Works of Composers Flashcards
Ode to Joy
Symphony No. 9, “Choral” (Beethoven)
Friedrich Schiller poem
Symphony No. 9, “Choral” (Beethoven)
6/8 scherzo in military style
Symphony No. 9, “Choral” (Beethoven)
“Merry Gathering of Country Folk”
Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” (Beethoven)
“Scene by the Brook”
Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” (Beethoven)
“Thunderstorm”
Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” (Beethoven)
cadenza of four woodwinds
Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” (Beethoven)
5 movements
Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” (Beethoven)
originally dedicated to Napoleon
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, “Eroica” (Beethoven)
to the memory of a great man
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, “Eroica” (Beethoven)
C minor funeral march
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, “Eroica” (Beethoven)
Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath
Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz)
March to the Scaffold
Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz)
pizzicato notes depicting a rolling head after an execution
Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz)
ranz des vaches by an English horn and an offstage oboe
Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz)
fortissimo G major chord to start 2nd movement
Symphony No. 94, “Surprise” by (Haydn)
flute solo resembling “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot;”
Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (Dvorak)
inspired by a visit to the U.S.
Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (Dvorak)
“Song of Hiawatha” 3rd movement
Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (Dvorak)
English horn solo
Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (Dvorak)
Harry Burleigh’s “Goin’ Home.”
Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (Dvorak)
entr’acte from the incidental music to Rosamunde
Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished” (Schubert)
“symphony with the fugal finale;”
Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter” (Mozart)
Johann Peter Salomon nicknamed it
Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter” (Mozart)
Limping waltz
Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique” (Tchaikovsky)
bassoon plays a solo marked with a dynamic marking of pppppp
Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique” (Tchaikovsky)
Fate knocking at the door
Symphony No.5 in C minor (Beethoven)
short-short-short-long
Symphony No.5 in C minor (Beethoven)
twenty-nine bars of fortissimo C major chords
Symphony No.5 in C minor (Beethoven)
858 singers and 171 musicians
Symphony of a Thousand (Mahler)
closing scene of Goethe’s Faust
Symphony of a Thousand (Mahler)
follows a pastoral movement in 12/8 time titled Pifa
Messiah (Handel)
contains the “hallelujah Chorus”
Messiah (Handel)
“I know that my Redeemer liveth”
Messiah (Handel)
He shall reign forever and ever” Messiah (Handel)
Italian bagpipers Messiah (Handel)
The trumpet shall sound” and “Ev’ry valley shall be exalted”
Messiah (Handel)
French overture-inspired E minor Sinfony
Messiah (Handel)
King George II supposedly rose from his seat during one performance of it
Messiah (Handel)
Charles Jennens wrote the libretto
Messiah (Handel)
Peter = string instruments
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
Wolf = French horns
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
Bird = Flute
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
Duck = Oboe
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
Grandfather = Bassoon
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
Hunters = woodwind and trumpet
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
gunshots = timpani and bass drum
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
“symphonic fairy tale for children”
Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau arranged it for solo flute
Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
trills and staccato notes to represent the singing birds
Spring (La Primavera) (Vivaldi)
a goat-herd (Capraro) sleeping and his dog is depicted barking with a two-note viola motif
Spring (La Primavera) (Vivaldi)
there is a thunderstorm and bagpipes are represented with some low notes
Spring (La Primavera) (Vivaldi)
features a theme for a turtle dove and trembling shepherd
Summer (L’estate) (Vivaldi)
depists gnats buzzing and a violent hail storm
Summer (L’estate) (Vivaldi)
a depiction of drunk peasants (“fired up by Bacchus’s liquor”) and notes “the drunkards have fallen asleep”
Autumn (L’autunno) (Vivaldi)
depicts hunters chasing and killing a beast
Autumn (L’autunno) (Vivaldi)
begins with a depiction of teeth chattering in the cold
Winter (L’inverno) (Vivaldi)
depicts someone slipping and falling on ice
Winter (L’inverno) (Vivaldi)
opens with a seventeen-note clarinet glissando
Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)
commissioned by Paul Whiteman for his “An Experiment in Modern Music” concert
Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)
inspired by a train ride to Boston
Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)
glissando originally improvised by Ross Gorman during a rehearsal
Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)
marked “Quasi una fantasia”
Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)
its nickname evokes the title phenomenon at Lake Lucerne (Ludwig Rellstab)
Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)
C-sharp minor piece that begins with right-hand arpeggios
Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)
Tortoises’ movement includes a slow rendition of Offenbach’s “Galop infernal”
The Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saenz)
The Elephant’ movement uses double bass
The Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saenz)
Aquarium’ movement includes a glass harmonica
The Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saenz)
Fossils’ movement uses xylophone for rattling bones (like in Danse Macabre)
The Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saenz)
The Swan’ movement is a staple for cello players
The Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saenz)
“Thaxted”
The Planets (Holst)
adapted by Cecil Spring Rice for “I Vow to Thee, My Country”
The Planets (Holst)
opens with a 5/4 ostinato played by col legno strings (Mars, the Bringer of War)
The Planets (Holst)
Venus, the Bringer of Peace
The Planets (Holst)
melodic fragments in B♭ major and E major (Mercury, the Winged Messenger)
The Planets (Holst)
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
The Planets (Holst)
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
The Planets (Holst)
a series of merry pranks (Uranus, the Magician)
The Planets (Holst)
brass play chords of E minor and G♯ minor together (Neptune, the Mystic)
The Planets (Holst)
featured an 11/4 time signature in sections now marked as alternating in 5/4 and 6/4 time
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
broken into ABAB and CADA sections (Great Gate of Kiev)
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
E-flat, F, G, E-flat, G, F, low B-flat chord block (Great Gate of Kiev)
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
includes the “Two Jews” “Samuel Goldenberg and ‘Schmuÿle’” movement
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
includes movements “Catacombs” movement
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
includes “The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga)” movement
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
includes “The Old Castle”, “Promenade”, and “Cattle” movements
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
dedicated to the Margrave Christian Ludwig
Brandenburg Concertos (J.S. Bach)
a lengthy harpsichord cadenza opens the 5th of these
Brandenburg Concertos (J.S. Bach)
second movement of the third one consists of the two chords of a Phrygian half-cadence
Brandenburg Concertos (J.S. Bach)
celebrates Russia’s victory over Napoleon
1812 Overture (Tchaikovsky)
uses “La Marseillaise” to represent the French army
1813 Overture (Tchaikovsky)
the hymn “O Lord, Save thy People” represents peasants
1814 Overture (Tchaikovsky)
cannon fire is used in the ending
1815 Overture (Tchaikovsky)
opens with the “Troparion of the Holy Cross”
1816 Overture (Tchaikovsky)
consists of two books of alternating preludes and fugues in all 24 keys
The Well-Tempered Clavier (J.S. Bach)
the first prelude, in C Major, was given a solo part by Charles Gounod in his Ave Maria
The Well-Tempered Clavier (J.S. Bach)
uses text from the Luther Bible instead of a Latin text
A German Requiem (Brahms)
written after the death of the composer’s mother
A German Requiem (Brahms)
a march commonly used at graduations
Pomp and Circumstance Marches (Elgar)
a D-major piece played at the Last Night of the Proms (BBC Proms)
Pomp and Circumstance Marches (Elgar)
“Land of Hope and Glory”
Pomp and Circumstance Marches (Elgar)
includes movements like Solveig’s Song, The Death of Åse, Anitra’s Dance, Morning Mood, and In the Hall of the Mountain King
Music to Peer Gynt (Grieg)
inspired by a set of 24 caprices for violn
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Rachmaninov)
written while the composer was staying with Johann Peter Salomon
London Symphonies (Haydn)
includes ones named Miracle, Clock, Military, Drumroll, and Surprise
London Symphonies (Haydn)
named without a number to avoid the curse of the 9th symphony
The Song of the Earth (Mahler)
Das Lied von der Erde
The Song of the Earth (Mahler)
six songs for two singers who alternate movements
The Song of the Earth (Mahler)
written for a tenor and an alto, or else a tenor and a baritone if an alto is not available
The Song of the Earth (Mahler)
third movement from Suite Bergamasque
Clair de Lune (Debussy)
translates to “Moonlight”
Clair de Lune (Debussy)
a depiction of a Paul Verlaine poem
Clair de Lune (Debussy)
the last movement of Children’s Corner
Golliwogg’s Cakewalk (Debussy)
sections are often titled for initials such as “C.A.E.”
