Music Ap Flashcards
Music can be defined as
An art based on the organization of sounds in time
the 4 main properties of musical sounds are pitch, dynamics, tone color, and
Rhythm
the relative highness or lowness of a sound is called
Pitch
In general, the smaller the vibrating element, the ____ its pitch
Higher
The distance in pitch between any two tomes is called
An interval
If a pitch vibrates at 880 cycles the octave below would vibrate at ___ cycles
440
The interval that occurs when 2 diffrent tones blend so well when sounded together that they seem to merge into one tone is called
Octave
the distance between the lowest and highest tones a voice or instrument can produce is called
Pitch range
Timbre is synonymous with
Tone color
When music is created at the same time as it is performed, it is said to be
Improvised
The bow that string players usually use to produce sounds on their instruments is a slightly curved stick strung tightly with
Horse hair
The strings of a violin are tuned
By tightly or loosening the pegs
Plucking the string with the finger instead of using a bow is called
Pizzicato
woodwind instruments are so named because they
Were originally made of wood
which of the following is not a double reed instrument
Clarinet
The vibrations of brass instruments come from
The musician’s lips
A _____ is an apparatus that produces ticking or flashes of light at any desired musical speed
Metronome
A ___ sign is used in musical notation to cancel a previous sharp or flat sign
Natural
Western music uses ____ letters of the alphabet to indicate pitch
The first 7
In musical notation, pitches are written on a set of 5 horizontal lines called a
Staff
In musical notation, silence is indicated by
Rests
A cadence is
A resting place at the end of a phrase
A chord is a
combination of 3 or more tones sounded at once
The simplest, most basic chord used in western music is the
Triad
If a flute player were to play a solo without any other accompaniment, the texture would be
Monophonic
When 2 or more melodic lines of equal interest are performed simultaneously, the texture is
Polyphonic
In music ____ refers to a characteristic way of using melody, rhythm, tone color, dynamics, harmony, texture, and form
Style
The word baroque has at various times meant all of the following except
Naturalistic
Baroque style flourished in music during the period
1600 - 1750
the 2 giants of baroque compositions were george frederic Handel and
Johann Sebastian Bach
Instrumental music became as important as vocal music for the first time in the ____ period
Late baroque
Affections in baroque usage refers to
Emotional states or moods of music
A baroque musical composition usually expresses ___ within the same movement
One basic mood
the compelling drive and energy in baroque music are usually provided by
repeated rhythmic patterns
baroque melodies often are
elaborate and ornamented
melodic sequences refers to
The successive repetition of a musical idea at higher or lower pitches
terraced dynamics refers to
the sudden alteration from one dynamic level to another
The main keyboard instruments of the baroque period were the organ and the
Harpsichord
A popular keyboard instrument in which sound was produced by means of brass blades striking the string was the
Clavichord
The most characteristic feature of baroque music is its use of
Basso continuo
A bass part together with numbers that specify the chords to be played above it is called
Figured bass
the orchestra evolved during the baroque period into a performing group based on instruments of the ___ family
Violin
The musical director of a baroque court was usually not responsible for
Publicity in reaching an audience
The position of the composer during the baroque period was that of
a higher class servant with few personal rights
During the baroque period _____ were not allowed to be employed as musical directors
Women
Bach’s brandenburg concerto No.5 is unusual in that
It gives a solo role to the harpsichord
the main theme of a fugue is called the
Subject
when the subject of the fugue is present in the dominant scale, it is called the
Answer
An _____ is a play, set to music, sung to orchestral accompaniment, with scenery, costumes and action
Opera
The text or book of a musical dramatic work is called the
Libretto
A song for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment is called
Aria
An _____ is a musical number for 2 solo voices voices with orchestral accompaniment
Duet
An _____ is an operatic number involving 3 or more leading singers
Ensemble
The ____ is the person who beats time, indicates expression, cues in musicians, and controls the balance among instruments and voices
Conductor
An _____ is an orchestral composition performed before the curtain rises on a
Overture
The First opera house in Europe to offer entry to anyone with the price of admission opened in 1637 in
Venice
The earliest opera that has been preserved in Jacopo Peri’s
Euridice
Castrati
Received the highest fees of any musicians, Combined lung power of man with vocal range of women, were all male singers who had been castrated before puberty
In the myth of Orpheus, Orpheus goes to hades in the hope of bringing _____ back to life
Eurydice
The respect given to Henry Purcell by his fellow Englishmen is evidence by his burial in
Westminster Abbey
Vivaldi spent most of his life working at an institution for orphaned and illegitimate girls in
Venice
Which of the following about Vivaldi’s La Primavera (spring) from the 4 seasons is true
The price is an example of program music
While at leipzig, Bach
Taught organ and composition, gave recitals, and was often asked to judge the constitution of organs
Bach was recognized as the most eminent ____ of his day
Organist
Bach’s personal musical style was draw from
Italian Concertos, French dance pieces, German church music
Sets of dance inspired instrumental movements are called
Suites
A large scale composition for chorus, vocal soloist, and orchestra, usually set to a narrative biblical text is called
Oratorio
Oratorio differs from opera in that it has no
Acting, scenery, or costumes
George frideric haydn was born in 1685 the same year as
Johann sebastian bach
Handle spent the majority portion of his life in
England
Handel’s Messiah is an example of
An oratorio
The middle ages refers to
450 - 1450
The Renaissance may be described as an age of
Curiosity and individualism, Exploration and adventure, and the rebirth of human creativity
In the Middle ages, most important musicians were
Priest
A virtual monopoly on learning during the middle ages was held by
Monks in monasteries
During the middle ages what institution was the center of musical life
The church
Church officials expected monks to sing
With proper pronunciation and tone quality
