Music Quiz 6 – Flashcards

(pg 260-266) (CD 4 # 28-29) Provide the dates of birth and death for Puccini.

Giacomo Puccini's first successful opera was a. Madame Butterfly b. La Bohème c. Manon Lescaut d. Turandot

Which of the following operas was not composed by Giacomo Puccini? a. Tosca b. Madame Butterfly c. Turandot d. I Pagliacci

Which of the following operas was not composed by Giacomo Puccini? a. Aïda b. Manon Lescaut c. Turandot d. La Bohème

Which of the following statements is not true? a. Puccini achieved unity and continuity in his operas by using the same material in different acts. b. After 1896, Puccini was wealthy and world-famous from the enormous success of La Bohème, which portrays a "bohemian" life similar to his own as an impoverished music student. c. Puccini composed long highly ornamented melodies that are difficult to remember and perform well. d. As Verdi did in his late works, Puccini minimized the difference between aria and recitative, thus creating a continuous flow of music

Giacomo Puccini's operas have lasting appeal because a. he had a marvelous sense of theater b. his melodies have short, memorable phrases and are intensely emotional c. he minimized the difference between aria and recitative, thus creating a continuous flow of music d. all of the above

Which of the following operas is considered an example of verismo? a. Turandot b. Tosca c. Nabucco d. Die Walküre

An artistic trend of the 1890s, in which operas dealt with ordinary people and true-to-life situations, was known as a. opera seria b. Cavalleria rusticana c. exoticism d. verismo

The movement in opera known as verismo is best exemplified by a. Claudio Monteverdi b. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart c. Giacomo Puccini d. Richard Wagner

Giacomo Puccini, in his operas, a. achieved unity and continuity by using the same material in different acts b. used the orchestra to reinforce the vocal melody and to suggest mood c. composed melodies that have short memorable phrases and are intensely emotional d. all of the above

Some of Giacomo Puccini's operas feature exoticism, as in his use of melodic and rhythmic elements derived from Japanese and Chinese music in his operas a. Turandot and Manon Lescaut b. La Bohème and Madame Butterfly c. Madame Butterfly and Turandot d. Tosca and Turandot

Puccini used melodic and rhythmic elements derived from Asian music in his operas a. Turandot and Manon Lescaut b. Madame Butterfly and Turandot c. Tosca and Turandot d. La Bohème and Madame Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème takes place in a. Seville b. Milan c. Rome d. Paris

In Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème, Rodolfo is a young a. painter b. poet c. philosopher d. musician

Mimi and Rodolfo meet for the first time in Puccini's La Bohème because she has come to his door to ask for a a. light for her candle b. drink of wine c. dinner date d. cup of sugar

In La Bohème, who sings the aria Che gelida manina (How cold your little hand is!)? a. Mimi b. Schaunard c. Rodolfo d. Marcello

(pg 267-275) (CD #4 30-37) Provide the dates of birth and death for Wagner

Richard Wagner had an opera house built to his own specifications in a. Munich b. Weimar c. Dresden d. Bayreuth

Richard Wagner's preeminence was such that an opera house of his own design was built in _______, solely for performances of his music dramas. a. Paris, France b. Geneva, Switzerland c. Leipzig, Germany d. Bayreuth, Germany

The composer who had an overwhelming influence on the young Richard Wagner was a. Johann Sebastian Bach b. Ludwig van Beethoven c. Johannes Brahms d. Hector Berlioz

Which of the following statements is not true? a. As a young man, Wagner spent many years studying music theory and developing a virtuosic piano technique. b. During the last decades of the nineteenth century, Wagner's operas and artistic philosophy influenced not only musicians, but poets, painters, and playwrights as well. c. Wagner revolutionized opera by shifting the focus from the voice to the orchestra and treating the orchestra symphonically. d. Wagner used leitmotifs, or short musical ideas associated with a person, object, or thought, to unify his greatly extended music dramas

When he was fifteen, Richard Wagner was overwhelmed by the power of the music of a. Franz Liszt b. Ludwig van Beethoven c. Robert Schumann d. Giuseppe Verdi

Richard Wagner was appointed conductor of the Dresden opera mainly because of the success of his opera a. The Ring of the Nibelung b. Götterdämmerung c. Parsifal d. Rienzi

Richard Wagner's first successful opera was a. Tannhäuser b. Rienzi c. The Twilight of the Gods d. Die Walküre

The librettos to The Ring of the Nibelung were written by a. Arrigo Boito b. Richard Wagner c. King Ludwig of Bavaria d. Hans von Bülow

Richard Wagner's last opera was a. Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) b. Tannhäuser c. Rienzi d. Parsifal

Wagner called his works music dramas rather than operas because a. there is a continuous musical flow within each act b. there are no breaks where applause can interrupt c. the vocal line is inspired by the rhythms and pitches of the German text d. all of the above

A short musical idea associated with a person, object, or thought, used by Richard Wagner in his operas, is called a. leitmotif b. lied c. unending melody d. speech-song

Richard Wagner spins an orchestral web out of recurrent musical themes called a. Sprechstimme b. leitmotifs c. speech-songs d. melodies

Valhalla, in Wagner's Ring cycle, is a. a city in New York State b. the castle of the gods c. the home of Siegfried d. the magic ring

Siegmund, in Wagner's opera Die Walküre, is a. Sieglinde's brother, then spouse b. Wotan's son by a mortal woman c. Siegfried's father d. all of the above

At the end of the first act of Richard Wagner's opera Die Walküre, a. Sieglinde recognizes the stranger as her brother and renames him Siegmund b. Siegmund draws the magical sword Notung from the tree c. Siegmund embraces Sieglinde with passionate fervor d. all of the above

The 19th century composer who had probably the most influence on early 20th century composers because of his stretching of the tonal system to its limits was a. Verdi b. Wagner c. Brahms d. Puccini

Wagner used something called leitmotifs in his operas. These were a. Motives that start each act. b. Motives that end each act. c. Signature tunes that represent characters, places, and things in the opera. d. Motives used only in the instrumental interludes of the opera