Enigma Variations (Elgar)
dedicated the piece to “my friends pictured within”
Enigma Variations (Elgar)
one (“Ysobel”) dedicated to Isabel Fitton, a viola pupil
Enigma Variations (Elgar)
one (“Dorabella”) dedicated to Dora Penny, a friend with a stutter
Enigma Variations (Elgar)
one (“Nimrod”) dedicated to Augustus J. Jaeger
Enigma Variations (Elgar)
R.P.A pays homage to the son of Mathew Arnold
Enigma Variations (Elgar)
inspired by a Stéphane Mallarmé poem
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Debussy)
begins with the flute playing a descending chromatic scale to a tritone that depicts the title mythological creature in the forest
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Debussy)
turned into a controversial ballet by Vaslav Nijinsky
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Debussy)
strings respond to a repeated rising triad motif with two pairs of high staccato notes
Blue Danube Waltz (Strauss II)
meant to be performed in barges on the Thames River
Water Music (Handel)
Alla Hornpipe movement
Water Music (Handel)
written for King George I
Water Music (Handel)
“Bouree” and “Air” movements
Water Music (Handel)
prominently features four taxi horns
An American in Paris (Gershwin)
“jazz-influenced symphonic poem”
An American in Paris (Gershwin)
the original published score included The Great Wave off Kanagawa on the cover
La Mer (Debussy)
From dawn to noon on the sea movement
La Mer (Debussy)
Play of the Waves movement
La Mer (Debussy)
Dialogue of the wind and the sea movement
La Mer (Debussy)
“three symphonic sketches”
La Mer (Debussy)
contains “O Fortuna”
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Imperatrix Mundi section
Carmina Burana (Orff)
In Spring, In the Meadow, In the Tavern, Court of Love sections
Carmina Burana (Orff)
designed to introduce children to the instruments in the ensemble
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Britten)
contains 13 variations on a theme taken from the “Rondeau” of Henry Purcell’s Abdelazer
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Britten)
Allegro molto fugue final movement stars with a piccolo
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Britten)
narrated by Eric Crozier
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Britten)
set of 19 piano pieces based on folk themes
Hungarian Rhapsodies (Liszt)
the second of them features a lassan section and a friska section
Hungarian Rhapsodies (Liszt)
includes the “Wedding March”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn)
written for Count Hermann Carl von Kaiserling to cure his insomnia
Goldberg Variations (J.S. Bach)
based on the bassline of an aria found in a famous notebook belonging to the composer’s wife, Anna Magdalena
Goldberg Variations (J.S. Bach)
“Tuba Mirum” section
Requiem Mass in D minor (Mozart)
completed by Franz Süssmayr
Requiem Mass in D minor (Mozart)
Lacrymosa section went unfinished when the composer died
Requiem Mass in D minor (Mozart)
double fugue at the end of the “Kyrie” section
Requiem Mass in D minor (Mozart)
“Dies Irae” section opens with tremolo strings and repeated chords in the brass
Requiem Mass in D minor (Mozart)
based on the festive song “Gaudeamus igitur”
Academic Festival Overture (Brahms)
written to thank the University of Breslau for an honorary degree
Academic Festival Overture (Brahms)
features a 22-bar snare drum “invasion theme”
Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad” (Shostakovich)
depicts a Witches’ Sabbath led by the demon Chernabog on St. John’s Eve
Night on Bald Mountain (Mussorgsky)
an orchestral interlude in the opera The Tale of Tzar Sultan
The Flight of the Bumblebee (Rimsky-Korsakov)
frantic runs of chromatic sixteenth notes
The Flight of the Bumblebee (Rimsky-Korsakov)
uses xylophones to represent rattling bones (like in Carnival of the Animals)
Danse Macabre (Saint-Saens)
based on a Henri Cazalis poem
Danse Macabre (Saint-Saens)
scordatura violin plays the “Devil’s Chord” and represents death
Danse Macabre (Saint-Saens)
opens with a harp playing a repeated D twelve times
Danse Macabre (Saint-Saens)
