MHL 204 Exam 1 study guide

SFCM, Fall, 2016

As stated on the class website, the exam will have four parts:

Repertory
o I will play passages from 2 assigned pieces, and ask you a few questions about them
just as on the quizzes. For each excerpt you should know:
! Composer
! Title of work, and movement, where applicable
! Date of composition within 10 years in either direction
! Genre (opera, ballet, violin sonata, etc.)
! If the excerpt is from a dramatic work, know (in a general way) whats going
on and which characters are involved.
! If theres a text, know what it says (in a general way, not a translation).

Discussion of repertory
o I will give you scores of passages from two assigned pieces. You will choose one of
these, and explain some of the things about them that we discussed in class e.g.
diagram their form, show how they exemplify the composers style, etc.
o I will also play one or two video clips of assigned pieces and ask you to discuss
certain aspects of the performances.

Definitions
o Ill give you names, terms and buzzwords that we covered in class and ask you to
define them, explain them, or say why theyre important. These will be short answers
(1-2 sentences). Names, terms and buzzwords that you should know for this exam
are listed below.

Short answers
o The exam will include two short answer questions. These will address issues that
were covered in the homework.

Essay
o The exam will include one essay of 2-3 paragraphs. Questions are given at the end of
this review sheet.

If you prepare the material that follows, you should be in excellent shape for the entire exam,
including the essay questions.
Terms, names and buzzwords

Modernism

Historicism

Maximalism

Lowbrow/highbrow

Hans von Blow

Tone poem

Miguel Cervantes, Don Quixote

Literaturoper

Grundgestalt

Expressionism

Emancipation of dissonance

Atonal

Pantonal

Functional harmony

Expressionism

Pierrot (the character)

Sprechstimme

Melodrama

Consonant 7th and 9th chords

Impressionism

James McNeill Whistler

Syrinx

Panpipes
Melodic cell

Arabesque

Pentatonic scale

Whole tone scale

Octatonic scale

Diaghilev

Les Ballets Russes

Periodic/non-periodic rhythm

Symbolism

The Kalevala

Zoltan Kodaly

Ethnomusicology

Wax cylinders

Collage technique

Study questions for each work

In addition to the questions below, be able to describe in what ways each work and/or excerpt is
modernist. Make sure you refer specific features. For example, its not enough to say that a work/excerpt
shocked the audience. Instead, say something like: this work shocked the audience by or because

Mahler, Symphony No. 1, 3rd movement

o In what ways does Mahlers Symphony No. 1 follow in the 19th century symphonic tradition?
In what ways does it maximilize that tradition?
o What is the form of the third movement?
o In what ways is the third movement traditional, and in what ways is it modernist?

Strauss, Don Quixote, Themes, First and Second variations

o Whats the genre of Strausss Don Quixote? Within that genre, whats the subtype?
o Whats the plot of this work? What does each of the themes represent? How about each of
the variations?
o What musical means does Strauss use to represent elements of the plot in each of the two
variations?

Strauss, Salome, Final scene

o Whats the genre of Salome? What does that say about the libretto?
 o Whats the plot of the opera? How does this scene fit into the plot?
o What compositional techniques does Strauss use in this scene? How is the music modernist?

Schoenberg, String Quartet #2, movements 1 and 4

o Whats the key of the first movement? The fourth movement? Why are the keys significant?
o In the first movement, what elements suggest sonata form? How do the harmonies undermine
standard sonata form expectations?
o What text does Schoenberg use for the fourth and last movement of this quartet? What does it
describe and who wrote it? What musical elements are suggested by the text?

Schoenberg, Pierrot lunaire, No. 8, Night, and No. 13, Beheading

o What is a melodrama? How did Schoenberg alter the usual understanding of melodrama in this
work that is, what was the vocal invention that he used?
o How is No. 8 organized? What genres from the past is Schoenberg drawing on? How does
Schoenberg alter his basic musical materials throughout No. 8?
o In what way is the text of this work modernist?

Debussy, N uages (from N octurnes), No. 1

o What non-musical works of art inspired this musical work?
o What are some of the ways in which Debussy organizes this work? Address specific musical
parameters, such as use of contrasting rhythms, instrumental timbres, register, pitch collection,
etc.
o What aspects of this kind of organization help to make this music illustrative?

Debussy, Syrinx
o What is the meaning of the title? What was this work composed for and how was it used?
o What kinds of scales does Debussy use and where? How do they guarantee the undermining of
traditional harmony? How does he use these to structure his piece?
o How does Debussys rhythm in this work undermine a strong sense of meter? How does this
contrast with Stravinskys use of rhythm in something like the Rite, which also undermines a
strong sense of meter?

Stravinsky, Petrushka, excerpts from the first tableau, The Shrovetide Fair
o Where and when is this work set? What are the basic elements of the plot?
o What kind of pre-existent musical materials did Stravinsky introduce into this work? How did he
use them and what do they have to do with the setting?
o What group was this work composed for and where was this group based?

Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, excerpts: Dance of the Adolescents and Sacrificial Dance
o Who commissioned this work?
o What is this ballet meant to portray? How is this different from more traditional ballets? In what
ways does Stravinskys music contribute to the subject?
o In this work, in what ways does Stravinsky undermine expectations concerning meter?

Sibelius, The Swan of Tuonela, from Four Legends of the Kalevala, Op. 22, no. 3
o What extra-musical folk source is this work based on? What extra-musical meanings are
present?
o Describe the connections between music and art in this piece.
Bartok, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, movements 2 and 3
o What inspiration did Bartok take from folk sources in writing this piece? How did his
sources affect harmony, rhythm, and melody in the piece?
o Whats the scoring in this work? Whats unusual about it?
o Whats the movement structure of the work as a whole? What is interesting, structurally,
about each of the movements we studied?

Grainger, The Sprig of Thyme

o How did Grainger obtain the source material that this folksong setting was based on?
o Whats the relationship between Graingers setting and his source material? How are they
similar, and how are they different?

Ives, General William Booth Enters Heaven

o Who was William Booth? What event inspired the poem that Ives sets for this song?
o What inspiration did Ives take from American vernacular musics? What vernacular
influences do you hear in this song?

Essay questions
These are the two essay questions that will appear on the exam. You will need to answer one of
these two questions in an essay of 2-3 paragraphs:
o Discuss how historicism led to modernism in music, and what paths composers took to
modernism at the turn of the 20th century. Start by defining what historicism and modernism
are. Include some discussion of the differences between German and French modernism,
and incorporate at least 3-4 musical examples from the works we have studied into your
essay.
o Discuss how folk sources were a path towards modernism in music. What were some of the
kinds of folk sources composers incorporated into works written in the late 19th century and
early 20th centuries, and how did these sources allow composers to transform forms, genres,
and other traditional musical characteristics? Incorporate at least 3 musical examples from
the works we have studied into your essay.
**You may prepare your essay in advance, but you may not bring any notes into the exam**

In addition, you should be able to:

o Recognize quotations from the source readings (i.e. readings that have accompanied your
assignments), and discuss their significance
o Recognize at sight the following artworks, match them with their artists/titles, and know
their relationship to the music were studying:
! Munch, The Scream
! Whistler, Nocturnes
! Monet, Impression: Sunrise
! Benois, scenic design for Petrushka
! Roerich, scenic design for Rite of Spring
! Gaughin, Riders on the Beach
! Picasso, The ladies of Avignon
! Bckelin, The Isle of the Dead