Music Appreciation Exam 2

What other composers influenced John Williams in Star Wars?

Holst, Stravinsky, Wagner

What compositional technique is a type of symbolism that can be used to represent characters, settings, and emotions?

Leitmotif

What are “sampled” sounds?

Using recorded sounds in music

Who are the famous film composers covered both in your textbook and in the lectures? For which films did they compose music?

Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Howard Shore, Michael Giacchino

What are some reasons for movie music according to Aaron Copland?

• To highlight unspoken psychological aspects or unseen dangers

• To build a sense of continuity (leitmotifs and flashbacks)

• To give a sense of finality or triumph

What are defining characteristics of song?

Usually sung, usually has lyrics, but not always

What are characteristics of folk songs?

• Often simple melodies and accompaniment written by “common folk”

• Often no known composer

• Transmitted aurally

• Part of cultural tradition

What are common themes of folk songs?

Cultural myths, religious expression, common labor, feelings of oppression, socio-political commentary, love

What is the study of music in its cultural context?

Ethnomusicology

What is “Sumer is icumen in?”

13th century English polyphony “sing cuckoo”

What are characteristics of art songs? Can they come from folk songs?

• Generally composed by trained musicians striving for quality

• Generally written down

• Relatively unchanged over time

• Union of poetry and music

• Generally written for creative expression

• Often accompanied by (lute then piano)

What are common themes of art songs?

Beauty, nature, philosophy, drama

Who were the medieval poet-musicians?

Troubadours, Trobairitz, Trouveres

Who is considered the master of the art song?

Franz Schubert

What are art songs called in various languages?

• German—lied

• Italian—romanza

• French—melodie

• English—air, ayre, song

Who are the composers of the art songs you heard in class, and what are the themes of those songs?

• Beatriz de Dia= Pleading, “the other woman”

• Franz Schubert= Erlkönig; boy being haunted

What are characteristics of popular songs?

• Melodies will have a fairly wide range, not limited to only a few pitches.

• Melodies will contain a variety of phrase shapes, not having one phrase sung repeatedly.

• Melodies will feature something memorable, setting them apart from other melodies.

Which is the top-selling single of all time?

White Christmas

How did the American pop song develop? Who was the first American pop song writer?

• When sheet music became available to buy and whatnot in mid-1800s

• Stephen Foster: Oh Susanna, Camptown Races, Swanee River

What are characteristics of Gregorian chant/plainchant?

Syllabic or Melismatic

What do the parts of the ordinary of the mass mean?

• Kyrie (Lord, have mercy)

• Gloria (glory)

• Credo (I believe)

• Sanctus (sanctify)

• Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)

Which hymn fragment is the oldest example we have of musical notation with a Christian hymn?

Oxyrhynchus hymn

What are characteristics of early Christian worship music?

• Monophonic, non-instrumental chant had been used for centuries, but polyphony became quite popular after about 1400

• Worship hymns/songs transitioned from participation by all believers in early centuries, to trained musicians only in middle ages

What are types of Christian worship music listed in Ephesians and Colossians?

Psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit

What is syllabic and melismatic chant and what are examples of each?

• syllabic – each syllable of text is sung on one pitch

  • Jesus Loves Me

• melismatic – each syllable of text is sung on multiple pitches

  • Angels, We Have Heard on High

What did these words mean originally?

• catholic= universal or general

• acapella= as in chapel

• Dies Irae= Day of Wrath

What is organum?

Music in which the two voices move together as if in unison, but each singing different on a different pitch level, generally moving parallel to each other

Be able to recognize music from masses you heard in class.

Lacrimosa, Dies Irae, Duomo dedication

What are two voices moving together in chant (beginnings of polyphony)?

Organum

What are characteristics and emphases of worship music during the days of Martin Luther?

Based in Latin, Emphasis on organized worship, became a sort of concert bc Latin was no longer the vernacular language

What was the name of the group of people who created opera?

Florentine Camerata

What is a speech-like style of singing in opera?

Recitative

What is the German form of opera that has spoken dialogue between arias?

Songspiel

What are the famous operas that were in your Canvas assignments and in your lectures? Who wrote them?

• Mozart’s Magic Flute

• Bizet’s Carmen

• Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi

• Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess

• Gilbert & Sullivan’s Mikado

What are differences between operas and musicals?

• Opera= classical vs musical= popular

• Singers who can act vs Actors who can sing

• Highly trained in traditional, classical music styles with extreme ranges and prominent vibrato vs more natural, popular style with much less vibrato

• Recitative vs Spoken dialogue

What are the famous musicals and songs from musicals that were in your Canvas assignments and in your lectures? Who wrote them? Which musical did Rodgers and Hammerstein write first?

• Rodgers and Hammerstein stuff

• West Side Story- Bernstein

• Music Man- Meredith Wilson

• Fiddler on the Roof- Bock, Harnick, & Stein

• Man of La Mancha- Wasserman, Darion, & Leigh

• OKLAHOMA

How does Dr. Carrell say Les Miserables is similar to an opera?

It’s sung throughout