played at the funerals of both FDR and JFK
Adagio for Strings (Barber)
fourth movement is a set of variations on its composer’s song “Die Forelle”
Trout Quintet (Schubert)
commissioned for the opening of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral
War Requiem (Britten)
features poems by Wilfred Owen and the Latin Missa pro Defunctis
War Requiem (Britten)
players leave the stage one by one at the end blowing out candles
Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor, “Farewell” (Haydn)
serenade in G for strings
Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart)
translates to “a little night music”
Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart)
given its nickname by Johann Baptist Cramer
Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” (Beethoven)
performed under titles such as Impromptu in order to avoid Russian censorship
Finlandia (Sibelius)
inspired the hymn “Be, Still My Soul”
Finlandia (Sibelius)
used in the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Strauss)
final section of this piece is called the “Song of the Night Wanderer”
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Strauss)
Sunrise first movement uses a rising C-G-C “Nature” motif
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Strauss)
Bassoons and pizzicato cellos gets louder and faster while meeting a group of trolls
In the Hall of the Mountain King (Grieg)
“Slay him! Slay him!”
In the Hall of the Mountain King (Grieg)
Ice in your blood!
In the Hall of the Mountain King (Grieg)
a pianist just sits at the piano in silence
4’33” (Cage)
inspired by a bombardment on Warsaw
Revolutionary Etude (Chopin)
rapid descending passages in the left hand called the “crack of creation”
Revolutionary Etude (Chopin)
inspired by a speech by Vice President Henry A. Wallace
Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland)
composed for the “average American”
Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland)
includes a “March of the Pilgrims”
Harold in Italy (Berlioz)
written for violin virtuouso Paganini who refused to premiere it because it had too many rests
Harold in Italy (Berlioz)
largely influenced by Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron
Harold in Italy (Berlioz)
title character is depicted in high-pitched violin solo intermezzos between movements
Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
based off the Thousand and One Nights
Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
movements such as Sinbad’s Ship and The Kalendar Prince
Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
based on a Goethe poem
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Dukas)
used in Fantasia starring Mickey Mouse
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Dukas)
made the National March of the USA
The Stars and Stripes Forever (Sousa)
inspired by the sight of a dog chasing its tail
Minute Waltz (Chopin)
includes three “hammer blows of fate” at its end
Symphony No. 6, “Tragic” (Mahler)
contains a theme named for his wife Alma
Symphony No. 6, “Tragic” (Mahler)
Feierlich movement
Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish” (Schumann)
written after a trip to the Cologne Cathedral
Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish” (Schumann)
written by Mozart and first performed in Prague
Symphony No. 38, “Prague” (Mozart)
used for the coronation of Francis II as Holy Roman Emperor in 1792
Coronation Mass (Mozart)
begins with the strings repeating the note G while playing a col legno ostinato
Mars, the Bringer of War (Holst)
contains “The Four Seasons”, “The Sea Storm” and “Pleasure”
The Contest Between Harmony and Invention (Vivaldi)
used in Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring
Simple Gifts (traditional Shaker hymn)
actually The Hebrides (overture)
Fingal’s Cave (Mendelsohn)
penultimate section of Symphonie Fantastique
March to the Scaffold (Berlioz)
a loud G-minor chord represents a beheading
March to the Scaffold (Berlioz)
short pizzicato notes meant to depict a head bouncing down steps
March to the Scaffold (Berlioz)
