Exam 2 Music Practice Exam

Match the Classic period genre to the best definition. Not all definitions fit one of the genres. There cannot be more than one answer for one genre:

1) Symphony; 2) Piano Concerto; 3) Piano Sonata; 4) String Quartet; 5) Opera

a) song for voice and piano
b) piece for piano solo, in which the whole piece is in exposition-development-recapitulation form
c) piece for piano and orchestra
d) piece for piano, in which the first movement is in sonata form
e) piece for a string orchestra, usually in four movements
f) piece for 2 violins, viola, and cello, usually in four movements
g) sung drama with orchestral accompaniment
h) piece for orchestra in four movements: usually fast, slow, minuet, fast
i) piece for orchestra, in which the whole piece is in sonata form

ANSWER: 1=h, 2=c, 3=d, 4=f, 5=g

EXPLANATIONS: a: "Song for voice and piano" is a genre we haven't gotten to yet in class--a Romantic genre.
b: "exposition-development-recapitulation form" another name for sonata form. Only the first movement of a Classic genre is in sonata form, not the whole piece.
e: Most Classic pieces don't use just strings--the orchestra by this point usually includes woodwinds, and sometimes brass and percussion.
i: You would never have an entire piece for orchestra in sonata form--usually just the first movement of a symphony. The other movements have different forms.

Match the Baroque term to the best definition. Not all definitions fit one of the genres. There cannot be more than one answer for one genre:

1) Recitative, 2) Aria; 3) Oratorio; 4) Concerto Grosso; 5) Fugue; 6) Melisma

a) Sung drama with orchestral accompaniment
b) Like opera, except religious, and not staged
c) the part of the opera (or oratorio) that expresses one central emotion and displays the singer's virtuosity
d) the part of the opera (or oratorio) that narrates the plot, and the singer sings in the rhythm of speech
e) The part of the opera in which a whole chorus of singers, not just one or a few soloists, sings
f) A virtuosic way of singing in which the singer sings several pitches on the same syllable of text
g) An instrumental work for one soloist and orchestra
h) An instrumental work for a few soloists and orchestra
i) A piece, often for organ, with the following form: Exposition, Development, Recapitulation
j) A piece, often for organ, with the following form: Exposition, Episode, Middle Entries, Episode etc.

ANSWERS: 1=d, 2=c, 3=b, 4=h, 5=j, 6=f

EXPLANATIONS: a=opera
e=the chorus
g=a solo concerto, not concerto grosso
i=Exposition-Development-Recapitulation is the Sonata form found in Classic period music--not a Baroque form.

 

Click on Listening Sample 1

1. Genre of the work and definition:
a. symphony--piece for instruments
 b. symphony--piece for orchestra in strophic form
 c. symphony--piece for orchestra in four movements
 d. concerto--piece for solo instrument and orchestra
 e. concerto--piece for solo instruments, voices, and orchestra, in three movements
2. When written (roughly)
a. 1700 B.C.
 b. 1800 BC
 c. 1700 A.D.
 d. 1800 AD
 e. 1900 AD
3. Structure of the work as a whole:
a. movement in sonata form--slow movement--movement in triple meter--very fast movement in duple
 b. exposition--episode--middle entries--episode
 c. whole orchestra--solo instruments--whole orchestra--solo instruments
 d. several verses, each with same music, different words
 e. recitative--aria--chorus--ballet
4. How the composer differs from most composers of his era--apparent in this piece:
a. fascination with the supernatural
 b. close relationship between music and literature (the story associated)
 c. pathbreaker in the use of ballet
 d. composes atonal music
 e. rebels against some of the laws of sonata form

1-c. (a and b are bad definitions. Symphony is for an orchestra, not just
"instruments", and strophic form always involves words (and most symphonies don't
have words). This isn't a concerto, since through most of it there is no solo
instrument.)

2-d. (end of Classic era, beginning of Romantic. EVERYTHING we've heard this
semester starting with Gregorian chant is AD.)

3-a. (b: fugue form. c: concerto grosso. d: strophic form, used for songs (with
singers--this has no singers). e: subgenres of opera.)

4-e. (a: Schubert, Wagner, Tschaikovsky. b: Schubert, Wagner. c: Tschaikovsky,
Stravinsky. d: Schoenberg, Webern.)