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Music History – Questions – Unit III – Renaissance
1. The texture of Renaissance music is chiefly
A. monophonic
B. homophonic
C. polyphonic
D. heterophonic
2. The Renaissance madrigal began around 1520 in
A. England
B. France
C. Italy
D. Flanders
8. Renaissance melodies are usually easy to sing
because
A. the level of musicianship in the Renaissance was
not very high
B. the music was mostly homophonic, so that one
could sing it with a group
C. there was a sharply defined beat, which kept the
performers together
D. the melody usually moves along a scale with few
large leaps
3. Much of the instrumental music composed during
the Renaissance was intended for
A. the concert hall
B. religious worship
C. dancing
D. the piano
9. Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass sounds fuller
than Josquin's Ave Maria because
A. Palestrina was a better composer
B. it is set for six voices instead of four
C. the recording engineer adjusted the levels
differently
D. all of the above
4. The dominant intellectual movement of the
Renaissance was called
A. feudalism
B. humanism
C. classicism
D. paganism
10. Josquin Desprez was a contemporary of
A. Christopher Columbus
B. Perotin
C. Palestrina
D. Queen Elizabeth of England
5. A cappella refers to
A. unaccompanied choral music
B. men taking their hats off in church
C. singing in a hushed manner because one is in
church
D. any form of music appropriate for church use
6. A polyphonic instrumental composition employing
imitation is the
A. madrigal
B. ballett
C. ricercar
D. motet
7. Palestrina's career centered in
A. the Netherlands
B. Florence
C. Naples
D. Rome
11. The madrigal anthology The Triumphes of Oriana
was written in honor of
A. Queen Anne
B. King Henry VIII
C. the goddess Diana
D. Queen Elizabeth I
12. A madrigal, like a motet, is a vocal composition
that combines homophonic and polyphonic textures;
but it differs from the motet in that it
A. uses a vernacular rather than Latin text
B. more often uses word painting and unusual
harmonies
C. both a and b
D. neither a nor b
13. Thomas Weelkes's As Vesta Was Descending is
notable for its
A. word painting
B. completely homophonic texture
C. instrumental accompaniment
D. monophonic texture
14. The development of the English madrigal can be
traced to 1588 and considered a result of
A. the Spanish armada
B. a decree by Queen Elizabeth
C. the writings of Shakespeare
D. the publication in London of a volume of
translated Italian madrigals
15. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. Josquin's compositions strongly influenced other
composers, and were praised enthusiastically by
music lovers.
B. Josquin spent most of his life in the province of
Hainaut, today a part of Belgium.
C. Josquin's compositions include masses, motets,
and secular vocal pieces.
D. Josquin's Ave Maria . . . Virgo serena uses
polyphonic imitation, a technique typical of the
period.
16. An attempt was made to purify Catholic church
music as a result of the
A. music of Palestrina
B. deliberations of the Council of Trent
C. complaints of Desiderius Erasmus
D. founding of the Jesuit order in 1540
17. A versatile plucked string instrument with a body
shaped like half a pear, popular during the
Renaissance, was the
A. lute
B. recorder
C. viol
D. shawm
18. Which of the following is not a characteristic of
the Renaissance ballett?
A. a dancelike song for several voices
B. mostly polyphonic texture
C. the syllables fa-la used as a refrain
D. repetition of the same music for each stanza of
the poem
19. The _____________ is a stately dance in duple
meter similar to the pavanne.
A. galliard
B. passamezzo
C. saltarello
D. minuet
20. During the Renaissance every educated person
was expected to
A. play an instrument
B. dance
C. read notation
D. all of the above
21. The focal point of music in Venice was
A. the Tivoli Gardens
B. the Venetian school
C. the Villa d'Este
D. St. Mark's Cathedral
22. A polychoral motet is a
A. polyphonic composition for mixed voices
B. motet for two or more choirs, often including
groups of instruments
C. homophonic composition for brass choir
D. five-voiced choral composition
23. Unlike most Renaissance choral music, Venetian
choral music of the late sixteenth century often
A. used both male and female voices
B. was scored for four to six voices
C. contained parts written exclusively for
instruments
D. was predominantly in triple meter
24. Which of the following is not true of Venice in
the sixteenth century?
A. It was a part of the Papal States on the
northeastern coast of Italy.
B. It was a seaport built on tiny islands separated by
canals.
C. It became a center of instrumental and vocal
music.
D. It was a thriving commercial center for trade
between Europe and the near east.
25. St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice was noted for its
A. underground treasuries
B. two widely separated choir lofts
C. regressive attitude toward contemporary music
D. use of musicians performing in gondolas
26. Giovanni Gabrieli
A. was the most important Venetian composer of the
late Renaissance
B. was an organist at St. Mark's Cathedral from 1585
until his death in 1612
C. studied music with his uncle, Andrea Gabrieli
D. all of the above