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Academic Decathlon > Music - Section 2 [Grand Canyon Suite] > Flashcards

Music - Section 2 [Grand Canyon Suite] Flashcards

This is about the specifics of Ferde Grofé’s composition "Grand Canyon Suite"

1
Q

Which American composer regarded himself
as a “composer of Americana,” an achievement
helped by his widespread exposure to the United
States?

A

Ferde Grofé

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2
Q

When was the Grand Canyon Suite composed?

A

Between 1929 and 1931

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3
Q

Where was Ferde Grofé born?

A

New York

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4
Q

When was Ferde Grofé born?

A

1892

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5
Q

How old was Ferde Grofé when he began performing professionally?

A

15

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6
Q

How old was Ferde Grofé when he joined the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra as a violinist?

A

17

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7
Q

How long did Ferde Grofé remain with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra?

A

ten years

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8
Q

What orchestra did Ferde Grofé join as an arranger

A

Paul Whiteman Orchestra

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9
Q

When did Ferde Grofé join the orchestra as an arranger?

A

1920

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10
Q

Who wrote Rhapsody in Blue?

A

George Gershwin

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11
Q

Who created the symphonic jazz arrangement of the two-piano version of Rhapsody in Blue?

in 1924

A

Ferde Grofé

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12
Q

Who adapted Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite score for a 1958 short film depicting numerous vistas of the canyon?

A

Walt Disney

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13
Q

What award did Walt Disney’s film depicting the Grand Canyon win?

A

The Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Live Action)

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14
Q

What would inspire Ferde Grofé to write the Grand Canyon Suite?

A

Joining a U.S. calvary band during World War 1 as a baritone

He joined in 1917

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15
Q

Who took Ferde Grofé camping at the Grand Canyon while he was in Arizona?

A

A sheriff friend

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16
Q

What was one of the earliest of North America’s natural wonders to be viewed by outsiders?

A

The Grand Canyon

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17
Q

When was part of the Grand Canyon designated as a forest reserve?

A

In 1893

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18
Q

When did the U.S. National Park Service take jurisdiction of the Grand Canyon as a national park?

A

In 1919

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19
Q

How many visitors came to the Grand Canyon in 2022?

A

Over 4.7 million

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20
Q

How large is the Grand Canyon national park?

A

Over 1.2 million acres

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21
Q

What was the working title of Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite?

A

Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon

22
Q

Who does Ferde Grofé credit as the inspiration for the “On the Trail” movement?

A

Eddie King, a recording supervisor at Columbia Records

23
Q

When did the Grand Canyon Suite debut?

A

1931

24
Q

What are the five movements of the Grand Canyon Suite?

A
  1. Sunrise
  2. Painted Desert
  3. On the Trail
  4. Sunset
  5. Cloudburst
25
Q

What is a character piece?

A

When the composer tries to capture the essence of something without depicting a programmatic storyline

26
Q

What is an encore?

A

When the audience demands a repetition of a piece

27
Q

Who conducted the debut of the Grand Canyon Suite?

A

Paul Whiteman

28
Q

Which movement was played as an encore at the debut of the Grand Canyon Suite?

A

On the Trail

29
Q

What is a program?

A

An explanation for each movement of a suite

30
Q

What pioneer is believed to have initiated the practice of putting tourists on mules?

A

John Hance

31
Q

How is the On the Trail movement of the Grand Canyon Suite concluded?

A

With the bray of a burro

32
Q

What musical element did Grofé employ to create the sound of a braying burro?

A

The disjunct drop of a major seventh

33
Q

What term describes musically challenging parts of a piece?

A

Virtuostic

From the term for musically gifted: Virtuoso

34
Q

What is a cadenza?

A

A passage without a steady beat, typically played by a solo instrument in a cocerto or other major work, displaying virtuostic technique and occasional improvisation

35
Q

Who helped Ferde Grofé create the cadenza in On the Trail

A

Violinist Kurt Dieterle

36
Q

What is a drumroll?

A

When the drummer hammers rapidly on the drumhead with two mallets

37
Q

On the Trail begins with what musical component?

A

a sustained fortissimo drum roll played by the timpani

38
Q

What is an arpeggio?

A

When the notes of a chord ascend (or descend) in succession

39
Q

What is a fermata?

A

A moment in a piece where the forward motion stops briefly (either via sustained pitches or via a rest)

40
Q

What is a glissando

A

The technique of sliding down through adjacent pitches

41
Q

What is a double-stop?

A

Technique where a violinist plays on two strings at once

42
Q

What two important motifs does the violinist introduce in the cadenza of On the Trail?

A

“Cowboy Song” and “Burro” motifs

43
Q

What were the two sources of inspiration for Grofé’s “Burro” motif

A
  1. Thumping pile-drivers at a construction site
  2. The song “Horses” by Byron Gay and Richard Whiting
44
Q

How did Grofé’s son contribute to the “Cowboy Song” motif?

A

Tune was somethign Grofé hummed to put his infant son to sleep

45
Q

In Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite…

What is the form of the main melodies after the violin cadenza

A

A-B-A-C-A rondo form

46
Q

In Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite…

In the A section of the rondo, what does the orchestra use to simulate the clip-clop sound of hooves?

A

Coconut shells or, occassionally, temple blocks

47
Q

In Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite…

What is the name of the small keyboard-operated percussion instrument that produces a bell-like sound, used during the waterfall and music box sections?

A

Celesta

Also used in “Hedwig’s Theme” in the Harry Potter films

48
Q

In Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite…

What is the identifying characteristic of the Rondo C section?

A

The “music box” cadenza played by solo celesta

49
Q

What radio show used Grofé’s “On the Trail” as its signature tune for twenty years?

A

The Phillip Morris Show

50
Q

In Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite…

What part is an example in a long tradition of programmatic thunderstorms?

A

“Cloudburst” - the finale

Academic Decathlon (3 decks)

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