Music Appreciation Exam 7

Sprechstimme

A vocal style where the melody is spoken than sung.

Atonal

Music without a tonal center or “home” key.

Twelve Tone method

A system developed by Schoenberg where all 12 pitches are treated equally, forming a tone row.

Ethnomusicology

The study of music in its cultural and global context.

Minimalism

A musical style with repetition, limited materials, gradual changes, and steady pulse.

With what institution have bands always been associated?

The military

What is the oldest professional band in the U.S.?

The U.S. Marine Band (est. 1798)

Who is America’s most famous bandmaster?

John Philip Sousa

Why is JP Sousa famous?

He composed over 130 marches and popularized the band concert.

What is the official march of the United States?

The Stars and Stripes Forever.

To what other music in form is a band march similar?

Dance music; march form has repeated strains and contrasting trio sections.

What are America’s vernacular music traditions at the end of the 19th C?

Parlor songs, ragtime, spirituals, and brass band music

Know the characteristics of 20th C. art music

Dissonance, atonality, complex rhythms, jagged melodies, smaller orchestras, and experimentation.

Who invented the twelve-tone compositional technique?

Arnold Schoenberg

How could ballet be described prior to The Rite of Spring

A graceful, formal court and theatrical dance form, often part of opera or romantic narrative ballets.

The Rite of Spring Opening night

Paris, 1913; caused a near-riot due to its radical style.

The Rite of Spring Musical characteristics

Dissonance, polyrhythms, polytonality, primitive energy.

The Rite of Spring What instrument do you hear first?

Bassoon (in an unusually high register).

The Rite of Spring How was it groundbreaking?

Redefined ballet, rhythm, and orchestration in music. It challenged traditional musical forms and introduced new concepts of tonality and rhythm.

The Rite of Spring Was it considered a revolutionary work?

Yes, both musically and choreographically.

The Rite of Spring Know the home of the Ballet Russes

Paris, though founded by Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev.

Who is William Grant Still?

A leading African American composer during the Harlem Renaissance.

Historically significant symphony by Still?

Afro-American Symphony (1931)

What is the Harlem Renaissance and when did it occur?

A 1920s-30s cultural movement celebrating African American arts and identity.

Who is Florence Price?

The first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major U.S. orchestra.

Describe Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor

Combines African American musical idioms (like spirituals) with classical form; premiered by the Chicago Symphony in 1933.

Know the characteristic of Charles Ives’s compositional style.

Polytonality, quotation, dissonance, layered textures, American tunes.

What was Ives’s day job?

Insurance executive

Was Charles Ive’s music popular during his life?

No, it gained recognition later.

Did Ives’ music reflect his roots?

Yes, strongly — he quoted hymns, marches, and vernacular American music.

Did Ives include Sousa marches in Country Band March

Yes, he included them as part of the piece's collage of American musical styles.

Who is Nadia Boulanger? Who were her students?

Influential French music teacher; taught Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, and others.

Copland’s Appalachian Spring Genre

Ballet

Copland’s Appalachian Spring For whom was it composed?

Martha Graham (choreographer and dancer).

Copland’s Appalachian Spring What tune is quoted in the piece?

Simple Gifts (Shaker melody).

Bartok, Kodaly, Nationalism What nationality is Bartok and Kodaly?

Hungarian

Bartok, Kodaly, Nationalism From what area of the world did they collect songs?

Eastern Europe

Bartok, Kodaly, Nationalism Describe 20th Century nationalist composers

Used folk music and traditional elements to express national identity.

Bartok, Kodaly, Nationalism What did Neoclassical composers do and value?

Emulated earlier music (Baroque/Classical); valued form, balance, and objectivity.

Bartok, Kodaly, Nationalism Difference between 19th and 20th C nationalism in music?

19th C. romanticized folk spirit; 20th C. used actual folk music and ethnographic techniques.

Which American composers were influenced by eastern philosophy?

John Cage and Lou Harrison

Which composer explored tone clusters at the piano?

Henry Cowell

Know the significance of 4’33”

Silent piece by John Cage that challenges the definition of music.

Is it noise or music?

It is music — it invites the audience to hear ambient sound as musical.

Who invented the prepared piano?

John Cage

Which John Cage work evokes the sound of the gamelan?

Sonatas and Interludes.

From where does the gamelan come?

Indonesia.

What types of instruments are found in gamelan?

Metallophones, gongs, drums, bamboo flutes.

Name two composers influenced by gamelan?

John Cage and Henry Cowell

Steve Reich was influenced by polyrhythms from what area of the world?

West Africa

Does phase music use electronic looping?

Yes, phase music utilizes electronic looping techniques to create layered sound patterns.

Know the important elements of minimalism.

Repetition, gradual change, steady pulse, and tonal harmony. “Holding notes” “Layering” “Augmentation”

When was magnetic tape recording developed?

Early 1960s

For what is Steve Reich known?

Developing phase music and minimalist techniques; blending electronic and acoustic sound.

Stars and Stripes Forever

John Philip Sousa, March

Pierrot lunaire, No. 18

Arnold Schoenberg, Melodrama / Song Cycle

The Rite of Spring, Part 1, excerpts

Igor Stravinsky, Ballet

Symphonies of Wind Instruments

Igor Stravinsky, Wind Symphony

Suite for Violin and Piano, III

William Grant Still, Suite (Chamber Music)

Country Band March

Charles Ives, March

Appalachian Spring, excerpts

Aaron Copland, Ballet Suite

Sonata V from Sonatas and Interludes

John Cage, Prepared Piano / Suite

In C

Terry Riley, Minimalist Composition / Process Music