Quiz 3

Question 1

Symphony No. 5

Answer 1

Dmitri Shostakovich
1937
Sounds like traditional orchestral piece; very depressing, but with triumphant (?) conclusion - direct response to Stalin’s critique in Pravda magazine

Question 2

Symphony No. 7

Answer 2

Dmitri Shostakovich

1939-40

Question 3

Peter Grimes

Answer 3

Benjamin Britten
1945
Opera with bitonality in final scene - C Major sea and A Major chorus

Question 4

Quartet for the End of Time

Answer 4

Olivier Messiaen
1940-41
BIRD CALLS; Violin, Clarinet, Cello harmonics, Piano; very ambient, instigating contemplation

Question 5

Mode de valeurs et d’intesites

Answer 5

Olivier Messiaen
1949
ALL PIANO; has some long-sustained bass pitches as well as bouncy upper notes; serialized duration, intensity, and rhythm with THREE LINES in score; NOT PITCH

Question 6

Appalachian Spring

Answer 6

Aaron Copland
1943-45
Very reminiscent of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring; dance-like rhythms, but with American folk music included

Question 7

Structures, book 1

Answer 7

Pierre Boulez
1951-52
ALL PIANO; very random and bouncy - pointillistic
SERIALIZES PITCH AS WELL AS DYNAMICS, RHYTHM, AND DURATION

Question 8

Sonatas and interludes for prepared piano

Answer 8

John Cage
1946-48
Prepared piano; sounds like an ensemble of weird and traditional percussion, with some unaltered notes of piano seeping through; very experimental and cool

Question 9

No. 3 Elektronische Studien, Studie II

Answer 9

Karlheinz Stockhausen
1954
Score includes two lines of shapes - one determining the pitch range (frequencies) and the other determining volume/dynamic changes (amplitudes). Squares and triangles; sounds extremely simple with synthesizer sounds and percussive elements (singular texture)

Question 10

Poeme electronique

Answer 10

Edgard Varese
1957-58
All electronic; lots of random sounds, including gongs and sirens, very percussive; listen for stuff the ARP 2600 might make (or the RCA Synthesizer)

Question 11

Artikulation

Answer 11

Gyorgy Ligeti
1958
Extremely electronic - no sampled ambient sounds used AT ALL - score is very alien-like, with drawings representing electronic sounds over duration of seconds played

Question 12

Philomel

Answer 12

Milton Babbitt
1964
Electronic opera; live voice interplayed with taped distorted voices - talking about trees and philomels lol