Europe. (III)
a. True
2. Program Music is instrumental music associated with a story, poem, or other
extra-musical idea. (III)
a. True
3. To Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s generation, the music of J. S. Bach was needlessly
complex and therefore unnatural. Moreover, it had fallen out of favor with
well-educated and influential people, therefore it could not be said to have
been tempered by taste. (III)
a. True
4. A Sacred Vocal Cantata was often performed as part of a Lutheran church
service, in Germany, during the Baroque Period. (I)
a. True
5. The Oratorio was developed as part of a Sunday church service in Italy. (III)
a. False
6. In Baroque music, the Basso Continuo Group almost always consists of a bass
line instrument (such as a cello or a bassoon) and a keyboard instrument
(such as a harpsichord or an organ). (III)
a. True
7. J.S. Bach’s Contrapunctus III, from The Art of the Fugue is in Ritornello Form.
(III)
a. False
8. The gallant style was a term often used to describe much of the music during
the period 1750-1825. (III)
a. True
9. The project of the Enlightenment in the West is configured around the
questioning of powerful institutions such as the church and the monarchy.
Consequently, the impact on music was enormous. As the rigid relationship
between the composer and the powerful personages of his or her time were
broken, artists began to serve themselves to the extent they could. (III)
a. True
10. The origins of the word Baroque come from the Portuguese language. In
Portuguese “barroco” refers to a part of irregular shape. (II)
a. True
11. Handel is sometimes referred to as “the father of the Western style of
harmonization.” (I)
a. False
12. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is certainly among the first successful examples of
program music. (I)
a. True
Essay Question
Please go into as much detail as you can about the specific characteristics of Gluck’s:
Orfeo ed Euridice. What is the genre, the history of the genre, and its intent?
Describe the reforms this composer brought to this genre. Describe the arguments
he used for making such reforms. What was the composer trying to achieve? How
does this composition reflect the time period it was composed? Full credit is based
on the “thoroughness” of your answer!
Hard Body’s response: (18/18 points)
When Gluck composed Orfeo ed Euridice, heh sought to brake away from the
Baroque style opera. He wanted to write opera, which would return to operas
original intentions. He felt opera lacked true naturalness and humanistic form that
it should. With this vitalization, he took the story of Orfeo and his poor wife
Euridice and wrote an opera a different way. This piece utilizes various and diverse
types of music. Instead of just recitative and aria. In this piece, aria’s were actually
used to advance the action. Whereas the plot of the opera used previously
determined its structure. Gluck favored dramatic unity over operatic structure. The
opera would determine how the plot was developed instead of vice versa. Gluck
also uses tragedy-lyrique to advance the plot, and in particular uses ballet to tell the
story. However, which previous composers might have felt a “need” to put valet in
their pieces, Gluck only puts ballet in when necessary, allowing for no distractions
or interruptions in the opera. The piece is in the no da capo structure because Gluck
didn’t feel that a dramatic piece such as this should lend itself to repetitiveness.
Gluck’s thinking and breaking from the past was largely a result of the
Enlightenment, which was teaching people to question authority and not hold
themselves accountable to the status quo. This lead to the production of new styles
of music. Although this style didn’t catch on, mostly because it was difficult for
people to completely break from the usual classical style, Gluck showed people that
a return to naturalism and Lutheranism could help to develop a successful opera. A
perfect example of his favoring dramatic unity over operatic structure is when the
chorus comes in during Orfeo’s aria. This wasn’t a conventional thing to do but the
result was a beautifully composed piece.
Essay Question: Monterverdi’s L.Orfeo and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice use the same
legend of Orfeo (or Orpheus) and Euridice from Greek mythology. Please go into as
much detail as you can about the specific characteristics of each work. (PLEASE DO
NOT spend time writing a blow-by-blow account of the plot.) How is each
composition structured? How does each composition reflect the time period it was
composed? What was each composer trying to achieve? Full credit is based on the
“thoroughness” of your answer!
Response: Monterverdi’s L.Orfeo is set up in five acts, with a Prologue. The mode is
coliun and uses melismas. Also, sand tools such as trillosand Madrigals are used. It
is done with a small group, and arias are also used. Monterverdi’s version took
place in the Baroque Period so it contained solo sin gingers with a contrnuousl*.
Gluck’s version has diverse types of music, not just succession of recitatives or arias.
It has no da capo structure, and it was more like a ballet. Gluck’s version used
tragedy and lyrique to add plot. His orchestra was laborious and he used dramatic
unity over operatic formula. This is because Gluck’s version took place in the
beginning of the Classical Period and toward the end of the Baroque Period. He
wanted to make his piece different from both Classical and Baroque styles. He
believed it needed drama. Gluck’s version is more geared towards telling the story,
with actors who actually have lyriques and tell parts. Also, he has a much more
ballet style of performing it, with lots of dancing and much more theatrical.
Not sure what a lot of his words meant… But apparently if you write shittly enough
you can get full credit. If you have any questions or want to see the test I have it and
will be downstairs until about 11:30