Why Am I Important?

Question 1

Comtessa de Dia

Answer 1

Tobairitz (female troubadour) of Occitan region during the late 12th century. Typical subject matter in her lyrics include optimism, praise of herself and her love, and betrayal. Survived by 4 cansos and 1 tenso (different styles of troubadour songs).

Question 2

Guillaume de Machaut

Answer 2

(1291-1361)
French composer who helped develop ars nova style, among the first to compose polyphonic setting of poetry in fixed forms (ballade, rondeau, virelai), to write in four parts, and to compose a setting of the Ordinary Mass (Messe de Notre Dame)

Question 3

Hildegard of Bingen

Answer 3

(c.1200)
Medieval composer of monophonic music, had visions (possibly induced by migraine) and wrote religious poetry about them, most of which were set to music (plainchant). Also wrote the first morality play Ordo virtutum

Question 4

John Dunstable

Answer 4

Most eminent English composer of the early 15th century, surviving works consist mostly of polyphonic masses, single mass movements, mass pairs, and motets. Noted as a transitory figure between medieval and Renaissance, his works are an example of contenance angloise focusing on sonorities of thirds and sixths

Question 5

Leonin (Leoninus)

Answer 5

(1135-1201)
French medieval composer. One of the, if not the, first composers of polyphonic organum (Plainchant with a voice singing in harmony) compiled in his magnus liber. Composed at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps the first composer to use rhythmic modes.

Question 6

Phillipe de Vitry

Answer 6

(1291-1361)
Coined the term ars nova, helped innovate music composition with increased rhythmic freedom and syncopation, his motets featured commentary on political issues, and the complexity directly influenced Guillaume de Machaut.

Question 7

Pope Gregory the Great

Answer 7

Standardized the texts used in plainchant for the Catholic Church, namesake of Gregorian Chant

Question 8

Giovanni Gabrieli

Answer 8

Organist of St. Marks and helped transition to the Baroque, his innovations were credited as usage of dynamics, specific instrumentation (such as in Sonata pian’e forte), and antiphonal polyphony, helped develop the Venetian School of grand polychoral style.

Question 9

Carlo Gesualdo

Answer 9

Italian composer of the late Renaissance, noted for his six books of intensely expressive madrigals that used astonishing and jarring chromaticism not heard again until the end of the 19th century. A controversial figure, he murdered his first wife in 1590 when he caught her in bed with her lover.

Question 10

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Answer 10

Important late Renaissance composer who helped develop counterpoint, influenced by Guillaume du Fay and Josquin des Prez. Central representative of the Roman School, he is known for his over 105 masses and 250 motets. His style of counterpoint (dissonances on weak beats) was codified by Johann Joseph Fux and includes five species, the resulting polyphony is much smoother and representative of late Renaissance music. Most important work is Pope Marcellus Mass.

Question 11

Girolamo Frescobaldi

Answer 11

Italian organist who was one of the most important composers for keyboard in the late Renaissance and early Baroque. Wrote mostly keyboard pieces, but his canzone for unspecified instrumentation and basso continuo that helped lead to the trio sonata. Was a strong influence on the German Baroque school.

Question 12

Guilio Caccini

Answer 12

Member of the Florentine Camerata, helped develop the genre of opera. Known for developing a type of monody that came to be known as stile recitativo, it tried to emulate the spoken voice. His 1602 publication Le nuove musiche was a collection of monodies and songs for solo voice and basso continuo that is notable for being the first attempt at defining the figured bass of the basso continuo.

Question 13

Guillaume du Fay

Answer 13

Most acclaimed composer of the early Renaissance, composed in almost every polyphonic genre of his day. Travelled extensively, developed a cosmopolitan style that incorporated different regional styles, heavily influenced by contenance angloise. Originally focused on songs and motets, eventually composed cyclical masses based on a cantus firmus (pre-existing melody), and among the first to use a secular cantus firmus in a mass (L’homme arme).

