Midterm

Question 1

European Operetta

Answer 1

• irreverent
• social satire
• a contrast to grand opera
• frenzy

Question 2

American Operetta

Answer 2

• irreverent
• exotic
• sentimentality
• high moral values
• marriage/duty
• waltzes

Question 3

Orphée (European Operetta example)

Answer 3

irreverence with Public Opinion character, frenzy, characters go to hell, making fun of the sanctity of marriage, reference to Gluck opera

Question 4

Naughty Marietta (American Operetta example)

Answer 4

fragments of song haunt her
very French New Orleans
big ending gesture for the chorus
romantic

Question 5

assonance (almost rhymes)

Answer 5

words that sound almost alike after the identical accented vowel. (Main, game, reins; hate, shape, played.)

Question 6

consonance (off rhymes)

Answer 6

all consonants and vowels after the accented vowel are the same, but the initial accented vowel is different. (Worry, bury; withered, gathered.)

Question 7

Alliteration (consonant rhyme)

Answer 7

the repeated sound is the initial consonant

Question 8

feminine rhymes

Answer 8

involve two syllables: one accented, one not (ocean, motion, devotion; satin, flat in; Quentin, went in)

Question 9

masculine rhymes

Answer 9

only one accented syllable (flee, sea, apostrophe)

Question 10

triple rhymes

Answer 10

involve three syllables (sailable, mailable; lyrical, miracle)

Question 11

AABX chorus form (32 bars)

Answer 11

AAB (usually A); spotlight in the last A section to emphasize the cadence

Question 12

ABAC chorus form (32 bars)

Answer 12

parallel period; relaunch into A after B; spotlight in the last A and then maximum harmonic tension in C leading to the final cadence

Question 13

Variety shows

Answer 13

-Raunchy, not family-friendly
-Show-off for the performer
-Sketch comedy
-The Bowery in New York
-Tony Pastor cleaned up variety shows and renamed it Vaudeville, making it more family-friendly.

Question 14

Revue

Answer 14

Revue is centered around a single thing or has a plot, but otherwise it is very similar to variety shows.

Example: Ziegfield’s Follies

Question 15

Tin Pan Alley Musical Characteristics

Answer 15

• distinctly New York flavor
• speak-singing
  -slang
• strong rhythmic profile (ragtime)
• sentimental, upright songs

Question 16

George M. Cohan

Answer 16

• American patriotism
• lots of slang
• speak-singing
• interpolating other songs from the past
• melodramatic and cliché
• Little Johnny Boy is super patriotic

Question 17

Irving Berlin

Answer 17

• wide emotional range
• valued brightness, electricity, provoking an emotional response
• “White Christmas”

Question 18

Princess musicals

Answer 18

-Princess musicals came before until the end of ww1
-Goofy, friendly
-Lyrics had meaning; sophisticated lyrics, rhymes
-Songs were related to the plot
-Princess Theatre
-Witty banter among the wealthy, upper-crust group
-Always a mistaken identity of some kind

Question 19

Jazz age musicals

Answer 19

-New woman, sexually liberated woman, gold digger vibe
-Cinderella musicals
-Lots of irony, slang, raunchy, salacious
-Lots of little rhymes, internal rhymes, frenzied character; so many rhymes
-Overtly political
-Sentimentality is gone
-Sophisticated
-Different singing, aka the style of belting -> Al Jolson, Ethel Mermon
-Speak-singing style

Question 20

Oh Lady! Lady! (Princess musical example)

Answer 20

witty, British style with american twist

Question 21

Cinderella musicals (Jazz Age example)

Answer 21

a poor working girl who ends up marrying into wealth; a fantasy of glorification for the working woman; most famous plot and archetype of Jazz Age

Question 22

Cole Porter

Answer 22

• dazzingly clever lyrics
• always make sense, rarely strained word order, witty, brilliant timing with words
• was known as “the Jazz Age”

Question 23

Rodgers and Hart

Answer 23

-flamboyant wordplay, clever rhymes
- rat a tat effect
- Garrick Gaieties was where they got their start while making fun of the Theater Guild

Question 24

Gershwins

Answer 24

• lyrics that brush away idealism and use slang
• zip effect -> short sprays of rhymed words
• syncopated; jazz-inflected
• clever and fun
• modal mixture essentially
  Porgy and Bess -> serious work, sophisticated, folky, popular music, modern

Question 25

Commercial musicals (political)

Answer 25

lighthearted and a little more capitalist friendly, gently political spoofs, not partisan; stayed jazz age style: sophisticated, smart, etc.; Gershwins had a little bit of operetta style along with their jazz age stuff

Question 26

Government-sponsored (political)

Answer 26

“what’re you going to do about this problem” to the audience, partisan, explicitly political, questioning the functions of the songs; the songs are supposed to be user-friendly, different from what you might hear elsewhere (not bourgeois like pop/classical), no substance; forms and tones just all over the place to prevent you from falling into your normal habits; you’re supposed to critique those habits; the government ended up inadvertently helping people to convert other people to communism.