ch17 vocab and composers

Question 1

program music

Answer 1

a piece of instrumental music associated with a story or other extramusical idea

Question 2

program symphony

Answer 2

a symphony with a program, as by Berlioz.

Question 3

étude

Answer 3

a piece of music designed to aid technical study of a particular instrument.

Question 4

idée fixe

Answer 4

A fixed idea, an obsession; the term used by Berlioz for a recurring theme used in all movements of one of his program symphonies.

Question 5

lied

Answer 5

German for “song”; a special genre of Romantic songs with piano (so be sung and played at home).

Question 6

nocturne

Answer 6

“Night piece”: title for Romantic ‘miniature’ compositions for piano, etc.

Question 7

orchestration

Answer 7

The technique of writing for various instruments to produce an effective total orchestral sound.

Question 8

concert overture

Answer 8

An early 19th century genre resembling an opera overture—but without any following opera.

Question 9

overture

Answer 9

An orchestral piece at the start of an opera, oratorio, etc.

Question 10

polonaise

Answer 10

A Polish court dance in a moderate ‘triple meter’

Question 11

song cycle

Answer 11

A group of songs connected by a general idea or story, and sometimes also by musical unifying devices.

Question 12

strophic song

Answer 12

A song in several ‘stanzas’, with the same music sung for each stanza; as opposed to ‘through-composed song’.

Question 13

through-composed

Answer 13

A song with new music for each stanza of the poem; as opposed to ‘strophic song’.

Question 14

waltz

Answer 14

A 19th century dance in ‘triple meter’.

Question 15

Schubert

Answer 15

Die Erlkönig (1815)

Question 16

R. Schumann (1810-1856)

Answer 16

Dichterliebe

Question 17

C. Schumann (1819-1896)

Answer 17

“Der Mond kommt still gegangen”

Question 18

a character piece by Schubert (1797-1828)

Answer 18

Moment Musical, No. 2

Question 19

Schumann

Answer 19

Carnaval

Question 20

Chopin (1810-1849)

Answer 20

Nocturne in F-sharp, Op. 15, #2

Question 21

Berlioz (1803-1869)

Answer 21

Symphonie Fantastique (1830)

Question 22

One of the most important “miniature” genres of the Romantic era.

Answer 22

lied

Question 23

one of 3 characteristic features of the lied:

Answer 23

• -accompaniment (usually piano)
• -poetry (composer’s response to poetic imagery)
• -mood (performers share emotional insight with listeners at home)

Question 24

Erlkönig is based on a poem by:

Answer 24

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Question 25

Cast in the old storytelling ballad form dealing with death and the supernatural.

Answer 25

Erlkönig

Question 26

What two things help hold the long song of Erlkönig together?

Answer 26

1) piano’s continuous triplet rhythm until the very last line.
2) some telling musical repetitions: agitated riding motive and a desperately strained phrase sung higher and higher by the boy as he appeals to his father.

Question 27

A symphony of two movements and sketches for a scherzo

Answer 27

Franz Shubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” in C

Question 28

Love poems that trace a psychological progression from cautious optimism to disillusionment and despair.

Answer 28

“Dichterliebe”, R. Schumann

Question 29

Who is the poet that inspired the 16 poems set to music by R. Schumann?

Answer 29

Heinrich Heine (he reacted with bitter irony against Romanticism, acknowledging his own hopeless commitment to its ideals.)

Question 30

What piece and composer…uses musical phrases that achieve beautiful rhythmic matches for the song’s extra words such as slower for ‘drunten’ (down), livelier for ‘funkeln’ (light/sparkle) and very slow for ‘still’ (silently)?

Answer 30

Clara Schumann, “Der Mond kommt still gegangen” (The moon has risen softly…”)

Question 31

What is a ‘character piece’?

Answer 31

A short Romantic piano piece that portrays a definite/particular mood, hinted at by an imaginative title supplied by the composer.

Question 32

Two examples of character pieces

Answer 32

Felix Mendelssohn “Song Without Words” and Franz Schubert “Moment Musical No. 2 in A-flat”

Question 33

a set of twenty short character pieces that portray masked guests at a Mardi Gras ball.

Answer 33

“Carnaval” by R. Schumann

Question 34

pieces that feature a languid serenade; dark, secret lament or a musical contrast such as a distant procession, passionate encounter or dance fragment or folk song…free use of chromaticism for a liquid quality…

Answer 34

musical elements heard in any one of Chopin’s 21 nocturnes

Question 35

A fantastic piano virtuoso and

composer of orchestral music namely, program symphonies and symphonic poems.

Answer 35

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Question 36

An example of a concert overture

Answer 36

Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words” was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Question 37

An unpublished romantic composer of private oratorios and weekly home concerts.

Answer 37

Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)

Question 38

It spelled out movement by movement what the music was depicting in grandiose compositions characteristic of Romanticism as its musical miniatures.

Answer 38

Berlioz’s program symphony as in Symphonie Fantastique: Episodes in the Life of an Artist (1830)

Question 39

What is Dichterliebe “A Poet’s Love” (1840) an example of?

Answer 39

a song cycle from the Romantic Era

Question 40

Two general points regarding early Romantic era German composers:

Answer 40

1) strongly influenced by Beethoven’s music;

2) deeply influenced by literary Romanticism

Question 41

Goethe, Schlegel, Novalis, Richter, Shakespeare

Answer 41

literary poets, novelists and playwrights admired by the Romantic composers

Question 42

What’s the difference between a ‘lied’ and a ‘song cycle’?

Answer 42

‘lied’ is a small, fragile expression of the “miniature” song; ‘song cycle’ is a larger more comprehensive sequence of “miniature” songs that can be sang alone or in the sequence.