Music 262 Fact Test Questions with Verified
Correct Answers
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1910)
early success was tied to the Italian nationalist struggle
Verdi's 2nd creative period (of 4)
complex characters; easy shifting between recitative, arioso, and aria styles; preference for 2-
measure phrases; occasional Big Guitar orchestration
La Traviata, Act III: Scena and Duet
distinction between recitative and aria is almost gone; 5 parts, including cantabile and
cabaletta
Verdi's 3rd creative period
influence of French grand opera
Verdi's 4th creative period
late masterpiece: Otello (1887)
Wagner's ego
renamed the genre: Gesamtkunstwerk or music drama; considered his music a religious rite;
theatre/temple for only his work in Bayreuth
Wagner's musical style
slow harmonic rhythm; demolished the tonal system; revolutionized orchestration (new
instruments, new ways)
Other features of Wagner's style
, Steigerung (musical intensification), leitmotifs
Tristan und Isolde (1859)
based on a medieval romance; Wagner wrote his own libretti; Stabreim (alliteration); tonal
instability; leitmotifs in the orchestra; sequence
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
cutting edge compositional technique; no interest in Romantic aesthetics (adhered to the
Classical genres)
Symphony No. 4 in Em, 4th movement
an allusion to old (Baroque) music; advanced harmonic and rhythmic features; sarabande
rhythm; developing variation
Zukunftsmuziker (Musicians of the Future)
Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner; most importantly Liszt's symphonic poems, with their thematic
transformation
Common ground between Mahler & Strauss
both conductors; loved Mozart & Wagner; composed program music; thought about the
relationship between music and philosophy/spirituality
Differences between Mahler & Strauss
Mahler was Jewish; Strauss was publicly acclaimed as a composer; Mahler composed
symphonies and orchestral song cycles; Strauss composed tone poems & operas
Strauss: Don Quixote (1897)
Correct Answers
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1910)
early success was tied to the Italian nationalist struggle
Verdi's 2nd creative period (of 4)
complex characters; easy shifting between recitative, arioso, and aria styles; preference for 2-
measure phrases; occasional Big Guitar orchestration
La Traviata, Act III: Scena and Duet
distinction between recitative and aria is almost gone; 5 parts, including cantabile and
cabaletta
Verdi's 3rd creative period
influence of French grand opera
Verdi's 4th creative period
late masterpiece: Otello (1887)
Wagner's ego
renamed the genre: Gesamtkunstwerk or music drama; considered his music a religious rite;
theatre/temple for only his work in Bayreuth
Wagner's musical style
slow harmonic rhythm; demolished the tonal system; revolutionized orchestration (new
instruments, new ways)
Other features of Wagner's style
, Steigerung (musical intensification), leitmotifs
Tristan und Isolde (1859)
based on a medieval romance; Wagner wrote his own libretti; Stabreim (alliteration); tonal
instability; leitmotifs in the orchestra; sequence
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
cutting edge compositional technique; no interest in Romantic aesthetics (adhered to the
Classical genres)
Symphony No. 4 in Em, 4th movement
an allusion to old (Baroque) music; advanced harmonic and rhythmic features; sarabande
rhythm; developing variation
Zukunftsmuziker (Musicians of the Future)
Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner; most importantly Liszt's symphonic poems, with their thematic
transformation
Common ground between Mahler & Strauss
both conductors; loved Mozart & Wagner; composed program music; thought about the
relationship between music and philosophy/spirituality
Differences between Mahler & Strauss
Mahler was Jewish; Strauss was publicly acclaimed as a composer; Mahler composed
symphonies and orchestral song cycles; Strauss composed tone poems & operas
Strauss: Don Quixote (1897)
