The Classical and Romantic Eras in Music (1750–1900)

These flashcards cover key vocabulary related to music from the Classical and Romantic eras, including definitions of important terms in musical theory and practice.

The second half of the eighteenth century witnessed __________.

a tremendous growth in amateur music making at home

Topic: Expand Your Playlist: Chamber Music and Solo Keyboard Music of the Classical Era

2. Haydn __________.

worked for a royal family (the Esterhazys)

Topic: Profile: Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

3. Which term refers to the use of a work to serve something other than its original purpose?

•melodic cognition

musical appropriation

Topic: Historical Context: Musical Appropriation

4. What is the most famous new text for the melody from the second movement of Haydn’s String

 Quartet, op. 76,no. 3?

“Germany Above All Else”

Topic: Historical Context: Musical Appropriation

5. What is the form of the second movement of Haydn’s String Quartet, op. 76, no. 3?

theme and variations

Topic: Theme and Variations Form

6. What is the name for a five-tone mode?

pentatonic

Topic: Melody: The Wilt of Sorrow

“Da capo” means __________.

“from the head,” or “from the top”

Topic: Minuet Form

Concert manners in Haydn’s time __________.

were more like those of a rock concert today

Topic: Historical Context: Concerts and Concert Manners in the Classical Era

A rondo form features a(n) __________.

opening A section that returns repeatedly

Topic: Rondo Form

The second theme of the exposition __________.

returns in the recapitulation, but in the tonic key

Topic: Sonata Form

The most important new structural innovation of the Classical Era (used in Mozart’s Symphony no. 40) was the

development of __________.

sonata form

Topic: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony no. 40 in G Minor, K. 550, first movement

12. Which of the following is one possible reason that Mozart’s sister stopped touring and composed 

very little?

Professional outlets for women composers were virtually nonexistent during the Classical Era.

Topic: Historical Context: Mozart’s Sister

13. Mozart’s sister was __________.

an accomplished pianist at a young age

Topic: Historical Context: Mozart’s Sister

Questions from Chapter 26 Mozart Piano Concerto

14. What is the texture in the opening measures of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488?

orchestra alone

Topic: Timbre: The Drama of Contrast

15. How many themes occur in the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488?

four

Topic: Melodic Generosity

Concert halls in Mozart’s time __________.

were much smaller than modern concert halls

Topic: Performance: Mozart on Modern Instruments

Questions from chapter 27

In “Cosa sento,” whose melody is whiny and hesitant, showing the character’s state of embarrassment?

Basilio

Topic: Contrasting Melodies

In “Cosa sento,” the Count’s recurring musical theme is heard __________.

when Susanna faints

Topic: Dramatic Form, Musical Form

Questions from chapter 29

20. Billings demonstrated the ideals of Yankee independence in that he __________.

was a tanner by trade, who taught himself to write music

Billings demonstrated the ideals of Yankee independence in that he __________.

was a tanner by trade, who taught himself to write music

Topic: William Billings: “Chester”

What is the melodic contour of the first phrase of “Chester”?

arching

Topic: A Structured Melody

In Billings’s original version, “Chester” was written for __________.

soprano, alto, tenor, and bass

Topic: Changing Textures

“Chester” is different than many other songs of the American Revolution in that __________.

its words and music were written by an American-born composer

Topic: William Billings: “Chester”

Questions from Part 5: The Nineteenth Century: 1800–1900

For the Romantic artist, __________.

dreams were as important as the intellect

Topic: Part 5: The Nineteenth Century

How did the Industrial Revolution influence the production and spread of pianos?

They were produced in mass quantities, allowing middle-class households to purchase them.

Topic: A Piano in Every Home

Questions from Chapter 30 - Beethoven

In the first movement of Symphony no. 5, Beethoven transforms the opening motif by __________.

changing the instruments and placing the motif in a polyphonic texture

Topic: Rhythm: The Power of Four Notes

Questions from chapter 31 0 Shubert

4. The text of Schubert’s “Erlkönig” is a poem written in the 1780s by __________.

Goethe

Topic: Franz Schubert: “Erlkönig,” D. 328

Schubert was __________ years old when he died.

31

Topic: Profile: Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

6. In addition to art songs, Schubert also wrote __________.

symphonies, piano sonatas, and dozens of works for chamber ensembles

Topic: Profile: Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

Questions from chapter 32 - Mendelssohn

Which type of composition became more important in the nineteenth century as composers sought to integrate purely instrumental music with outside ideas?

program music

Topic: Felix Mendelssohn: Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Which instruments are used in the opening measures of Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream 

to draw the listener into the realm of the enchanted forest?

winds

Topic: Word–Music Relationships: Creating Characters through Sound

9. Felix Mendelssohn was perhaps the most cosmopolitan composer, and he __________.

spoke fluent English, French, and Italian, as well as his native German

Topic: Profile: Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)

Questions from Chapter 33 - Hector Berlioz

The Symphonie fantastique captures Romanticism’s fascination with __________.

gothic, grotesque subject matter

Topic: Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, fourth movement (“March to the Scaffold”)

Berlioz’s creative use of the brass and percussion in the fourth movement of Symphonie fantastique

demonstrates his mastery of __________.

orchestration

Topic: The Modern Orchestra

How do we know that the loud crash in the fourth movement of Symphonie fantastique 

represents the fall of the guillotine?

