CHAPTER 20 Instrumental Movements: Medieval and Renais-
sance Dance Music
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Medieval instruments can be classified as bas or haut, meaning
a. high or low. c. soft or loud.
b. string or wind. d. folk or aristocratic.
2. The ________ is an end-blown flute with a breathy tone.
a. crumhorn c. shawm
b. recorder d. psaltery
3. Early instruments used for outdoor performances, such as the shawm and the sackbut, were categorized as
a. soft. c. small.
b. loud. d. large.
4. Which of the following would be considered an appropriate outdoor instrument?
a. the flute c. the rebec
b. the recorder d. the shawm
5. The medieval ancestor of the modern trombone is the
a. sackbut. c. shawm.
b. cornetto. d. nakers.
6. Which of the following was a lively circle or line dance, often performed outdoors?
a. pavane c. allemande
b. ronde d. galliard
7. Tielman Susato published music in which major European center?
a. Paris c. Rome
b. London d. Antwerp
8. The ________ is a plucked-string instrument of Middle Eastern origin.
a. recorder c. rebec
b. shawm d. lute
9. A nasal-sounding ancestor of the oboe is the
a. rebec. c. haut.
b. shawm. d. cornetto.
10. The cornetto is best described as a(n)
a. wooden instrument with fingerholes like a recorder but a cup-shaped mouthpiece.
b. nasal-sounding ancestor of the oboe.
c. early version of the trombone.
d. end-blown flute with a breathy tone.
11. Which percussion instruments often accompanied the civic wind band?
a. tabor and nakers c. tabor and sackbut
b. nakers and rebec d. shawm and cornetto
12. Which dance type is best described as slow and stately?
a. pavane c. saltarello
b. ronde d. tabor
13. Which dance type is best described as showy and fast paced?
a. pavane c. ronde
b. saltarello d. nakers
14. The repeated dance sections of the suite allowed musicians to improvise melodic decorations, also known as
a. embellishments. c. saltarello.
b. tabors. d. bas.
15. Which well-known printer and musician published one of the most popular dance collections of the sixteenth century?
a. Guillaume de Machaut c. Palestrina
b. Tielman Susato d. None of the answers shown here.
TRUE/FALSE
1. Early instrumental music largely depended on improvisation.
2. Bas instruments were used frequently for outdoor occasions during the Middle Ages.
3. The rebec was a type of wind instrument.
4. The sixteenth century saw a blossoming of instrumental dance music.
5. Instrumental music of the sixteenth century often did not specify its instrumentation.
6. Stately indoor occasions most often called for soft instruments, such as recorders and strings.
7. The dance music that Susato published is monophonic.
8. The dance music of Susato appeared in print and hence was NOT suitable for improvisation.
9. The sackbut is a wooden instrument with fingerholes like a recorder but a cup-shaped mouthpiece.
10. The pavane is a showy, fast-paced dance.
11. The shawm is a percussion instrument.
12. The repeated dance sections allowed the musicians to improvise embellishments.
13. Tielman Susato was primarily known as a string player.
14. The lute is an instrument with Middle East origins.
15. The civic wind band used instruments classified as bas.
ESSAY
1. How are musical instruments from the Middle Ages categorized? Give some examples.
2. Describe the function of the civic wind band.
3. Describe the differences between the pavane, the saltarello, and the ronde.
4. Would you consider Susato an entrepreneur? Provide details to support your answer.
PART 3: THE BAROQUE ERA
PRELUDE 3 Music as Exploration and Drama
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following characterizes music after 1600?
a. Music performers developed virtuosic skills.
b. All answers shown here.
c. Musicians explored intense emotions.
d. Opera was developed.
2. The approximate dates of the Baroque period are
a. 1600–1750. c. 1550–1600.
b. 1700–1800. d. 1800–1900.
