Chapter 29: Personalizing the Conversation: Beethoven and the Classical Sonata
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. During the Classical era, the sonata was for piano alone, piano and violin, or:
a. piano and trumpet. c. piano and voice.
b. piano and flute. d. piano and cello.
2. How many piano sonatas did Beethoven compose?
a. nine c. twenty-four
b. eighteen d. thirty-two
3. Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 was subtitled Moonlight by:
a. the publisher.
b. the composer.
c. the poet Ludwig Rellstab shortly after the composer’s death.
d. modern publishers.
4. Beethoven supported himself through:
a. teaching music lessons. c. giving public concerts.
b. publishing his music. d. all of the answers shown here
5. Beethoven suffered perhaps the most traumatic of all maladies for a musician. What was it?
a. blindness c. diabetes
b. deafness d. paralysis
6. Beethoven’s compositional activity fell into ______ periods.
a. two c. four
b. three d. five
7. In his third compositional period, Beethoven:
a. returned to the simple Classicism of his first period.
b. used more chromatic harmonies.
c. composed few works because of his deafness.
d. all of the answers shown here
8. How many symphonies did Beethoven write?
a. five c. thirty-two
b. nine d. 104
9. Beethoven gave his Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 the designation:
a. Moonlight. c. adagio cantabile.
b. quasi una fantasia. d. con amabilità.
10. How many movements does Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata have?
a. two c. four
b. three d. five
11. The dreamy first movement of the Moonlight Sonata features:
a. a singing melody. c. a modified strophic form.
b. sonata-allegro form. d. rondo form.
12. Which composer developed a sonata style that has been continuously valued as strikingly
individual and meaningful?
a. Mozart c. Beethoven
b. Bach d. Haydn
13. For Haydn, Mozart, and their successors, the term sonata meant:
a. an orchestral work.
b. an instrumental work for one or two instruments.
c. an orchestral work with a featured soloist.
d. an instrumental work for up to five performers.
14. Beethoven dedicated the Moonlight Sonata to:
a. his mother. c. Napoleon.
b. Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. d. the Queen of Austria.
TOP: Beethoven Sonata MSC: Factual
TRUE/FALSE
1. The sonata is an instrumental work in one movement for one or two solo instruments.
2. During the Classical era, the sonata was intended for professional musicians only.
3. Beethoven first suggested calling his Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 the Moonlight
Sonata.
4. Beethoven composed his Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 during his late style
period.
5. Although Beethoven received support from music-loving aristocrats, he functioned primarily as a
freelance, or independent, composer.
6. Beethoven was unable to compose music after he became deaf.
7. Beethoven achieved much acclaim during his lifetime and died a famous and revered composer.
8. Some consider Beethoven to be the supreme architect in music.
9. The first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata is full of stormy virtuosity.
10. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata is an example of program music.
11. Countess Giulietta Guicciardi was the inspiration for Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.
12. Beethoven thought that the Moonlight Sonata was the best work he had ever composed.
ESSAY
1. How does Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata conform to and deviate from the standard
multimovement form of the Classical era?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 3 REF: Essentials: p. 158 | Essentials: p. 160
TOP: Classical Sonata MSC: Conceptual
2. Describe the musical characteristics of each of Beethoven’s three creative periods.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 2 REF: Essentials: p. 158
TOP: Beethoven MSC: Applied