Deck 8: The Early Baroque Period

Question 1

The singers in The Coronation of Poppea are:

A) two male sopranos.
B) one male soprano and one female soprano.
C) two female sopranos.
D) two females: a mezzo-soprano and a soprano.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In the aria part of The Coronation of Poppea,what does not change from section to section?

A) tonality
B) accompaniment
C) meter
D) soloist

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In which section of "O magnum mysterium" do you hear the most echoing?

A) "O, O magnum mysterium"
B) "et admirabile sacramentum"
C) "Alleluia"
D) closing "O, O magnum mysterium"

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In the opening recitative of The Coronation of Poppea,which word is repeated in several different ways,sometimes sounding minor,sometimes sounding major?

A) dalle
B) tornerai
C) cor
D) divelle

Question 5

What is the genre of "O magnum mysterium"?

A) Mass
B) motet
C) madrigal
D) pavan

Question 6

The style heard in "O magnum mysterium" is typical of music from:

A) seventeenth-century Paris.
B) sixteenth-century London.
C) seventeenth-century Venice.
D) sixteenth-century Rome.

Question 7

Where was Dido and Aeneas composed?

A) Italy
B) Germany
C) France
D) England

Question 8

Who is singing to whom in the recitative section of the final scene of Dido and Aeneas?

A) Dido sings to Aeneas.
B) Aeneas sings to Dido.
C) Dido sings to Belinda.
D) Belinda sings to Dido.

Question 9

Which musical technique do you hear in the first and last sections of "O magnum mysterium"?

A) sequence
B) points of imitation
C) isorhythm
D) plainchant paraphrase

Question 10

Who composed Dido and Aeneas?

A) Giovanni Gabrieli
B) Claudio Monteverdi
C) Henry Purcell
D) Arcangelo Corelli

Question 11

Which compositional technique do you hear in "O magnum mysterium"?

A) isorhythm
B) hocket
C) plainchant paraphrase
D) echoing choirs

Question 12

What are the performing forces in "O magnum mysterium"?

A) choirs
B) choirs and organ
C) choirs, brass instruments, and organ
D) choirs, brass instruments, woodwind instruments, and organ

Question 13

Dido and Aeneas is a(n):

A) Mass.
B) opera.
C) motet.
D) madrigal.

Question 14

Who composed "O magnum mysterium"?

A) Giovanni Gabrieli
B) Claudio Monteverdi
C) Henry Purcell
D) Arcangelo Corelli

Question 15

Which describes the use of meter in "O magnum mysterium"?

A) There is no discernible meter anywhere.
B) The meter is duple throughout.
C) The meter is sometimes duple and sometimes triple.
D) The meter is triple or compound duple throughout.

Question 16

There are ________ sections in the final scene of Dido and Aeneas: ________.

A) two; a recitative (including a short arioso) and an aria
B) three; a recitative, an aria, and a chorus
C) four; a recitative, an aria, another recitative, and a chorus
D) three; a recitative, an aria, and another aria

Question 17

In the opening recitative of The Coronation of Poppea,there is:

A) no identifiable meter.
B) constant duple meter.
C) constant triple meter.
D) duple meter at first, then triple meter.

Question 18

The two elements that most bring about the change of mood in the "Alleluia" section of "O magnum mysterium" are:

A) texture and tone color.
B) harmony and texture.
C) tone color and dynamics.
D) tempo and meter.

Question 19

The opening recitative of The Coronation of Poppea is interrupted by a very short section in regular meter sung by Nero.It is a(n):

A) arioso.
B) aria.
C) recitative.
D) alba.

Question 20

How is the word addio treated at the end of the recitative section of The Coronation of Poppea?

A) with sequences
B) with ornamentation
C) with a change in instrumental accompaniment
D) with paraphrasing in the lower voices

Question 21

Opera began in:

A) London around 1500.
B) Rome around 1450.
C) Paris around 1200.
D) Florence around 1600.

Question 22

What was the most "advanced" form in late Renaissance music?

A) the madrigal
B) the motet
C) the Mass
D) dance forms

Question 23

At the end of the Renaissance,an influential group of Florentines reacted against the madrigal because of its:

A) homophonic lines.
B) great capacity for expressing the emotions of the individual.
C) word painting.
D) religious orientation.

Question 24

In the Baroque period,rhythm became more:

A) syncopated.
B) unidentifiable.
C) regular.
D) irregular.

Question 25

Musical form in the early Baroque period was becoming:

A) less concerned with structure.
B) more influenced by classical Greek music theory.
C) less oriented toward intense sonorities.
D) more controlled and systematic.

Question 26

The balletto and corrente are dances related by their:

A) contrasting keyboards.
B) similar meters.
C) bass lines.
D) attention to variation.

Question 27

What textures do you hear in the closing chorus of Dido and Aeneas?

