Chapter 52: New Sound Palettes: A Mid-Twentieth-Century American
Experimentalist
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following composers combined Asian instruments with traditional Western
ensembles and experimented with exotic scales?
a. Aaron Copland c. Henry Cowell
b. Harry Partch d. John Cage
2. Which innovative composer constructed a scale of forty-three microtones to the octave and built
instruments with this tuning?
a. Aaron Copland c. Henry Cowell
b. Harry Partch d. John Cage
3. Harry Partch experimented with the _____ tuning system.
a. microtonal c. pentatonic
b. modal d. whole-tone
4. Which of the following composers invented the prepared piano?
a. Harry Partch c. Henry Cowell
b. John Cage d. Pierre Boulez
5. Which of the following works by John Cage has no musical content and can be performed by
anyone on any instrument?
a. Sonatas and Interludes c. I Ching
b. Fontana Mix d. 4’33”
6. John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes evokes the sounds of:
a. the bagpipe of eastern Europe. c. the Javanese gamelan.
b. the Japanese koto. d. the sitar of India.
7. John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes is a work for:
a. chamber ensemble. c. violin and piano.
b. prepared piano. d. synthesizer.
8. The form of Cage’s Sonata V, from Sonatas and Interludes, is:
a. binary. c. rondo.
b. ternary. d. sonata-allegro.
9. Groups of adjacent notes played on the piano with the fist, palm, or forearm are known as:
a. noise. c. microtones.
b. tone clusters. d. prepared piano.
10. Which composer developed the tone cluster and the plucking of the piano strings directly with the
fingers?
a. John Cage c. Harry Partch
b. Henry Cowell d. George Crumb
11. Who composed works in which the performers make choices by throwing dice?
a. John Cage c. Henry Cowell
b. Harry Partch d. David Tudor
12. How many of the piano’s eighty-eight keys are prepared for Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes?
a. eighty-eight c. twenty-five
b. forty-five d. none
13. The insertion of foreign substances at crucial points in the strings of a grand piano is called:
a. aleatoric. c. gourd trees.
b. prepared piano. d. cone gongs.
TRUE/FALSE
1. The composers Henry Cowell and Harry Partch were highly influenced by a variety of
non-Western musics.
2. Prior to each performance for John Cage’s prepared piano pieces, materials are inserted between
the strings entirely at random.
3. John Cage’s 4’33” questions the distinction between music and noise.
4. Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes are traditional works for the standard grand piano.
5. John Cage was the first composer to pluck the piano strings directly with his fingers.
6. Cage’s most important contribution to twentieth-century music was the idea of chance, or
aleatoric, music.
7. Henry Cowell developed a scale of forty-three microtones to the octave.
8. John Cage was born in Berlin, and studied music at the Paris Conservatory.
9. Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes is concerned with timbral effects and the rhythmic grouping of
sounds.
10. Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes approximates the sounds of the Japanese koto.
ESSAY
1. Describe the influence of non-Western culture on twentieth-century composers of Western music.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 3 REF: Essentials: pp. 296–297
TOP: Early Experiments MSC: Conceptual
2. Discuss why 4’33” is considered one of the most radical statements made against the traditions
of Western music.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 2 REF: Essentials: pp. 297–298
TOP: Cage MSC: Conceptual