The church frowned on instruments because of their
Earlier role in pagan rites
The use of organs in church
Bothered the clergy because they distracted the listener from worship
What we know about instruments in church comes mainly from
The pictures and literary descriptions of the day
Most medieval music was
Vocal
We know from paintings and literary descriptions of the middle ages that
Instruments were used
During the late middle ages, the church believed that music during religious services should be
Used only as a discreet accompaniment
Gregorian chant
Is monophonic in texture
Gregorian chant melodies tend to move
Stepwise within a narrow range of pitches
Gregorian chant is named after pope Gregory I, who
Was credited by medieval legends with having created it
The two types of services at which monks and nuns sang were
The office and the mass
The highlight of the day for monks and nuns was
The mass
The earlier surviving chant manuscript date from above the ____ century
9th century
The first large body of secular songs that survives in decipherable notation was composed
The 12 and 13 centuries
French secular songs of the Middle ages dealt with all of the following subjects except
Religion
One function of secular music in the late Middle Ages was to provide accompaniment for
Dancing
The First steps in a revolution that eventually transformed western music began sometime between 700 and 900 while the
Addition of a second melodic line to Gregorian Chant
The Center of polyphonic music in europe after 1150 was
Paris
A new system of music notation that allowed composers to specify almost any rhythmical pattern had evolved by the
Early 14th century
One of the major characteristics of ars nova music is its use of
Syncopation
Guillaume de Machaut’s compositions consisted mainly of
Love songs with instrumental accompaniment
The Renaissance in music occurred between
1450 - 1600
Classicism, as a stylistic period in western music roughly encompassed the year
1750 - 1820
Which of the following statements is not true of the classical period
Philosophers and writers in the classical period believed that custom and tradition rather than reason were the best guides to human conduct.
which of the following characteristics is not typical of the music of the classical period
Classical music is basically polyphonic
Which of the following statements is not true
Composters in the classical period continued to use terraced dynamics in their composition
The typical orchestra is the classical period consisted of
Strings, woodwinds, horns, trumpets, and timpani
Which of the following instruments were not normally included in the classical orchestra
Trombones
Political and economic power shifted to the middle class from the aristocratic and the
Church
The prospering middle class in the classical period sought aristocratic luxuries such as
Theater, Literature, and Music
Which of the following statements is not true
Political and economic power shifted during the classical period from the middle class to the aristocracy and the church
Joseph Haydn was content to spend most of his life
Serving a wealthy aristocratic family
Haydn’s contract of employment shows that he was considered
a skilled servant
Composers in the classical period took middle class tastes into account by
FLavoring their serious compositions with folk and popular music, writing comic operas that sometimes ridiculed the aristocracy, and by writing dance music for public balls
In the classical period, comic operas sometimes
Ridiculed the aristocracy
In Vienna, haydn and mozart
Became close friends
Short musical ideas or fragments of themes that are developed within a composition are
Motives
The Character of the minuet is best described as
Stately and dignified
In many of beethoven’s works there is a ____ movement instead of the minuet
Scherzo
In many of beethoven’s works there is a ____ movement instead of the minuet
Scherzo
The Scherzo differs from the minuet in that it
Moves more quickly
Symphony may be defined as
Has 4 movements, 20 - 45 min, exploiting the expanded range of tone color and dynamics of the classical orchestra.
The usual order of movements in a classical symphony is
Fast, Slow, Dance Related, Fast
Which of the following is not true of the symphony
It is a musical composition for solo instruments and orchestra
The lyrical slow movement of a symphony is most often the
2nd
A Concerto is a large scale work in several movements for
An instrument soloist and orchestra
The classical Concerto differs from the symphony in that it does not have a ____ Movement
Minuet or scherzo
A classical concerto greatly relies on a soloist
Virtuosity
A brilliant solo section in a concerto designed to display the performers virtuosity is called
A Cadenza
Classical chamber music is designed
For the intimate setting of a small room
The most important form of classical chamber music is the
String Quartet
The string Quartet
Consist of 4 movements, most important in chamber music, written for 2 violins a viola and a cello
A major factor that distinguishes chamber music from the symphony or concerto is that chamber music
Is performed by one player per part
Hayden was fortunate in having a long and fruitful, as well as financially stable, relationship with the noble hungarian family of
Esterhazy
Which of the following was not one of haydn’s duties
Writing a cadenza each week for sunday service
ALthough Haydn spent most of his time in hungry, he often traveled to
London
Along with his symphonies, Haydn’s ____ are considers his most important works
String Quartets
Which of the following statements is not true
In his later years, Mozart was continually on tour in england and europe
Between the age of 6 and 15 Mozart
was continuously on tour
Mozart tried to find fame and fortune by moving to
Vienna
Mozart composed his requiem
On the commision from a stranger
Don Giovanni is
The legendary spanish lover
Mozart Symphony No. 40
Featured an emotional intensity
The 3rd symphony of beethoven was originally composed to commemorate the deeds of _____
Napoleon
Beethoven
was a brilliant pianist, Self educated and had read widely but was weak in elementary arithmetic, Felt symptoms of deafness
Which of the following statements is not true
Like haydn and many other composers of the classical period Beethoven depended on the aristocracy for his financial well being
We have a record to beethoven’s struggle with his musical material because he
Showed his workflow in musical sketchbooks
Beethoven’s 16 _____ are generally considered among the greatest music ever composed
String Quartets
Beethoven is often credited as being
The bridge between classical and romantic periods
The opening motive of Beethoven’s symphony No. 5 has a _____ Rhythm
Short, Short, Short, Long
Beethoven’s only opera was called
Fidelio