Question 14

Josquin des Prez

Answer 14

French composer of high Renaissance music, central figure of the Franco-Flemish school. Composed mostly masses, motets, and chansons, noted for his highly expressive and imitative counterpoint, increased focus on the text (precursor to word painting), and departure from melismatic writing to shorter motivic cells.

Question 15

Ottaviano Petrucci

Answer 15

Italian printer who published Harmonice Musices Odhecaton in 1501, a collection of chansons commonly misidentified as the first music publication using movable type, although it is the first book of polyphony printed using movable type. Noted for his mensural notation (precise rhythms) and as being the publisher for much of Josquin des Prez’s works.

Question 16

Antonio Vivaldi

Answer 16

Venetian master of the Baroque, prolific compositional output featured virtuosic concerti (most notably for violin) and innovative operas (blending instruments and voice), his complex counterpoint directly inspired J.S. Bach. Roman Catholic priest who taught music at a Venetian orphanage by the age of 15. Established the standard three movement form of the concerto and brought to prominence the ritornello. Most notable works include The Four Seasons (1725) and L’estro armónico.

Question 17

Barbara Strozzi

Answer 17

One of the most important composers of Italian cantatas and Baroque arias, noted as the most prolific composer of secular music in Venice in the middle of the 17th century. Her father was a member of the Accademia degli Incogniti, one of the largest intellectual academies in Europe and a major political force in the Republic of Venice.

Question 18

Domenico Scarlatti

Answer 18

Italian composer of mostly keyboard works, noted for his 555 keyboard sonatas, although he did compose music in other forms. Considered a Baroque composer but important in the development of the Classical style. His music tended to be of the galant style (simplified counterpoint and focus on melody) and incorporated Iberian folk influences, mainly the use of the Phyrgian mode (natural minor with lowered second).

Question 19

Faustina Bordoni

Answer 19

Italian mezzo-soprano who won great admiration for her virtuosity, dramatic incisiveness, imaginative embellishments, and colourful acting. After her German debut in 1723 in Munich, she was in demand in Germany as well as in Austria and England. She created five new roles in Handel’s works, including Alessandro and Admeto. In London she also sang in a notorious performance of Bononcini’s Astianatte in which a fight broke out between her and her rival Francesca Cuzzoni

Question 20

Francois Couperin

Answer 20

French composer of keyboard music (harpsichord and organ), greatly influenced by Corelli and introduced the Italian trio-sonata form into French music. In 1716 he published his book on technique and ornamentation L’Art de toucher le clavecin, which had a strong influence on Bach.

Question 21

Georg Friedrich Handel

Answer 21

German-British composer known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Strongly influenced by both the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition as well as composers of the Italian Baroque, his music epitomizes the high-Baroque style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development and introducing new style into English church music.

Question 22

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Answer 22

Italian Baroque composer of opera, known for his role in developing early opera Buffa (Italian comic opera). One of the most important representatives of the Neapolitan school, La serva padrona was critically important in developing and diffusing opera buffa throughout Europe.

Question 23

Henry Purcell

Answer 23

English composer whose style was uniquely English while incorporating Italian and French elements. Composed Dido and Aeneas, considered a monumental work in Baroque opera and Purcell’s only all-sung dramatic work. Active during the Restoration, also composed incidental music for a version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Question 24

Jean Baptiste-Lully

Answer 24

Notable French court composer who wrote numerous compositions for King Louis XIV. Credited with creating the style of French opera tragedie en musique, the French overture (used extensively by Bach and Handel), and through his collaboration with Moliere the comedie-ballet which combined theater, comedy, incidental music, and ballet.

Question 25

Johann Sebastian Bach

Answer 25

Perhaps the most important composer of Western music, his compositions pushed the boundaries of every musical convention of the time. His mastery of so many different styles and techniques was synthesized into nearly every genre of the Baroque, and the counterpoint of his compositions are still used to teach part-writing today. He experimented with daring modulations, and his Well-Tempered Clavier was only possible due to the development of equal temperament tuning, which occurred during his life.

