Chapter 36: Musical Diaries: Hensel and Programmatic Piano Music
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following best describes the role of women in nineteenth-century music?
a. None pursued careers in music.
b. Women were leaders in innovative changes of style.
c. The piano provided women with a socially acceptable performance outlet.
d. all of the answers shown here
2. Which of the following was a noted woman composer of the Romantic era?
a. Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein c. George Sand
b. Clara Schumann d. Nadezhda von Meck
3. Which of the following women presided over musical salons?
a. Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein c. Clara Schumann
b. Nadezhda von Meck d. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
4. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was discouraged from pursuing a career as a composer because:
a. she was a woman. c. she had no talent.
b. she was primarily a performer. d. all of the answers shown here
5. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s output is dominated by:
a. piano music and chamber music.
b. Lieder and chamber music.
c. Lieder and orchestra music.
d. Lieder, choral part songs, and piano music.
6. Who composed the piano cycle The Year?
a. Frédéric Chopin c. Clara Schumann
b. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel d. Franz Liszt
7. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel wrote her cycle The Year for:
a. voice. c. piano.
b. orchestra. d. choir.
8. The manuscript for Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s September: At the River, from The Year, has
poetic lines by:
a. Wilhelm Hensel. c. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
b. Heinrich Heine. d. Friedrich Schiller.
9. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s piano cycle The Year is unified through:
a. recurring motives.
b. tonal schemes.
c. references to the works of other composers.
d. all of the answers shown here
10. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was especially close with ________, her younger brother.
a. Wilhelm Hensel c. Felix Mendelssohn
b. Carl Fridrich Zelter d. Moses Mendelssohn
11. Each piece in Hensel’s The Year is prefaced with:
a. a poetic epigram and a painting. c. nothing.
b. a poem written by the composer. d. precise performance instructions.
12. Which instrument provided women of the middle class and upper classes with a performance outlet
that was socially acceptable?
a. the piano c. the flute
b. the guitar d. the violin
TRUE/FALSE
1. During the nineteenth century, women became increasingly accepted as piano teachers.
2. Nineteenth-century society saw a few women make careers as professional musicians.
3. Despite her gender, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was encouraged by her family to pursue a career
in music.
4. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s cycle The Year is her only symphonic poem.
5. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel is known for her large-scale orchestral compositions.
6. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s cycle The Year has extramusical connections.
7. Fanny Mendelssohn was born into a highly cultured family.
8. In the nineteenth-century, women made great strides in establishing careers as professional
musicians.
9. The flute provided women of the middle and upper classes with a socially acceptable performance
outlet.
10. During the nineteenth-century, some women broke away from tradition and overcame social
stereotypes to become successful composers.
11. The music of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was widely celebrated during her lifetime.
ESSAY
1. Describe the different roles that women played in music of the nineteenth century. Which roles
were socially acceptable? Cite examples of successful women musicians from this era.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 2 REF: Essentials: pp. 200–201
TOP: Romantic Era MSC: Conceptual
2. Describe the extra-musical connections in Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s The Year.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 2 REF: Essentials: pp. 201–202
TOP: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel MSC: Conceptual