A) monophony, then polyphony
B) monophony, then homophony
C) polyphony, then homophony
D) imitative polyphony, then non-imitative polyphony

Question 28

How can you tell when the aria portion of the final scene of Dido and Aeneas has begun?

A) The rhythm settles into a regular meter.
B) The rhythm is suddenly irregular.
C) The chorus comes in.
D) A vocal duet begins.

Question 29

The balletto and corrente contrast strongly in their:

A) contrasting keyboards.
B) homophonic texture.
C) bass lines.
D) meters.

Question 30

Which texture gained prominence in seventeenth-century Venice?

A) monophony
B) homophony
C) imitative polyphony
D) non-imitative polyphony

Question 31

The composer of this canzona,balletto,and corrente is:

A) Giovanni Gabrieli.
B) Claudio Monteverdi.
C) Henry Purcell.
D) Girolamo Frescobaldi.

Question 32

Who were the most important composers in Venice around 1600?

A) Claudio Monteverdi and Arcangelo Corelli
B) Andrea Gabrieli and Giovanni Gabrieli
C) Arcangelo Corelli and Henry Purcell
D) Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi

Question 33

In which section of the final scene of Dido and Aeneas do you hear a ground bass?

A) recitative
B) chorus
C) arioso
D) aria

Question 34

The canzona opens with:

A) three repeated notes.
B) three repeated chords.
C) a theme that begins very slowly.
D) a theme that begins with long leaps followed by running sixteenth notes.

Question 35

The Baroque period spans the years:

A) 1600-1700.
B) 1600-1750.
C) 1400-1750.
D) 1450-1650.

Question 36

In the early Baroque period,composers subdivided choirs in order to exploit more:

A) sonorous effects.
B) complex textures.
C) word painting.
D) austere moods.

Question 37

"O magnum mysterium" was written for:

A) Christmas.
B) Easter.
C) Pentecost.
D) Epiphany.

Question 38

The original meaning of baroque was:

A) a piece of music broken into several sections.
B) plainchant.
C) a small, perfectly shaped pearl.
D) a large, irregularly shaped pearl.

Question 39

When does the chorus begin to sing in the final scene of Dido and Aeneas?

A) as Dido is singing
B) after Dido stabs herself
C) when Aeneas finishes his aria
D) when Aeneas stabs himself

Question 40

Where did the Gabrielis work?

A) St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
B) Westminster Abbey in London
C) St. Mark's Basilica in Venice
D) the opera house in Venice

Question 41

Who is known as "the last great madrigalist and the first great opera composer"?

A) Arcangelo Corelli
B) Henry Purcell
C) Claudio Monteverdi
D) Giovanni Gabrieli

Question 42

Which is true of a recitative?

A) The plot action stops.
B) There is much musical elaboration.
C) There is very little accompaniment for the soloist.
D) The singer meditates on the dramatic situation at hand.

Question 43

The operatic equivalent of a soliloquy or meditation is a(n):

A) recitative.
B) aria.
C) arioso.
D) declamation.

Question 44

What feature of harmony disappeared during the Baroque period?

A) major/minor system
B) functional harmony
C) strong sense of tonality
D) use of church modes

Question 45

During which phase of Monteverdi's career did he compose The Coronation of Poppea?

A) It was late in his career.
B) It was early in his career.
C) It was in the middle of his career.
D) It was the first piece he ever wrote.

Question 46

The first public opera theater was opened in:

A) 1450.
B) 1581.
C) 1729.
D) 1637.

Question 47

An aria-like fragment in an opera that is neither a recitative nor an aria is a(n):

A) alba.
B) arioso.
C) libretto.
D) interlude.

Question 48

An aria is:

A) the musical declamation of words in a heightened, theatrical manner.
B) between recitative and arioso in style.
C) used for moving the plot along.
D) an extended piece for a solo singer having more musical elaboration and coherence than a recitative.

Question 49

Drama set to music is:

A) opera.
B) Greek tragedy.
C) a madrigal.
D) a motet.

Question 50

Which two instruments would most likely have played the basso continuo in the Baroque era?

A) cello and harpsichord
B) bassoon and piano
C) violin and cello
D) bassoon and cello

Question 51

In Baroque music,what is the form in which there is a repeated bass figure with chords,above which the upper instruments or voices play different melodies?

A) strophic
B) ground bass
C) basso continuo
D) recitative

Question 52

The plot of Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea involves:

A) the founding of Rome and the Roman Empire.
B) biblical characters, including David, Goliath, and Poppea.
C) Nero; his mistress, Poppea; his wife, Ottavia; and his adviser, Seneca.
D) Poppea's coronation as queen of Carthage.

Question 53

In a recitative,the rhythm:

A) follows the rhythm of speech.
B) follows the meter.
C) is vague, and the text is not important.
D) is hidden by polyphony.

Question 54

Opera provided the perfect vehicle for the Baroque idea of:

A) expressing the views of many individuals at once.
B) expressing the emotions of the individual.
C) enacting biblical stories.
D) political propaganda.