Question 26

John Gay

Answer 26

English poet and composer known for his ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera, a well concealed satire on the ruling class of the time.

Question 27

Cristoph Willibald Gluck

Answer 27

German Classical Operatic composer, tried to change italian opera in Paris to a more serious French style. Gluck’s great French “reform operas” are more strongly governed by the principle of contrast than are the Italian works; the declamatory style of the vocal line is more marked than in the Viennese operas, and the power and orchestral colour are more intense. Use of orchestral recitative and cut out the longer da capo aria. Orfeo ed euridece.

Question 28

Franz Schubert

Answer 28

German early Romantic composer of lieder, piano music, and orchestral works. Known for his use of text painting (as in Der Erlkoenig). Notable works include the unfinished symphony, no. 8. Hosted Schubertiads (private parties for musicians to gather and play for one another) where he presented many new pieces.

Question 29

Joseph Haydn

Answer 29

Austrian composer who was one of the most important figures in establishing the Classical style. He essentially created the forms of the symphony and string quartet, and his oratorio The Creation is one of the most popular classical works to this day. He was a contemporary of Mozart and was Beethoven’s teacher.

Question 30

Ludwig van Beethoven

Answer 30

Probably the most important figure in the transition from the Classical to Romantic period, his music innovated the forms of the symphony, sonata, concerto, and quartet, and he was able to translate feeling into music. His Symphony no. 9 broke new ground by including a chorus in the finale and elevated instrumental music to the same prestige as vocal. While he was not a Romanticist, his music incorporates aspects of humanism and nationalism as expressed in the works of Goethe. His “Heiligenstadt Testament” is a letter to his brothers that recognizes his progressing deafness, during which he transitioned from virtuoso to primarily a composer.

Question 31

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Answer 31

Composed music in almost every genre, most notably operas and symphonies. His music is noted as the perfection of the forms established during the Classical Period, and he was able to convey feeling in music in a way unmatched until Beethoven. Unlike any composer before him he was able to master any genre he chose to write in and masterfully incorporated the musical “dialects” of where he traveled.

Question 32

Amy Beach

Answer 32

American composer and pianist, her Gaelic Symphony (E minor) was premiered in 1896 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. Other major works include the Mass in E-flat Major (1892) and Piano Concerto (1900). Largely self-taught, she was one of the first American composers to be successful without formal European training. Weird modes and harmony, dorian, pentatonic, whole tone augmented dom 7 chords, thematic ties between movements.

Question 33

Elizabeth Greenfield

Answer 33

Dubbed “The Black Swan” she was considered the best-known Black concert artist of her time. She was able to sing as both a soprano and tenor and achieved success despite the hostile racial attitudes of the time.

Question 33

Clara Schumann

Answer 33

German Romantic composer of Piano and chamber music. Daughter of Friedrick Wieck, a piano teacher who raised her to be a virtuoso. Married Robert Schumann. Piano Trio in G Major Op. 17 featured an extra movement, songlike melody, nocturnelike accomp.

Question 34

Giacomo Meyerbeer

Answer 34

German Romantic composer who moved to Paris known for his Grand Opera which merged German orchestral style with Italian vocal tradition. Notable for his works of the French Grand Opera, particularly Les Huguenots (1836). Grand Opera is characterized by historical drama, five acts (Greek drama), lots of spectacle and large casts, and sung throughout.

Question 35

Giacomo Puccini

Answer 35

Early work was rooted in traditional late 19th-century Romantic Italian opera, later developed his music in the realistic verismo style, which sought to tell more realistic stories, showcasing the struggles of the common people rather than the mythological or grand. Often frustrated his librettists with his demands before he would write the music.

