Music 431 - Bonds Reading Questions
Free Advice: Begin by reading each chapter without the questions at hand. Next, read each question and begin to reread the chapter, jotting down your answers as you find the information you need. Also: when the book analyzes pieces in your anthology, actually look at your score (!).
1. What ÒforgottenÓ names would have been familiar to a late-18th-century music enthusiast?
2. How did opera buffa differ from opera seria?
3. What genre was the immediate ancestor of opera buffa, and what was a famous example of the genre?
4. What was the Guerre des Bouffons, what sparked it, and who won?
5. What were the party ÒplatformsÓ in the Quarrel of the Gluckists and Piccinnists?
6. What does ÒprolixÓ mean, and who sought to avoid this in opera seria?
7. What was the ÒcurriculumÓ of the Opera Reform School?
8. According to Gluck, who was responsible for operatic abuses?
9. To what countries (use their modern names) would Gluck have travelled for his opera commissions, and what were his non-operatic works?
10. What set Mozart apart from other opera composers?
11. What genre label did da Ponte assign to Don Giovanni, and why?
12. Yes, Leopold exploited his children, but what benefit did Wolfgang receive as a result?
13. Why didnÕt Mozart write as many symphonies as Haydn, & why may he have written his last three?
14. In MozartÕs compositional timeline, the 1760s–1770s = lots oÕ sacred music, while the 1780s = little sacred music. Why?
15. In what ways was classical sacred music Òold-fashionedÓ?
16. Why might an 18th-century female musician be better advised to be Catholic rather than Protestant?
17. Who was Mignon, and why is she in our history textbook?
18. Why is the style of MozartÕs music so inconsistent in Die Zauberflšte?
19. Instead of beer-pong, what might be featured at a Billings party?
20. Who was the Òfather of Italian comic opera,Ó and who really wrote ÒMozartÕsÓ Symphony 37?
1. Why was an 1825 New Yorker with a craving for Boston cream pie best advised to wait until 1850?
2. Why is 1877 an especially significant year for musicians?
3. Why donÕt you find ÒE. T. W.Ó Hoffmann in the New Grove, and what musical legacy did he leave?
4. Why did Romantics particularly value instrumental music?
5. What new countries arose in the 19th century, and what ideology supported their development?
6. Music is BIGGER THAN EVER in the 19th century—why?
7. If Cal Poly had issued degrees in the 19th century, what requirement might have been in the curriculum besides the GWR?
8. If publishing didnÕt pay the bills, what else could a composer do?
9. Why might you want to work in a factory in Belper, Derbyshire?
10. Why are 1857, 1865, and 1867 notable years, and what makes 1892 especially important?
11. What disappointed Dvoř‡k about the United States?
1. Instrumental versus vocal music: what makes each medium Òthe bestÓ?
2. How did Romanticism get its name?
3. What is Idealism?
4. Why might Dr. Brammeier have preferred being a composer in 1830?
5. According to Tieck, when should the Reichardt overture to Macbeth be played?
6. Who were early biographers of musicians, and whom did each writer profile?
7. Why is it easier to distinguish 19th-century composers than, for instance, Vivaldi from Corelli?
8. What term describes consciousness of the past, and what composers illustrate this interest?
9. What is the difference between ÒabsoluteÓ and ÒprogrammaticÓ music, and why did Wagner think the latter was better?
10. What terms did Liszt use to distinguish absolute from programmatic composers?
11. What, in HanslickÕs view, are the content and object of music?
12. What does ÒpolemicizeÓ mean, and how did Brahms choose to do it?
13. Why might the other arts envy music?
14. Why did Schumann call ChopinÕs music Òcannons buried in flowersÓ?
15. How did Russian composers demonstrate nationalism?
16. How do ÒartÓ and ÒpopularÓ music audiences differ in their attitude toward music?
17. How did Verdi know that Nabucco would be a success?
18. How do you count groups of 29 or 39 notes?
19. What is Òcyclic coherence,Ó and where are you likely to find it?
20. When—and why—did conductors begin to be needed?
1. Bigger halls, bigger audiences—what happened to the instruments?
2. As you set up for orchestral rehearsal, what instruments need stands as the century wears on?
3. Short-short-short-LOOOONG: is Fate knocking at the door, or not?
4. Why would BeethovenÕs use of choir in the Ninth Symphony be controversial?
5. Why might you start to see ÒschnellÓ rather than ÒallegroÓ in your scores?
6. Eek!! ItÕs BeethovenÕs music!! Why might you feel that way, according to Hoffmann?
7. Why is a fugato not a fugue?
8. How does the Òperiod instrumentÓ orchestra differ from that of today?
9. What is the Heiligenstadt Testament, and who was the Immortal Beloved (maybe)?
10. Why might you want to include a lyre-guitar on your Facebook page?
11. Give the dates of BeethovenÕs style periods, explain (briefly) their characteristics, and name a representative work from each period.