cellos repeat its eight-note ground bass theme twenty-eight times
Canon in D major (Pachelbel)
King George II commissioned it to celebrate the end of the War of Austrian Succession (Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle)
Music for the Royal Fireworks (Handel)
consists of fourteen fugues and four canons in D minor
The Art of Fugue (J.S. Bach)
a spooky organ piece
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (J.S. Bach)
pieces nicknamed “The Hunt,” “The Trill,” “The Arpeggio,” “The Devil’s Laughter”
24 Caprices (Paganini)
each work explores different violin skills
24 Caprices (Paganini)
inspired by a Matthias Claudius poem
Death and the Maiden (Schubert)
about a sickly woman arguing with an apparition
Death and the Maiden (Schubert)
“The Dance in the Village Inn”
Mephisto Waltzes (Liszt)
Bagatelle sans tonalitté is sometimes included as part of these works
Mephisto Waltzes (Liszt)
named after a club in Sedalia, Missouri
Maple Leaf Rag (Joplin)
three movements called “Clouds”, “Festivals”, and “Sirens”
Nocturnes (Debussy)
based on a poem by Cardinal Newman
The Dream of Gerontius (Elgar)
used as theme music for The Sting and can be heard on many ice-cream trucks
The Entertainer (Joplin)
part of Salome that caused controversy when it was first performed
Dance of the Seven Veils (Strauss)
opens with a chromatic E, D-sharp, E, D-sharp, E, B, D, C, A
Fur Elise (Beethoven)
10th and final movement of Pictures at an Exhibition
Great Gate of Kiev (Mussorgsky)
uses a cor anglais (English horn) to depict the title creature in the river of the underworld
The Swan of Tuonela (Sibelius)
begins with the piano playing octave Gs in triplets
Erlkonig (Schubert)
includes “The “St. Gaudens” in Boston Common,” “Putnam’s Camp,” and “The Housatonic at Stockbridge”
Three Places in New England (Ives)
the ninth of his London symphonies
Symphony No. 101, “Clock” (Haydn)
collection of 21 short piano pieces including “Chopin,” “Pantalon et Colombine,” “March of Davidsbündler against the Philistines”
Carnaval (Schumann)
the most famous movement of Carmina Burana
O Fortuna (Orff)
used three Ukrainian folk songs and was loved by The Five
Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian” (Tchaikovsky)
symphony for orchestra, choir, boys’ choir, soprano soloist, and narrator that was dedicated to JFK
Kaddish Symphony (Bernstein)
second section is a “Symbolum Nicenum” with a central “Crucifixus”
Mass in B minor (J.S. Bach)
written a few months after the composer married Clara Wieck
Symphony No. 1, “Spring” (Schumann)
first piece represents the castle of Vyšehrad (The High Castle)
Ma Vlast (Smetana)
The Moldau piece represents the Vltava running through Prague
Ma Vlast (Smetana)
nickname indicates the emotional way it is supposed to be performed
Piano Sonata No. 23, “Appassionata” (Beethoven)
begins with a short Grave section and has a famous Rondo 3rd movement
Piano Sonata No. 8, “Pathetique” (Beethoven)
inspired by a Friedrich Klopstock piece
Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection” (Mahler)
from the incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and played at nuptial events
Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
composed for the coronation for King George II describing the anointing of King Solomon by Nathan the Prophet
Zadok the Priest (Handel)
first movement of the Peer Gynt suite
Morning Mood (Grieg)
alternating 6/8 theme between flute and oboe meant to depict the sun rising
Morning Mood (Grieg)
one of the hardest pieces ever written for solo piano that includes a 3 voice fugue at the end
Piano Sonata No. 29, “Hammerklavier” (Beethoven)
extremely technically difficult pieces dedicated to piano teacher Carl Czerny
Transcendental Etudes (Liszt)
inspired by Johannes Brahms’s Hungarian Dances
Slavonic Dances (Dvorak)
include several dumkas, furiants, and sousedskas
Slavonic Dances (Dvorak)
inspired by a George Meredith poem about a bird
The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams)
21 high-spirited pieces including one based on the czardas “Memories of Bártfa”
Hungarian Dances (Brahms)
