Test Bloopers

America's Favorite Classical Music Bloopers

Tests
Revised May 8, 2001

New Bloopers, from the spring of 2001!

What is the Renaissance instrument that is like the modern guitar?

"A loot"

Why is it called a "character" piece?

Because 1 "character" plays it.

Our fugue is performed on what instrument?

"Harpsicordian."

What is a polonaise?
"stylish polish dance"

A fugue is composed in what texture?

"Intimate polyphonic"

Earlier Bloopers
Where were character pieces usually performed?
Saloon.
[Chopin] died at age 39 from tuberculosis, which was a popular disease in the nineteenth century.
The Romantic period was a period characterized by a change in thinking that affected every faucet of
life, including music.
Schumann's father started Robert out in music early, the age of six, by learning to play the piano.
Schumann enjoyed composing music and his wife Clara; since Beethoven never married he just enjoyed
composing music.
In addition to his wife and three children, Crumb has many other accomplishments, including a Pulitzer

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Prize...
[For extra credit I asked how the conductor/composer Lully died -- it was noted on a video we watched]
● In the rush of the song, the conductor dropped his baton. It pierced one of his feet, gave him an
infection that resulted in fatality.
● The conductor was tapping his baton wildly and got so excited he stabbed himself in the leg with
his baton and died of lead poisoning.
● Hit by a cannonball.

● The conductor was moving so intensely with the music that he accidentally threw his conductor's
wand to the ground which cut his foot that in turn led to him dying of blood poisoning.
What class of people became the newest patrons to the arts [in the Classical era]?
The common wealth.
This piece [a Gabrieli canzona] is performed with two ensembles separated from each other, playing
across a great space separately and together. This type of music is call __________ music.
Stereotypical.
What is the name of the movement that attempted to right wrongs in the Catholic Church and to counter
the Reformation movement?
re-Reformation.
What is the title of a person who is hired to be the 'house composer,' to stay in a location and compose
works especially for the hiring ensemble?
Stable-composer.
What [Classical era] philosophical system promoted applying the principles of scientific objectivity to
issues of social justice?
Scientology.
A technique whereby the music is in more than one tonality at a time is called:
Biotonality.
The book lists four ways in which Copland made his music especially "American." Name two.
Used hymns [as opposed to new ones?]
Most music [of the Middle Ages] is sacred/secular (choose one).
"Go Tell It On The Mountain."
Two musical innovations arose during [the Middle Ages]. Name one.
Wheel barrow
What part of a sonata form brings back the two themes, this time with the conflict resolved?
Decapitulation.
What does Die Forelle mean?
Die for her.
How did audiences first react to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring?
They held a riot
Name a scene depicted in The Moldau:

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Pheasant wedding
Who composed "O successores"?
Hildegard of Benign
Define castrato:
A castrato is a man who has been castrated before singing in a opera or concert
The point where the music cuts off or stops before continuing on
What was Beethoven's great physical affliction?
Death
His addiction
Name the three languages used in A Survivor from Warsaw and their significance in the composer's life:
English -- he moved to US and learned to speak
Name the three main sections of sonata form:
Exposition, deposition, recapitulation
What four institutions supported music in the Baroque era?
Church, nobility, municipalities, pheasants
Describe Baroque dynamics; include the phrase that is typically used to describe it
Terrance
[describing tone color of a Corelli work]
violins -- dim (not quite dark)
[Regarding Symphonie Fantastique]
a man is distraught over his unrequitted [sic] love and tries to committ [sic] suicide, but he fails
and only has a bad trip.
Define Expressionism
Using or writing music to expressing how you fell
The movement of the Concerto for Orchestra is subtitled "Game of Pairs." What does this mean?
All solo parts are played by two people on the same instrument
List two ways nationalism can be expressed in the music itself:
Exoticism and eroticism
Define program music:
This is music that is programmed by some sort of keyboard
What event in the 20th century prompted Copland to write in a decidedly American style, and why?
The depression made Copland write in an American Style; he felt that he could give something to
the people that would boost their moral
List the four characters depicted in The Erlking:
Guy in love; girl he's in love with; other guy she's in love with; her father
What did Bartok do to promote the folk music heritage of his native land?
He advertised on Public Television

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He recorded the folk songs so that people could listen to them if they forgot
What makes Copland's Appalachian Spring "nationalistic":
Its name is derived from the mountain range on the east coast, it was based on recordings of
Quakers found in the Appalachians
List four advantages to listening to a musical performance live in concert versus recorded through a
stereo system:
The performers are not planned
It is a natural occurance
Define 'tempo rubato'
The tempo usually reserved for a rumbha discovered by Chopin on a swing through South
America?
Define nationalism in general, non-musical terms
This is having a huge amount of ethic pride in your country.
List the four characters (roles) in The Erlking
Father, Son, King, Erl
(4) The wicked witch
Father, Sick Son, horse, Troll that represents death
What is incidental music
Music that is not written in stone. It usually happens as a result of the players ad libing with their
instruments or improvising.
Describe Primitivism
Deliberate avocation of primitive elemental powers
Copland purposely composed music that was distinctly American. Why?
To give America some music that it could call its own. He was paid to do so.
Define musique concrete
Tangible music where sounds are made in nature or by the conductor himself.
Haydn was a servant of a royal Family in hungry.
Beethoven started out as a young musician.

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Send comments to Andrew Levin at alevin@clemson.edu

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