Classical Period Study Questions
1. Classicism, as a stylistic period in western art music,
roughly encompassed the years
a.
1450-1600
c. 1600-1750
b.
1750-1820
d. 1820-1900
2. Which of the following composers is not considered a
master of the classical period?
a. Johann C.
Bach
c. Ludwig van Beethoven
b. Wolfgang A. Mozart
d. Joseph Haydn
3. Which of the following characteristics is not typical
of the music of the classical period?
a. Classical melodies are tuneful and easy to
remember.
b. Classical compositions fluctuate in mood.
c. A classical composition has a wealth of
rhythmic patterns.
d. Classical music is basically polyphonic.
4. Which of the following statements is not true?
a. In the classical period, composers were influenced by folk and popular music.
b. While a late baroque musical composition may
convey a single emotion, a classical composition
will fluctuate in mood.
c. Composers in the classical period tended to
use terraced dynamics in their compositions.
d. The basso continuo was gradually abandoned
during the classical period.
5. Joseph Haydn was content to spend most of his life
a. as an independently wealthy composer
b. serving a wealthy aristocratic family
c. as a professional free-lance musician
d. as a church musician and organist
6. The typical orchestra of the classical period consisted
of
a. a loose ensemble of available instruments
b. strings, pairs of woodwinds, horns, trumpets,
and timpani
c. strings with harpsichord
d. woodwinds, trombones, drums, and strings
7. A symphony is a
a. sonata for orchestra
b. work for chorus and orchestra
c. work for solo instrument
d. work for piano solo
8. Sonata form consists of three main sections,
exposition, development, and
a.
introduction
c. recapitulation
b.
motives
d. transition
9. Each successive variation in a theme with variations
a. retains some elements of the theme
b. is usually in a new key
c. is usually in the same key
d. presents a new melodic idea
10. Theme-and-variations form may be schematically
outlined as
a. AABB
c. AA'A''A'''A''''
b.
ABA
d. ABACADA
11. The _____ movement of Haydn's Surprise Symphony
in in theme-and-variations form.
a.
first
c. second
b.
third
d. fourth
12. The minuet as a whole may be outlined as
a.
ABA
c. AABB
b.
ABC
d. AABBCC
13. A common rondo pattern is
a.
ABACA
c. ABACBA
b. ABBABC
d. ABCBA
14. The usual order of movements in a classical symphony
is
a. fast, dance-like, slow,
fast
c. fast, slow, fast, slow
b. fast, slow, dance-like,
fast
d. slow, fast, slow, fast
15. The lyrical slow movement of a symphony is most often
the
a.
first
c. second
b.
third
d. fourth
16. A concerto is a large-scale work in several movements
for
a. an instrumental
soloist
c. any combination of instruments
b. an instrumental soloist and
orchestra d. symphonic orchestra
17. Mozart and Beethoven wrote a number of concertos for
their favorite solo instrument, the
a.
cello
c. violin
b.
flute
d. piano
18. Classical chamber music is designed
a. to display the virtuosity of the players
b. for the intimate setting of a small room
c. exclusively for performance by paid
professional musicians
d. to be conducted by experienced
orchestral directors
19. The string quartet
a. usually consists of four
movements
b. is the most important form in classical
chamber music
c. is written for two violins, viola, and
cello
d. all of the above
20. Along with his symphonies, Haydn's _____ are
considered his most important works.
a.
operas
c. string quartets
b.
serenades
d. baritone trios
21. Mozart was born in
a. Salzburg,
Austria
c. Bonn, Germany
b. Eisenach,
Germany
d. Rohrau, Austria
22. By the age of six, Mozart could
a. play the harpsichord and violin
b. improvise fugues and write minuets
c. read music perfectly at sight
d. all of the above
23. Mozart composed his Requiem
a. for his own
funeral
b. as an exercise for his composition
teacher
c. on commission from a stranger
d. to help his pupil Sussmayr
24. Mozart's Requiem was
a. composed by a nobleman using Mozart's
name
b. a high point in his career
c. an early work
d. finished by one of his pupils
25. Beethoven
a. was a brilliant pianist
b. was self-educated and had read widely,
but was weak in elementary arithmetic
c. began to feel the first symptoms of
deafness in his twenty-ninth year
d. all of the above
26. The musical heir of Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven
bridged the
a. Renaissance,
baroque
c. classical, romantic
b. baroque,
classical
d. romantic, impressionist
27. Mozart's symphony No. 40
a. is in G
major
c. is one of the last three symphonies
b. has only three
movements
d. all of the above
28. Beethoven's late works, composed after he was totally
deaf, include
a. piano
sonatas
c. the Ninth Symphony
b. string
quartets
d. all of the above
29. Haydn was a prolific composer, as demonstrated in part
by his 68 string quartets and 104
a.
operas
c. serenades
b.
songs
d. symphonies
30. Composers of the classical period took middle-class
tastes into account by
a. flavoring their serious compositions
with folk and popular music
b. writing comic operas that sometimes
ridiculed the aristocracy
c. writing dance music for public balls
d. all of the above
Suggested Listening:
Mozart: Sym. No. 40 in G Minor, first movt.
(Sonata Form) CD 2, track 23
Haydn: Sym. No. 94 in G Major, second movt.
(Theme and Variation Form) CD2, track 32
Mozart: Enie kleine Nachtmusik, third movt.
(Ternary Form) CD2, track 38
Beethoven: String Quartet in C Minor, fourth movt.
(Rondo Form) CD2, track 41
Mozart: Piano Concerto in A
Major, first movt. (Sonata Form) CD 3, track 5
Beethoven: Sym. No. 5 in C minor, first movt.
(Sonata Form) CD 2, track 45