3. Which of the following best characterizes the Baroque era?
a. an age of reason c. an era of absolute monarchy
b. All answers shown here. d. an era of intense religion
4. Which of the following was an important scientist of the Baroque era?
a. Newton c. Rubens
b. Bernini d. Rembrandt
5. Which of the following best describes Bernini’s sculpture of David?
a. calm and reflective c. dramatic and active
b. static and poised d. all of the answers shown here.
6. Which statement by Louis XIV summed up a way of life in which all art and culture served the monarch?
a. “I am the State.”
b. “The State is me.”
c. “Liberté, égalité, fraternité.”
d. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happines.”
7. The Baroque period witnessed a shift in musical texture to
a. monophony. c. homophony.
b. polyphony. d. heterophony.
8. The group of early Baroque writers, artists, and musicians whose aim was to resurrect the musical drama of ancient Greece was
known as the
a. Italian madrigalists. c. Freemasons.
b. Florentine Camerata. d. Notre Dame school.
9. What is figured bass?
a. a bass line with a repeating pattern
b. a string bass with decorations on the scroll
c. a new kind of notation
d. a bass line that is part of a canon
10. Which of the following best characterizes the Baroque musical style?
a. driving, energetic rhythms c. None of the answers shown here.
b. continuously expanding melodies d. All of the answers shown here.
11. The ideas and music of the Florentine Camerata led directly to the development of
a. opera. c. the symphony.
b. the Mass. d. the concerto.
12. The artificially created male soprano or alto voice that dominated Baroque opera was known as the
a. castrato. c. Camerata.
b. contralto. d. continuo.
13. Women’s roles in Baroque music
a. diminished in importance in comparison to the Renaissance.
b. expanded into professional performance careers, including as opera singers.
c. remained largely the same as during the Renaissance.
d. totally dominated the music scene.
14. The Baroque performance practice whereby musicians embellished melodies is called
a. improvisation. c. continuous melody.
b. ritornello. d. driving rhythm.
15. Which of the following national styles influenced the Baroque style?
a. German polyphony c. English choral song
b. French dance rhythms d. all of the answers shown here.
16. Which writer produced Paradise Lost, the poetic epic of Protestantism?
a. John Milton c. Dante
b. John Donne d. William Harvey
17. Which Baroque era composer was also a priest?
a. Antonio Vivaldi c. Johann Sebastian Bach
b. George Frideric Handel d. Henry Purcell
18. What significant technical advance accompanied the transition to major-minor tonality?
a. equal temperament c. pianos constructed with steel frames
b. basso continuo d. All of the answers shown here.
TRUE/FALSE
1. The term baroque originally meant serenity and balance.
2. The Baroque era was an age of political freedom and democracy.
3. Amateur music-making at home was popular during the Baroque era.
4. Religion remained a driving force behind power struggles in the Baroque era.
5. The transition from Renaissance to Baroque was characterized by a change from polyphonic to homophonic texture in music.
6. One of the most significant changes in music history occurred during the Baroque era: the transition from medieval church modes to
major-minor tonality.
7. Baroque composers used dissonance for emotional intensity and color.
8. Dramatic contrasts of forte and piano are typical of the Baroque era.
9. During the Baroque era, some boy singers were castrated to preserve the high register of their voices, allowing them to sing high-
pitched operatic roles.
10. Improvisation played little or no part in Baroque musical practice.
11. During the Baroque era, women began entering the ranks of professional musicians as both composers and performers.
12. Barbara Strozzi was an international sensation as an opera singer.
13. Exoticism can be detected in a number of Baroque operas.
14. Comic opera and the novel came into being during the Baroque era.
15. The Florentine Camerata developed the notation called figured bass.
16. It was generally accepted during the Baroque era that music ought to arose the “affections”—joy, anger, love, and fear.
ESSAY
1. Describe the major achievements in art, literature, and science during the Baroque period. Give some examples.
2. Discuss the main currents of early Baroque musical style.
3. Discuss the rise of the virtuoso musician during the Baroque era.
4. How did a pan-European musical style develop during the Baroque era?