Question 36

Hector Berlioz

Answer 36

French composer and conductor noted for his revolutionary Symphonie Fantastique. This program symphony characteristically defied conventions of form and used an idee fixe in each movement that was subjected to emotional transformation. Representative of the “New German School” which also included Wagner and Liszt. Student of the Paris Conservatoire who didn’t exactly conform.

Question 37

Johannes Brahms

Answer 37

German composer and pianist who was anointed by Robert Schumann as the symphonic heir to Beethoven. Combined mastery of the forms and conventions of the Classical with intense Romantic motivic composition and development. Member of the “Conservative” musicians who opposed Wagner and the “New German School,” focus was on historicism and absolute music.

Question 38

Louise Farrenc

Answer 38

French composer of mostly piano music, also wrote 3 symphonies, chamber music, and a few choral works. Robert Schumann praised some of her compositions.

Question 39

Richard Strauss

Answer 39

Successor to Wagner and Liszt, his music represents the pinnacle of late German Romanticism with innovative orchestration and expanding harmonic style and marks the transition to modernism. Noted for his tone poems and operas that utilized thematic transformation, virtuosic orchestration, chromatic harmony, and a focus on realism.

Question 40

Vincenzo Bellini

Answer 40

Italian composer who is the quintessential example of the bel canto (beautiful song) style. Known for his long, flowing melodic lines, the opera Norma is a good example. Wagner(!) appreciated his uncanny ability to match music with text and psychology.

Question 41

Alban Berg

Answer 41

Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School whose compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with atonalism and twelve-tone technique. A student of Arnold Schoenberg between 1904 and 1911, his major works include the operas Wozzeck (1924) and Lulu (1935), the chamber pieces Lyric Suite and Chamber Concerto, and the Violin Concerto. Was considered to have brought more “human values” to the twelve-tone system than Schoenberg.

Question 42

Igor Stravinksy

Answer 42

Russian Modernist composer. His compositions are divided into three eras: Russian or primitive, neoclassical, serial. Respective pieces: The Soldier’s Tale, Octet, Canticum Sacrum. Riot due to the Rite of Spring. Octet is a novel instrumentation. Lots of ballets like other Russian composers.

Question 43

John Adams

Answer 43

American post-Modernist composer whose compositions are primarily rooted in minimalism. His operas about recent historical events are particularly noted, like Nixon in China. His compositional style combines minimalist traditions of Glass and Reich with the expansive orchestration and climaxes of late Romanticism.

Question 44

John Cage

Answer 44

American avant-garde composer who was a pioneer of indeterminacy in music (chance music) and non-standard use of musical instruments such as prepared piano.

Question 45

Pierre Boulez

Answer 45

French composer who studied with Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire de Paris, he is known for his extensive conducting as well as helping develop integral serialism and controlled chance music, in addition to electronic transformation of live music in the 1970s.

Question 46

Pierre Schaeffer

Answer 46

French composer who is particularly noted for his contributions in electronic and experimental music, primarily his development of musique concrete (physically manipulating and assembling recorded sound)

Question 47

Ruth Crawford Seeger

Answer 47

American modernist composer and folk music specialist. Composed String Quartet 1931 which was notable for its use of dynamics as the primary factor (modernist idea of bringing secondary parameters to the forefront). One of the first composers to employ serialist techniques to elements other than pitch.

Question 48

Tan Dun

Answer 48

Chinese born American composer who is one of the leading figures in contemporary music and composed the score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. His music combines elements of both Western and Chinese styles, and his compositions often incorporate audiovisual elements; use instruments constructed from organic materials, such as paper, water, and stone; and are often inspired by traditional Chinese theatrical and ritual performance.

Question 49

William Grant Still

Answer 49

American composer considered to be a part of the Harlem Renaissance, his most notable piece is Afro-American Symphony, which was the most performed American symphony until 1950. He was the first African-American to conduct a major orchestra, and the first to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra.