Music 380: Music History Review

Diagnostic Test Review Packet

The Central Washington University Graduate Music History Diagnostic Exam

I. A description of the exam. This exam has five parts, each of which ask you to demonstrate familiarity with various aspects of what we perceive to be common musical knowledge for the educated, literate musician. The formats for each of these parts are as follows:

1. Listening examples: In this exercise you will be asked to provide written descriptions of various characteristics of a played musical excerpt. These characteristics include style period, approximate date, the type or genre of the composition, and the probable composer. You are expected to provide at least two reasons for your choice of style period. The musical examples are chosen to provide a clear, unambiguous sample of the characteristics you should know and recognize. Since the purpose of this exercise is to evaluate your ability to connect an aural presentation with cognitive definitions, you are not expected to know these works beforehand, and a list of the examples played is not given. A sample question and answer is provided in Appendix A.

2. Forms: You will be asked to provide a description and/or outline of the structural format of common musical forms, e.g. Minuet and Trio, Sonata Allegro, or Rondo. The names of the forms you are expected to know are included in the list of terms in Appendix D, and a sample answer is provided in Appendix A.

3. Compositions: You will be asked to match compositions with their composers. A complete list of these works, (but not their composers!) is provided in Appendix B in this packet.

4. Composers: You will be asked to name the style and at least two genres of an important composer’s music, his/her nationality and the approximate chronological time during which he/she lived. A complete list of these composers is provided in Appendix C and a sample answer is given in Appendix A.

5. Terms: You will be given a list of terms to define/describe. A complete list of the terms is provided in Appendix D and a sample answer is given in Appendix A.

A passing grade for this exam is 80%. Scoring less that 80% will result in required registration for MUS 380, Music History Review at the earliest possible opportunity.

II. Preparing for the exam. Since all the possible questions relating to parts 2 through 5 are given in the appendices, it should be a simple matter to look up and become familiar with all the itemized data.

Suggested sources for finding this information:

1. Music Encyclopedias and Dictionaries, especially The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

2. General music history textbooks, such as those by Grout, Stolba, and Seaton.

3. Style specific history textbooks, e.g. Reese’s Music in the Middle Ages, Plantiga’s Romantic Music, or Rosen’s Sonata Forms. The list is endless; browse through the stacks of any music library and you will get lots of ideas.

4. Music libraries are also a good place to become familiar with the compositions listed in the appendix. You can look up any unfamiliar work by name in a lexicographic source, or in the recordings or score catalogue, listen to it and look up relevant data from other sources (even the jacket notes). For more general sources, the CWU music library (4th floor, main library) has “Music History Review” listening cds on reserve in the listening area. These items are for library use only, and may not be taken from the building. A list of those pieces are included in Appendix E. Most of the works on this list are taken from the Norton collection. You may order the two volume set of recordings called the Norton Anthology of Western Music from W. W. Norton and Co., 500 5th Ave., New York, NY; toll free call for orders 1-800-233-4830; http://www.wwnorton.com. The numbers to use when ordering: Vol. 1 (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque)—ISBN 0-393-10608-X; Vol. 2 (Classical, Romantic, Modern)—ISBN 0-393-10609-8. Companion scores for these collections are also available. Another anthology of recordings available in the library that you might find useful is the set of recordings that accompanies Joseph Kerman’s Listen: Fifth Brief Edition (Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 4B Cedarbrook Drive, Cranbury, NJ 08512; 1-800-446-8923; http://www.bedfordstmartins.com). The ordering number for a paperback edition is 0-312-40115-9. A 3 cd set of examples is 0-312-41121-9 while a 6 cd set of examples is 0-312-41122-7.

5. Perhaps the most difficult part of the exam to prepare for in the short term is the first part, which evaluates your ability to recognize musical concepts from purely aural data (heard music). The difficulty is that it is not a matter of memorizing or learning information, but having the information already learned and connecting it to aural data—the music itself. This is an ability that takes time to develop, thus the difficulty of a short-term preparation. However, your ability to hear and recognize musical events is perhaps the most revealing benchmark of your musical skills and knowledge.
In preparing for this part of the exam, do not overlook sources that present concepts and information in a clear and simple fashion: some of the books written for college music appreciation classes present concepts and historical overviews in a concise and easily absorbed manner. The Kerman Listen book mentioned above is particularly useful in this regard. Indeed, if you become familiar with the period-specific characteristics of melody, rhythm, performance forces, genres and structure to the extent they are presented in this text (a text intended for the non-major!) you will have few problems with this part of the exam.

III. Appendices

A. Sample questions and answers for each part of the exam. Items in parentheses exceed the required answer.

1. Listening question—Played: part of a Mozart string quartet, first movement
Answer: a) genre: string quartet
b) Style period: Classical
Reasons: String quartet is a characteristic genre of the period; balanced antecedent/consequent phrase structure; (phrases clearly delineated by cadences; contrasting melodic gestures; two distinct themes in different tonalities; metric regularity; common-practice harmonies; sonata-allegro form)
c) Probably date of composition: late 18th century
d) Probably composer: Mozart, Haydn, early Beethoven

2. Form—Given: Provide an outline of the classical Minuet and Trio form.
Answer:
Minuet Trio Minuet
A B A
aa baba cd dc dc a ba [or aa baba]
(Keys: I i or IV or V or vi I)

3. Compositions—Match:

1. Pastoral Symphony A. Beethoven
2. Orfeo ed Euridice B. Gluck
3. Symphonie Fantastique C. Berlioz

4. Composer—Given: Mozart
Answer: Austrian (born in Salzburg) mid to late 18th century; operas, concertos (string quartets, sonatas, symphonies)

5. Term—Given: Tone Row
Answer: A sequence of the twelve different pitch classes arranged so that all twelve are used in a prescribed order before one is repeated. Used to structure one kind of atonal music. Originatede by Arnold Schoenberg in the early to mid-20th century, subsequently used by other serial composers such as Berg, Webern (Krenek, Stravinsky, Dallapiccolo).

B. List of Compositions (organized in no specific order)

The Creation; Lord Nelson Mass; “Farewell”Symphony; Trauersinfonie
Faust Symphony; Transcendental Etudes
Symphonie Fantastique; Harold in Italy
Mathis der Maler; Symphonic Metamorphoses
Norma; I puritani
Symphony of Psalms; The Firebird; Rite of Spring
Wozzeck; Lulu
Pope Marcellus Mass
Ruslan and Ludmilla
Variations on a Theme by Haydn; German Requiem
Candide; West Side Story
Carnaval; Papillons
The Love of Three Oranges; “Classical” Symphony
Falstaff; Rigoletto
Billy the Kid; Appalachian Spring
Missa L’Homme Arme; Missa Se la face ay pale
Pierrot Lunaire; Erwartung; Verklärte Nacht
Le Jeu de Robin et Marian
Missa Se La Face
Armide; Alceste
Cruda Amarilli; Orfeo; Coronation of Poppea
Four Seasons
Fairy Queen; Dido and Aeneas
Don Giovanni; Die Zauberflöte; “Jupiter" and “Haffner” Symphony
Der Freischütz; Oberon
Tristan und Isolde; Lohengrin
Il Barbiere di Siviglia; Guillaume Tell
Don Quixote; Don Juan; Also Sprach Zarathustra
Déserts; Ionisation
Ancient Voices of Childern; Black Angels
Clapping Music; Music for Pieces of Wood
Le Tombeau de Couperin; Daphnis et Chloë
Pelleas et Melisande; Nocturnes; La Mer
“Gaelic” Symphony
Orfeo ed Euridice; Iphigénie en Aulide
Threnody for the Victoms of Hiroshima
Notre Dame Mass
“New World” Symphony; Carnival Overture
Messiah; Music for the Royal Fireworks; Saul
Die Forelle; “Unfinished” Symphony
Tafelmusik (Musique de Table)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Lark Ascending
Swan Lake; Nutcracker; “Pathetique” Symphony
Griselda
Das Lied von der Erde; “Resurrection” Symphony; Kindertotenlieder
An American in Paris; Porgy in Bess; Rhapsody in Blue
Mode de valeurs et d’intensités; Oiseaux exotiques
Peter Grimes; War Requiem
Nixon in China; Short Ride on a Fast Machine
“Rhenish” Symphony; “Spring” Symphony
Goldberg Variations; Brandenburg Concertos; Ein fest Burg ist Unser Gott

Three Places in New England; Unanswered Question; Concord Sonata

Concerto for Orchestra; Miraculous Mandarin; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste
“Pastoral” Symphony; “Pathetique” Sonata; Diabelli Variations; Leonora Overture

Incidental Music to a Midsummer Night’s Dream; “Italian” Symphony
Nutcracker; “Pathetique” Symphony; Swan Lake
Ordo virtutum
Sonata Pian e forte; Jubilate Deo
In C
Lady MacBeth; “Leningrad” Symphony
Finlandia; Karelia Overture
Polovetsian Dances: Prince Igor
4’ 33”; Sonatas and Interludes
Pictures at an Exhibition; Boris Godunov
La Boheme; Madame Butterfly
Scheherazade; Russian Easter Overture
Carnival of the Animals; “Organ” Symphony

C. Composers (alphabetical listing)

D. Terms

E. Music Review Listening CD Contents, CWU Music Library, 4th floor, Main Library. For library use only.

From most recent NAWM unless otherwise noted(*). Other pieces may be on the listening exam. This is only a representative sample.

Medieval
CD 1

1 Anon. Victimae paschali laudes Sequence
2 de la Halle Jeu de Robin et de Marion Trouvere song
3-7 Anon. Istampita Palamento Istampie
8-10 Leonin Alleluia Pascha nostrum organum duplum
11 Anon. Ave virgo virginum Conductus
12 Anon. Amours mi font/en mai/Flos Filius eius Motet
*13-18 di Vitry Garrit Gallus/In nova fert/Neuma Motet
19 Bologna Fenice fù Madrigal
20 Landini Non avrà ma’ pietà Ballata
21-23 Machaut Messe de Nostre Dame- Agnus Dei Mass
24 Anon. Salve, sancta parens Carol

Renaissance
CD 1

25 Dunstable Quam pulchra es Motet
26 Dufay Se la face ay pale Ballade
27-32 Dufay Missa Se la face ay pale Cantus Firmus Mass
33-37 Palestrina Missa Papae Marcelli- Credo Mass
38-41 Josquin De profundis clamavi ad te Motet
42-43 Sermisy Tant que vivray Parisian Chanson
44-50 Cara Io non compro più speranza Frottola
51-53 Gesualdo Io parto Madrigal
54-55 Attaingnant Danseries a 4 Instrumental Dances
56-59 Weelkes O Care, thou wilt despatch me Ballet
60-62 Dowland Flow My Tears Lute Song

Baroque
CD 2

1-3 Caccini Verdrò ‘l mio sol Solo Madrigal
4-8 Monteverdi Cruda Amarilli Madrigal
9-14 Monteverdi Orfeo- Prologue- Dal mio Permesso Opera
15-20 Lully Armide- Overture and Act II Scene 5 Tragedie lyrique
21 Purcell Fairy Queen- Hark! The Ech’ing air Masque
22-24 A. Scarlatti La Griselda- Mi revedi Opera
25-29 Handel Guilo Cesare- Act II Scene 2- V’adoro pupille Opera
30-35 Gabrieli In ecclesiis Grand Concerto
36 Carissimi Jephte- Plorate, plorate Oratorio
Bach Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf Cantata
37-41 Movement 1- Wachet auf
42 Movement 3- Wann kommst du, mein Heil?
43 Movement 7- Gloria sei dir gesungen
44-48 Corelli Sonata op. 3 no. 2 Trio sonata
49-56 Vivaldi Concerto op. 3 no. 2 Concerto grosso
57-59 Buxtehude Danket dem Herrn Chorale prelude

Classical
CD 3

1-2 D. Scarlatti Sonata in D Major K. 119 Keyboard Sonata
3-4 C.P.E. Bach Sonata in A Major, movement 2 Keyboard Sonata
5-14 Beethoven Sonata op. 13, movement 3 Keyboard Sonata
15-30 Mozart Piano Concerto in A K. 488, movement 1 Concerto
31-36 Haydn; Quartet op. 33 no. 2, movement 4 String Quartet
37-39 Sammartini Symphony in F Major, movement 1 Sinfonia
40-44 Stamitz Sinfonia a8 in Eb, movement 1 Symphony
45-51 Haydn Symphony No. 56, movement 1 Symphony
52-62 Haydn Symphony No. 104, movement 4 Symphony
63-68 Pergolesi La Serva Padrona- Ah quanto mi sta male Intermezzo
69-73 Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice- Act 2 Scene 1 Opera seria
74-78 Mozart Don Giovanni- Act I. Scene 5 Opera buffa

Romantic
CD 4

1 Chopin Nocturne in Eb op. 9 No. 2 Character Piece
2-6 Liszt Trois études de concert, No. 3 Character Piece
7-12 Berlioz Symphonie Fantistique, movement 4 Program Symphony
*13-15 Mendelssohn Scherzo to A Midsummer Night’s Dream Incidental Music
*16-22 Brahms Quintet in F minor,op. 34, movement 3 Piano Quintet
23-27 Schubert Gretchen am Spinnrade Lied
28-35 Wolf Kennst du das Land Lied
36-39 Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia- Act II Scene 5 Opera
40-44 Weber Der Freischütz- Act II Finale excerpt Opera
45-49 Wagner Tristan und Isolde- Act I Scene 5 excerpt Music Drama
50-55 R. Strauss Don Quixote- Theme, Variations 1 and 2 Symphonic Poem
*56 Mahler Symphony No. 4, movement 4 Symphony

Modern
CD 5

1-6 Debussy Nocturnes- Nuages Impressionism
7-10 Stravinsky Rite of Spring- Danse de adolescentes Primitivism
11-12 Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire- No. 8 Expressionism
13-15 Berg Wozzeck- Act III Scene 3 Expressionism
16-20 Webern Symphonie op. 21, movement 1 Total Serialism
21-24 Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta Nationalism
movement 3 excerpt
25-27 Shostakovich Lady Macbeth- Act IV Finale excerpt Nationalism
28-30 Ives They Are There Nationalism
31-34 Copland Appalachian Spring- Simple Gifts Nationalism
*35 Varese Ionisation Avante garde
36-38 Carter Quartet No. 2- Introduction and Allegro fantastico Avante garde
39-43 Babbitt Philomel, excerpt Total control
44-48 Messaien Meditations surle mystere de la Sainte Trinitie Total control
49-52 Crumb Black Angels, excerpt Electronic
53-54 Zwilich Concerto Grosso, movements 4 and 5 New Romanticism
*55 Adams Short Ride on a Fast Machine Minimalism

Last Updated:{April 7, 2006}
Contact Dr. Dan Lipori at liporid@cwu.edu

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