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CHAPTER 25 Independent Study: Billings and the North Ameri-
can Sacred Tradition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. In seventeenth-century New England, the Puritan practice of singing that is based on call and response was called
a. spiritualizing. c. lining-out.
b. shape-note singing. d. secularization.
2. What is the basic texture of the practice of lining-out?
a. monophonic c. polyphonic
b. homophonic d. all of the above
3. Why was lining-out developed?
a. Most people could not read music.
b. Most people could not afford to buy a psalm book.
c. The church wanted everyone to participate equally in services.
d. all of the answers shown here.
4. What is heterophonic texture?
a. a unison choral statement
b. the simultaneous performance of slight variants of the same melody
c. a texture undergoing constant change
d. a texture based on non-imitative polyphony
5. Which of the following were musical developments in seventeenth-century America?
a. Polyphonic settings of sacred music began to appear.
b. Singing schools began teaching music.
c. All answers shown here.
d. Shape-note singing was developed.
6. Which of the following characterizes shape-note notation?
a. It was created in order to standardize sacred melodies.
b. It was based on solfège, syllables used to memorize music.
c. The shape of a note denoted its solfège syllable.
d. All of the answers shown here.
7. Which of the following describes the career of William Billings?
a. He knew several leaders of the American Revolution.
b. He studied music in Germany.
c. His music publications were not very successful.
d. He died a wealthy man.
8. Billings’s best-known publication is
a. Music in Miniature. c. The Psalm-Singer’s Amusement.
b. The New England Psalm-Singer. d. The Singing Master’s Assistant.
9. The form of Billings’s David’s Lamentation is
a. strophic. c. A-B-A.
b. bar form (A-A-B). d. A-B-B.
10. What is the texture of Billings’s David’s Lamentation?
a. monophonic c. polyphonic
b. homophonic with solos and duets d. heterophonic
11. Of the following, what contributes to the simplicity of Billings’s David’s Lamentation?
a. mostly stepwise melodies
b. consonant harmonies
c. duple meter and regular rhythmic patterns
d. all of the answers shown here.
12. Which of the following describes Spanish attitudes toward indigenous American peoples?
a. They tried to reconcile local beliefs and Christianity.
b. They attempted to preserve indigenous music through notation.
c. They avoided contact with the indigenous civilizations.
d. all of the above
13. Which of the following musical activities is associated with Gaspar Fernandes?
a. playing organ
b. All answers shown here.
c. teaching music to choirboys
d. collecting music performed in Mexico at the time
14. What of the following characterizes the villancico by Fernandes?
a. images of Christianity mixed with those of the Aztec religion
b. an ensemble refrain
c. All answers shown here.
d. a frequent short-long rhythm
15. What was the first book published in North America?
a. Bay Psalm Book c. the Bible
b. The New England Psalm-Singer d. None of the answers shown here.
16. The system in which syllables were used to memorize intervals between notes is called
a. solfège. c. heterophony.
b. Sacred Harp singing. d. sight singing.
17. The contemporary practice that uses shape notes is called
a. Sacred Harp singing. c. a capella.
b. solfège. d. heterophony.
18. What are the solfège syllables used by the New England colonies?
a. mi-fa-sol-la c. do-mi-sol-la
b. do-re-mi-fa-sol d. do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do
19. Where was William Billings born?
a. North America c. Germany
b. England d. France
20. Billings placed most of the melodies he wrote for The New England Psalm-Singer in the
a. soprano. c. tenor.
b. alto. d. bass.
21. The mixed-language and mixed-imagery devotional songs used in New Spain are called
a. villancicos. c. shape-note songs.
b. Sacred Harp. d. motets.
22. What languages are included in the villancico by Fernandes?
a. English, Spanish c. Nahuatl, English
b. Nahuatl, Spanish d. Spanish, Portuguese
23. During his lifetime, William Billings worked as a
a. leather tanner. c. minor official in Boston.
b. singing school teacher. d. All answers shown here
24. What is The New England Psalm-Singer?
a. William Billings’s best-known publication
b. Paul Revere’s best-known music publication
c. a publication written by Thomas Jefferson
d. a musical textbook
25. Sacred Harp singing is the contemporary practice that uses
a. shape notes. c. modern notation.
b. solfège. d. Greek musical notation.
TRUE/FALSE
1. Lining-out was a system designed to promote polyphony in America.
2. Lining-out often involved heterophony.
3. Shape-note notation was designed to help the general public read music.
4. William Billings was the first highly trained composer active in America.
5. Billings’s four-part compositions generally placed the main melody in the soprano.
6. The text for Billings’s David’s Lamentation is derived from the Bible.
7. Missionaries taught American natives plainchant exclusively in Latin.
8. The incorporation of percussion instruments in Fernandes’s villancico is not indicated in the score but suggested by various historical
documents.
9. The Bay Psalm Book was the first book published in North America.
10. The system in which syllables were used to memorize intervals between notes is called Sacred Harp.
11. David’s Lamentation is an anthem.
12. William Billings is partially responsible for the institutional importance of music in our lives today.
13. William Billings primarily worked in the Boston area.
14. William Billings made his living exclusively from his musical compositions.
15. The mixed-language and mixed-imagery devotional songs written by Gaspar Fernandes are called villancicos.
16. Gaspar Fernandes and William Billings often collaborated on musical works.
17. The New England singing school teachers reduced the number of solfège syllables to four.
ESSAY
1. Describe the development of music-making in colonial America during the seventeenth century. Include some examples in your
answer.
2. Why was William Billings important in colonial American music?
3. Describe the interaction of European and indigenous American cultures in Latin America. Include some examples in your answer.
4. Describe how William Billings’s music embodies the scrappy self-sufficiency of an emerging nation like the United States of
America.
5. Describe how The New England Psalm-Singer represents the “American character” common during Billings’s era.
