Chapter 49: Folk Opera? Gershwin and Jazz as “Art”
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The center of music publishing in New York was called:
a. Broadway. c. Washington Square.
b. Tin Pan Alley. d. Wall Street.
2. Irving Berlin’s first hit song was:
a. Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous.
b. Summertime.
c. When Johnny Comes Marching Home.
d. Alexander’s Ragtime Band.
3. Which early-twentieth-century songwriter composed the wartime hit Over There?
a. Irving Berlin c. George Gershwin
b. George M. Cohan d. John Philip Sousa
4. Which American musician introduced ragtime and early jazz styles to France during World War I?
a. James Reese Europe c. Duke Ellington
b. Irving Berlin d. George M. Cohan
5. In America during the Roaring Twenties:
a. women gained the right to vote.
b. alcohol was banned.
c. the popularity of radio and film increased.
d. all of the answers shown here
6. Someone who demonstrated and sold sheet music on Tin Pan Alley was known as:
a. a song plugger.
b. a song pitcher.
c. an A&R representative.
d. a session musician.
7. What was George Gershwin’s first big hit song?
a. Rhapsody in Blue c. I Got Rhythm
b. Swanee d. Lady Be Good
8. Where did Gershwin grow up?
a. Chicago
b. Paris
c. Manhattan
d. London
9. George Gershwin described _____ as a folk opera.
a. Porgy and Bess c. An American in Paris
b. My Fair Lady d. Rhapsody in Blue
10. Porgy and Bess is set in:
a. Harlem.
b. a South Carolina tenement.
c. New York City.
d. New Orleans.
11. Gershwin’s Summertime suggests:
a. an Italian aria. c. an operatic recitative.
b. a ragtime song. d. an African American spiritual.
12. Gershwin’s Summertime is in _____ form.
a. strophic c. da capo
b. A-B-B d. verse-chorus
13. _____ was the center of music publishing by the late nineteenth century.
a. New York City c. Boston
b. Chicago d. Los Angeles
14. Which work by Gershwin was billed as a radical new approach to a uniquely American art music?
a. Rhapsody in Blue c. the Concerto in F
b. Lady Be Good d. An American in Paris
TOP: Gershwin MSC: Factual
TRUE/FALSE
1. Irving Berlin was a successful Tin Pan Alley composer.
2. Radio underwent enormous growth during the 1920s.
3. The Great Depression had little impact on the performing arts.
4. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue had its premiere in a concert entitled “An Experiment in Modern
Music.”
5. Porgy and Bess is set in Chicago.
6. Summertime is a lively song that suggests the excitement of summer.
7. Summertime is sung several times during Porgy and Bess.
8. During World War I, George Gershwin introduced ragtime and early jazz styles to France.
9. Very few social changes occurred during the Roaring Twenties.
10. Porgy and Bess helped transform jazz into an art tradition.
TOP: Gershwin MSC: Conceptual
ESSAY
1. Discuss how George Gershwin blended European art music traditions with jazz.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 3 REF: Essentials: pp. 277–279
TOP: American Popular Styles MSC: Applied
2. Discuss why some have called George Gershwin the “the Abraham Lincoln of Negro Music.”
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 3 REF: Essentials: pp. 277–279
TOP: Gershwin MSC: Conceptual