The music evokes the image without question.

Topic: Musical Form, Programmatic Form

As Handel’s father wanted him to be a lawyer and Vivaldi’s father trained him for 

the priesthood, Berlioz’s father wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and become a __________.

doctor

Topic: Profile: Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)

Which sound has approximately the same decibel level as a large orchestra at full volume?

a noisy kitchen

Topic: Performance: How Loud Is Too Loud?

Questions from Chapter 35 – Fanny Mendelssohn

Augusta Holmes’s Triumphant Ode was commissioned as the musical centerpiece of the __________

1889 World’s Fair, which gave us the Eiffel Tower

Topic: Historical Context: Women Composers of the Nineteenth Century

Questions from Chapter 35 – Robert Schumann

Why did Robert Schumann compose almost 150 Lieder in 1840?

He was inspired after he finally married Clara Wieck.

Topic: Robert Schumann: “Dedication”

What compositional technique did Schumann use at the end of the first section of 

text to create a new mood?

modulation

Topic: Unconventional Harmony

How does the music of section A of “Dedication” illustrate the text?

The piano rhythms suggest a heart skipping a beat.

Topic: Melody and Rhythm: Creating Contrast Together

Why was Schumann such a prolific song composer?

He was an avid reader of poetry and literature.

Topic: Profile: Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

What did Schumann create in 1834?

a music criticism journal

Topic: Profile: Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Questions from chapter 36 – Clara Schumann

What was a chief goal of revolutionaries who fought in the streets in Germany in 1848 and 1849?

unification of Germany

Topic: Clara Wieck Schumann: “Forward!”

An “a capella” chorus __________.

can have “mixed” voices of men and women

Topic: A Cappella Timbre

Questions from chapter 37 - Chopin

The sections of Chopin’s Mazurka in B-flat Major, op. 7, no. 1 are restated without significant

rondo-like pattern

Topic: Form: Repetition, Variation, Contrast

What is the texture of Chopin’s Mazurka in B-flat Major, op. 7, no. 1?

homophony with an occasional drone bass

Topic: Texture: The Singing Piano

Chopin had a decade-long liaison with a female novelist whose pen name was __________.

George Sand

Topic: Profile: Frédéric Chopin (1809–1848)

Chopin suffered from __________.

tuberculosis

Topic: Profile: Frédéric Chopin (1809–1848)

Chopin __________.

was Polish, but spent most of his life in France

Topic: Profile: Frédéric Chopin (1809–1848)

Questions from Chapter 38 - Gottschalk

Gottschalk’s Union contains the following patriotic tunes: __________.

“The Star Spangled Banner,” “Hail, Columbia,” and “Yankee Doodle”

Topic: Patriotic Melodies Made Virtuosic

The texture of Union moves generally from __________.

homophonic to polyphonic.

Topic: Same Melodies, Different Textures

Questions from Chapter 41 - Wagner

Which of the following are Wagnerian operas?

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg and The Rhine Gold

Topic: Profile: Richard Wagner (1813–1883)

How are Wagner’s Leitmotif ideas developed in musical ways?

in similar ways to the themes of a sonata-form movement

Topic: Word–Music Relationships: The Themes and the Drama

Questions from Chapter 42 – Tchaikovsky

What is the story of Swan Lake?

A hero, Siegried, falls in love with an enchanted princess, Odette.

Topic: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Act IV, finale

Tchaikovsky suffered from __________.

depression

Topic: Profile: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

Questions from Chapter 43 – Brahms

Brahms borrowed the theme for the finale to Symphony no. 4 from __________.

Bach’s Cantata no. 150

Topic: Form: Theme and Variations Plus

What was the primary way Brahms created contrast in the finale of Symphony no. 4?

shifting orchestration and tone color

Topic: Timbre: The Drama of Orchestration

Questions from chapter 44 - Dvorak

The “scherzo” form of the third movement ofDvořák’s String Quartet in F Major, op. 96 

draws its basic structure from what formal type?

the ABA of a minuet

Topic: Scherzo Form: Repetition, Variation, Contrast

Part 6: Since 1900

Questions from Chapter 45 - Debussy

How did Debussy elicit new timbres from the piano?

instructing performers to play ultra-smooth lines at a persistently soft volume

Topic: Timbre: A Non-percussive Sound

Voiles provides the listener with __________.

almost no sense of a fixed metrical pattern

Topic: Rhythm: Where’s the Downbeat?