Question 55

Which accurately describes the Baroque treatment of meter?

A) Meter became more accepted; bar lines came into use.
B) Meter disappeared; bar lines disappeared.
C) Meter became more and more blurred with increased polyphony.
D) Meter was no longer necessary now that recitatives were popular.

Question 56

Early Florentine operas were:

A) religious dramas set to music in churches.
B) public entertainment on a grand scale.
C) court entertainments for events such as royal weddings.
D) traveling minstrel shows with Greek tragedies set to music.

Question 57

The operatic equivalent of dramatic dialogue is a(n):

A) aria.
B) theme.
C) recitative.
D) arioso.

Question 58

The term basso continuo:

A) refers to an extended style of singing for men in the Baroque period.
B) indicates where the plainchant melody is paraphrased in Baroque vocal music.
C) refers to the bass line and continuous chords of a Baroque composition.
D) is another term for ground bass.

Question 59

Which is true of an aria?

A) There is very little accompaniment for the singer.
B) The singer meditates on the dramatic situation at hand, and emotions are "frozen" into a tableau.
C) There is far less musical elaboration than in a recitative.
D) The plot action moves along quickly, and emotions are ever changing.

Question 60

Which composer was the first one whose music was attacked for being too radical?

A) Andrea Gabrieli
B) Henry Purcell
C) Arcangelo Corelli
D) Claudio Monteverdi

Question 61

A keyboard genre based on melodic or harmonic patterns borrowed from vocal music is a:

A) set of variations.
B) stylized dance.
C) toccata.
D) canzona.

Question 62

Points of imitation in vocal music led to the development of the ________ in instrumental music.

A) fugue
B) concerto
C) stylized dance
D) suite

Question 63

Who is considered to be the greatest English composer of the Baroque period?

A) George Frideric Handel
B) Thomas Morley
C) William Byrd
D) Henry Purcell

Question 64

The genre of keyboard work that emphasizes imitative polyphony is the:

A) toccata.
B) variation.
C) canzona.
D) balletto.

Question 65

What are the three main sources of instrumental music?

A) dance, virtuosity, and vocal music
B) dance, the church, and vocal music
C) virtuosity, the church, and vocal music
D) dance, opera, and virtuosity

Question 66

The foremost organ virtuoso of the early seventeenth century was:

A) Henry Purcell.
B) Girolamo Frescobaldi.
C) Andrea Gabrieli.
D) Claudio Monteverdi.

Question 67

In the Baroque period,dance music gained popularity because of:

A) the increased popularity of liturgical dance in the church.
B) commissions from royalty to compose dance music for festive occasions.
C) the way ballet was used in opera.
D) its popularity with the rising middle class.

Question 68

A keyboard genre that means "touched" in Italian is a:

A) corrente.
B) passacaglia.
C) canzona.
D) toccata.

Question 69

What characterizes the art of the early instrumental virtuosos?

A) They repeated simple melodies.
B) They used chant sequences.
C) They improvised music that was rarely written down.
D) They notated everything they played for their students' use.

Question 70

Fugues were composed and improvised mainly by:

A) singers.
B) virtuoso violinists.
C) conductors.
D) keyboard players.

Question 71

Which feature of vocal music was transferred to Baroque instrumental music?

A) word painting
B) imitative polyphonic texture
C) monophonic texture
D) declamation

Question 72

What was the source for Dido and Aeneas?

A) the Bible
B) the Aeneid, by Virgil
C) a Shakespearean play
D) an original play he wrote earlier in his career

Question 73

A Baroque composition that treats one melody imitatively is called a:

A) suite.
B) concerto.
C) fugue.
D) recitative.

Question 74

"Remember me,but ah,forget my fate" is part of the text of:

A) "O magnum mysterium."
B) The Coronation of Poppea.
C) "When I am laid" (Dido's Lament).
D) "Thy hand, Belinda."

Question 75

The keyboard virtuoso and composer who was influenced a century later by Frescobaldi's music was:

A) Johann Sebastian Bach.
B) Antonio Vivaldi.
C) Andrea Gabrieli.
D) Claudio Monteverdi.

Question 76

Pieces written in the form or style of dance music but meant for listening,not dancing,are:

A) suites.
B) sonatas.
C) movements.
D) stylized dances.

Question 77

A set of dances collected from an opera or ballet is called a:

A) concerto grosso.
B) suite.
C) sonata.
D) recitative.

Question 78

Purcell wrote the first English examples of which genre?

A) madrigal
B) Mass
C) sonata
D) secular songs

Question 79

Frescobaldi's balletto and corrente have which formal design?

A) a a b
B) a a b b
C) a b b
D) a b a

Question 80

The rich array of ostinato forms is displayed up and down the continent of:

A) Asia.
B) Europe.
C) South America.
D) Africa.