Music History IV—Dr. Robert Vodnoy
Study Guide: Chapter 23
1. What four trends form the early history of music in America? From what did each
arise?
2. What types of European church music could be found in the New World?
3. What was the Bay Psalm Book?
4. What composers were part of the First New England School? Who was the most
prominent? What did he compose?
5. Who were the Moravians?
6. What are fuging tunes? Be able to describe the form in which they were written.
7. Who was Stephen Foster? Why is he important? What songs did he write?
8. What important American musical institutions were formed in the 19th century?
9. Which composers were part of the Second New England School? Be able to name
all five of them and know the basic details of their biographies.
10. Who was Louis Moreau Gottschalk and why is he important? Why did he leave
the USA?
11. How are African-Americans different from other immigrant groups that came to
the USA? What are the eight characteristics their music as identified by our text?
12. Who where the Fisk Jubilee Singers?
13. Know the basic biography of Charles Ives. Where did he go to school? What
business did he found? Be able to name some of his major works. What is the
technique of musical collage?
14. Be able to associate the four Latin American composers discussed in this chapter
with the correct country, biographical sketch and title of works each composed.
15. Be able to name the three Ultra-modernists discussed in this chapter and associate
each with the correct biographical sketch and work which he/she composed.
16. Who was Edgard Varese? Be able to identify titles of works he composed. What
techniques did he pioneer?
17. Know the basic details of Aaron Copland’s life, including his major style periods,
titles of important works, etc.
18. Be able to associate the five Americanists with the correct biographical sketch and
work(s) he composed. How did their attitudes toward nationalism vary? With
whom did each of them study?
19. What were some of the “firsts” that William Grant Still accomplished in his life?
20. Know the details of Bernstein’s life and career as a composer and conductor.
21. Know the early history of musical comedy, including the names of the leading
composers. Be able to match the composer with the show he composed.
22. What is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic film music?
23. Who were some of the leading film composers in the early days of Hollywood?
24. Who composed the score for King Kong?
25. Know the details of George Gershwin’s life, including the titles of the important
shows and musical scores he composed. What was the Aeolian Hall concert?
26. Know the basic details of Duke Ellington’s life, including the titles of the
important shows and musical scores he composed.
27. What are the forms of the blues, ragtime, and popular song form?
28. Know the basic history of jazz, including eight styles of jazz. Be able to match the
composers/performers to the correct style (Ragtime, Dixieland, Blues, New
Orleans Jazz, Big Bands, Swing, Bebop, Post-Bebop, Free Jazz):
Louis Armstrong
Dave Brubeck
Ornette Colman
John Coltrane
Miles Davis
Duke Ellington
George Gershwin
Dizzy Gillespie
W. C. Handy
Fletcher Henderson
Scott Joplin
Jelly Roll Morton
King Oliver
Charlie Parker
Bessie Smith
29. Who were the following people? With what composer or musical style were they
most closely associated?
Nadia Boulanger
Elliot Carter
Bessie Smith
W.C. Handy
Jelly Roll Morton
Carl Sandberg
Gertrude Stein
Paul Whiteman
30. Who wrote the following musical works?
Afro-American Symphony
American in Paris
Amériques
Applachian Spring
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5
Back Water Blues
Birth of the Cool
Camptown Races
Chorôs No. 14
Concord Sonata
Dance Symphony
El Salon Mexico
Fanfare for the Common Man
Four Saints in Three Acts
Gaelic Symphony
General William Booth Enters Heaven
Harlem
Hora novissima
Ionization
Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair
Jubilee and Noël
Lady Be Good
Lincoln Portrait
Little Johnny Jones
Maple Leaf Rag
Merry Mount
The Mother of Us All
Of Thee I Sing
Oklahoma
Poéme electronique
Rhapsody in Blue
The Red Pony
Rip Van Winkle Overture
Rodeo
Romantic Symphony
Sensemayâ
Showboat
Sinfonia India
Souvenir de Porto Rico
Strike Up the Band
The Tides of Manaunaum
Treemonisha
Trouble in Tahiti
Unanswered Question
Variaciones concertantes
Wonderful Town
Take-home question:
Write a brief description and musical analysis of one of the following works and
relate it to the composer’s work as a whole. All works can be found in the anthology
and on the CD which accompanies our text.
 Beech: Piano Quintet
 Ives: “General William Booth Enters Heaven” or “Three Places in New
England” (“General Booth” is on the CD, “Three Places” is on Naxos)
 Revueltas: Sensemayâ
 Crawford: String Quartet
 Grant: Afro-American Symphony
 Copland: Appalachian Spring