12. In what genres were BeethovenÕs principal works? Name a significant piece in each category.
13. What other composers were noted for their symphonies? Name an interesting fact about each person.
14. Who was widely viewed as BeethovenÕs symphonic heir, and why?
15. Just what is a concert overture?
16. In your opinion, which anecdote about Berlioz best illustrates his ÒBad BoyÓ tendencies?
17. In what ways was Mendelssohn not a typical Romantic composer?
18. If Dr. Spiller had been a 19th-century pianist, what might he have been expected to do besides play?
1. If you had been a pre-1830s music major, what would have been an unlikely senior project choice?
2. Why might Beethoven have sold fewer copies of his sonatas and quartets than Haydn or Mozart did?
3. What genre especially helped German composers pay the bills, and what made it so prominent?
4. How did the piano change between 1800 and 1900?
5. What is a song cycle, and who wrote them?
6. What is a minstrel song, what was its typical medium, and who wrote a lot of them?
7. Name two ways in which Schubert resembled Mozart, and two ways in which he did not.
8. In what genres were SchubertÕs principal works? Name a significant piece in each category.
9. What terms besides ÒLiedÓ were used for art songs, and name a composer (and nationality) of each.
10. Who was the Swedish Nightingale, how did she get that name, and what did it net for her?
11. How could pianists Òfight backÓ against the LiedÕs popularity, and who were prominent composers?
12. Modern performers often Òmis-Óplay tempo rubato in ChopinÕs works. How did he want it played?
13. What common denominator is found in all of ChopinÕs works?
14. What is a sphinx, and how does it pertain to Schumann?
15. Who are Florestan and Eusebius, and how do they pertain to Schumann?
16. In what genres were SchumannÕs principal works? Name a significant piece in each category.
17. What is a virtuoso, and in what genres might s/he be showcased?
18. What lasting impact did Liszt have on performance, still affecting performers today?
19. Why might the term ÒfacilitŽÓ appear in your score?
1. What Òconflicting agendasÓ plagued operas?
2. What would you hear if you encountered bel canto or a cabaletta?
3. Why did Rossini retire from operatic composition, and what did he do afterwards?
4. The music keeps changing in the first 8 sections of Rigoletto; name two ÒmessagesÓ it conveys.
5. What alarmed government censors about Rigoletto?
6. Nineteenth-century operas often were subversive; choose two and explain how each led to trouble.
7. How do you distinguish grand opera from opera comique?
8. Why was Der FreischŸtz such a sensation?
9. Oops! OperaÕs had it all wrong. What was its error, according to Wagner, and what did he do instead?
10. Verdi the Politician, Verdi the Philanthropist—explain how each is a valid nickname.
11. DonÕt say ÒGesamtkunstwerkÓ when someone sneezes; what does it really mean, & whose term is it?
12. What is Òdrama,Ó in WagnerÕs view, and what tool does he use to achieve this end? Did he invent it?
13. How did WagnerÕs architectural design support his musical approach?
14. What is Stabrheim, and how far back does it date?
15. How often do you clap during a Wagnerian music drama? Why?
16. What is operetta? Name a German, French, and English example (and a composer for each).
17. If you had known Wagner personally, he might have driven you crazy. Name four ways.
18. What characterizes a Singverein, and how could it be subversive?
19. What characterizes a Romantic oratorio, what didnÕt the church like, and what alternative arose?
1. What new line-items were funded in most post-1850 city budgets?
2. As an instrumentalist, where might you have reported for work, and what kind of music were you likely to play in each location?
3. What four journals would be the focus of 19th-century MU 320 Òteaching opportunitiesÓ?
4. What characterized 19th-century ballet?
5. What unusual biographical details set Tchaikovsky apart from most composers? (name two)
6. The concert overture has been reborn—what are its new names, and who were masters of the genre?
7. What genres started cross-breeding with post-1850 symphonies?
8. What did Schumann think of BrahmsÕs piano and chamber works, and what genres did he hope Brahms would tackle next?
9. How was Brahms simultaneously progressive and conservative?
10. In what genres were BrahmsÕs principal works? Name a piece by him you havenÕt heard and explain why you should listen to it.
11. Explain how symphonies and nationalism went hand-in-hand, giving at least 4 examples.
12. What evidence is there for believing that Brahms admired Dvoř‡kÕs music?
13. Why was a musicologist unlikely to be a ÒMahler ScholarÓ before the 1960s, and what changed?
14. What evidence is there for regarding Mahler as a Òrecovering chauvinistÓ?
15. Identify two Òmajor composersÓ from each country profiled at the end of the chapter.