Questions from Chapter 46 - Ives

What type of harmonic language did Ives use to challenge notions of musical correctness?

atonal

Topic: Atonal versus Tonal Harmony

Questions from chapter 47 - Schoenberg

4. Which of the following is the best description of atonality?

music that lacks any sense of a tonal center or harmonic closure

Topic: Harmony: Atonality

5. How does Schoenberg musically depict Pierrot’s anguish in “Columbine”?

short notes, often broken by short pauses

Topic: Word–Music Relationships: Expressing Anguish

Questions from chapter 48 - Stavinsky

The polytonality in The Rite of Spring creates__________.

extreme dissonance

Topic: Polytonal Harmonies

Questions from chapter 49 – Scott Joplin

Hemiola is __________.

a complex syncopation that combines pattern of two and three

Topic: Rhythmic Syncopation

8. Although he was known as the King of Ragtime, Joplin wanted to be respected as

classical composer

Topic: Profile: Scott Joplin (1868–1917)

Questions from chapter 50 – Robert Johnson

What is the term for a note that is performed flatter than in the standard major scale?

blue note

Topic: A Blue-Note Melody

Questions from Chapter 51 – Duke Ellington

Which of the following did Duke Ellington do?

write concertos, concert pieces, and hundreds of jazz standards

Topic: Profile: Duke Ellington (1899–1974)

Questions from Chapter 52 – Charlie Parker

Which instruments are heard in the jazz combo recording of “Ornithology”?

trumpet, saxophone, and drums

Topic: Jazz Combo Timbre

Questions from chapter 53 – Ruth Crawford

Ruth Crawford also worked arranging folksongs, and was the stepmother of folksinger __________.

Pete Seeger

Topic: Profile: Ruth Crawford (1901–1953)

Questions from chapter 54 - Tailleferre

Tailleferre’s group of composers, Les six, sought to __________.

separate their French style from any German influence

Topic: Profile: Germaine Tailleferre (1895–1978)

Which is a clear example of an architect’s reliance on past styles and traditions to emphasize

 a sense of continuity and consistency?

the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

Topic: Historical Context: Using the Past to Send a Messsage

Chapter 56 – Aaron Copland

The opening melody, and the one that keeps returning in “Hoe-Down,” is a traditional fiddle tune 

called__________.

“Bonaparte’s Retreat”

Topic: Folk Melodies

Copland’s “Hoe-Down” uses the duple meter associated with __________.

American square dancing

Topic: Dance Rhythms

Questions from Chapter 57 – Bartok

How does Bartok articulate the form in “Game of Pairs”?

changes in the timbre, alternating between woodwind, brass, and percussion

Topic: Asymmetrical–Symmetrical Form

Questions from Chapter 58 - Bernstein

As a modern musical retelling of Romeo and Juliet, Bernstein’s West Side Story recasts the 

feuding families as__________.

rival New York urban gangs

Topic: Leonard Bernstein: “Tonight” from West Side Story

Questions from Chapter 61 - Glass

“Knee Play 1” unfolds over a constantly repeated bass in the organ called a(n) __________.

ostinatio

Topic: Variation Form

Questions from Chapter 64 - Dargel

Which of the following is a way that Dargel’s “On This Date Every Year” is

postmodern?

the use of recent technologies like digital looping to create polyphony

Topic: Corey Dargel: “On This Date Every Year”

Questions from chapter 69

John Williams has written __________.

the music for Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Superman

Topic: Profile: John Williams

Modernism

A spirit that took hold in all the arts, in the early 20th century, representing a quest for

novelty that far exceeded any such drive in the past.

Neoclassicism

a style of composition in the years after World War I that, although distinctly modern,

drew on older uses of melody, harmony, rhythm, and form.

Postmodernism

A style in music and the other arts, beginning in the mid-twentieth century, in which

modern and traditional elements are combined.

Whole-tone scale

 a scale with only whole steps, no half steps; this eliminates any sense of a tonal

center.

Whole step

Two half steps. On the piano, a whole step skips exactly one key, white or black.

Tonality

a system of organizing pitches (both melodies and harmonies) around a central note.

Diatonic scale

A scale consisting of whole and half stps

Impressionism

An artistic movement focused more on sensations, perceptions, and light than on the

direct representation of objects. In music, the term was used by critics of the early 20th century to 

Describe harmonies, melodies, and forms they considered indistinct.

Half step

 the smallest distance between two adjacent notes on a piano (white or black)

Tonic

The note that establishes a key, based on its distinctive relationship with a particular set or

harmonies or other notes in the underlying scale. Also, the chord based on the first scale degree.