CHAPTER 28 Process as Meaning: Bach and the Fugue
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following was an important keyboard instrument during the Baroque?
a. the harpsichord c. the organ
b. the clavichord d. All answers shown here.
2. The ________ is a keyboard instrument whose strings are plucked by quills.
a. organ c. harpsichord
b. piano d. clavichord
3. The harpsichord is different from the piano because
a. it sometimes has two keyboards, rather than one.
b. its strings are plucked, rather than struck.
c. it is not capable of a wide dynamic range.
d. all of the answers shown here.
4. The keyboard instrument that uses various sets of pipes to create contrasting colors is the
a. harpsichord. c. clavichord.
b. organ. d. piano.
5. What is a toccata?
a. a set of variations on a repeated harmonic pattern
b. an improvisatory, virtuosic keyboard work
c. a movement based on strict counterpoint
d. a four-movement keyboard work containing a fugue
6. The ________ is a keyboard form based on the principle of voices imitating each other.
a. fugue c. suite
b. prelude d. toccata
7. What is the principal element of a fugue?
a. a beautiful melody c. a chorale tune
b. counterpoint d. arpeggios
8. After the first statement of the fugue subject, the second entrance of the subject is called the
a. episode. c. fugato.
b. answer. d. stretto.
9. The opening section of a fugue, in which all voices successively introduce the subject, is called the
a. episode. c. exposition.
b. answer. d. closing section.
10. In a fugue, the areas of relaxation where the subject is not heard are called
a. answers. c. episodes.
b. countersubjects. d. strettos.
11. Which of the following are contrapuntal devices that alter the original theme of a fugue?
a. augmentation c. diminution
b. retrograde d. All answers shown here.
12. In a fugue, the technique of stating the theme in shorter time values that go faster is called
a. augmentation. c. stretto.
b. retrograde. d. diminution.
13. In the field of keyboard music, Johann Sebastian Bach’s most important collection was
a. the Brandenburg Concertos. c. The Well-Tempered Clavier.
b. The Art of Fugue. d. A Musical Offering.
14. Which of the following is the title of a set of forty-eight preludes and fugues by Bach?
a. the Brandenburg Concertos c. The Well-Tempered Clavier
b. A Musical Offering d. The Art of Fugue
15. How many preludes and fugues are contained in the two Well-Tempered Clavier volumes?
a. twelve c. forty-eight
b. twenty-four d. sixty-four
16. Bach’s last demonstration of contrapuntal mastery was
a. The Art of Fugue. c. The Well-Tempered Clavier.
b. A Musical Offering. d. the Brandenburg Concertos.
17. How many voices, or individual lines, are there in Bach’s Contrapunctus I, from The Art of Fugue ?
a. two c. four
b. three d. five
18. By which voice is the subject first stated in Contrapunctus I, from The Art of Fugue ?
a. the top voice, or soprano
b. the second voice from the top, or alto
c. the second voice from the bottom, or tenor
d. the bottom voice, or bass
19. In a fugue, the technique of stating the subject in longer time values is called
a. augmentation. c. retrograde.
b. diminution. d. inversion.
20. In a fugue, the technique of stating the subject backward is called
a. retrograde. c. augmentation.
b. retrograde inversion. d. diminution.
21. In a fugue, the technique of moving the subject by the same intervals but in the opposite direction is called
a. inversion. c. retrograde inversion.
b. retrograde. d. augmentation.
22. Overlapping statements of the fugue subject, which heighten tension, is called
a. stretto. c. inversion.
b. augmentation. d. diminution.
23. Bach composed The Art of Fugue for which instrument(s)?
a. brass quartet c. string quartet
b. keyboard d. It is unclear.
24. Who wrote The Well-Tempered Clavier?
a. Bach c. Handel
b. Vivaldi d. Purcell
25. The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument whose strings are
a. plucked by quills. c. plucked by hand.
b. hit with hammers. d. hit with fingers.
TRUE/FALSE
1. The most important keyboard instruments of the Baroque were the harpsichord, organ, and piano.
2. The strings of a harpsichord are plucked by quills.
3. The advantage of the harpsichord was its ability to produce crescendos and diminuendos.
4. The organ has multiple keyboards.
5. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition in which a single subject is the focal point that unifies the work.
6. A fugue is a form intended exclusively for solo keyboard performance.
7. At the beginning of a fugue, the countersubject is stated alone.
8. Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Art of Fugue is now generally considered to be a keyboard work.
9. In a fugue, the technique of stating the subject backward is called inversion.
10. The Well-Tempered Clavier is a collection of forty-eight preludes and fugues.
11. The subject of a fugue is immediately followed by the countersubject.
12. The exposition of a fugue ends after the subject has been presented in each voice.
13. The fugue is based on the principle of imitation.
14. The Art of Fugue is a collection of forty-eight preludes and fugues.
15. In Contrapunctus I from The Art of Fugue the voices enter alto-soprano-bass-tenor.
ESSAY
1. How do the two most important keyboard instruments of the Baroque era differ from the piano?
2. Discuss the fugue, its structure, and its polyphonic devices.
3. Discuss how the fugue illustrates the Baroque ideal of systematic elaboration of short musical ideas.
4. Discuss the relationship between improvisation and the fugue.
PART 4: EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CLASSICISM
1. How did Classical artists differ from their Romantic counterparts?
a. Classical artists were more subjective.
b. Classical artists emphasized clarity and an ideal of “natural simplicity.”
c. Classical artists used art for self-expression.
d. all of the answers shown here.
2. Interest in Greek and Roman antiquity during the eighteenth century greatly influenced
a. painting. c. literature.
b. architecture. d. All answers shown here.
3. The movement known as the Enlightenment stressed
a. the centrality of reason in human experience.
b. an increased use of electric light.
c. the centrality of feelings over reason.
d. the importance of religion over humanity.
4. Which of the following historical events impacted the Classical era?
a. the American Revolution c. the French Revolution
b. the Industrial Revolution d. All answers shown here.
5. Which American president was a leading figure during the Classical period?
a. Abraham Lincoln c. Andrew Jackson
b. Thomas Jefferson d. James Polk
6. Who was the French philosopher called the “father of Romanticism”?
a. Schiller c. Rousseau
b. Goethe d. David
7. The Sturm und Drang movement came about largely because of two works, written by Schiller and
a. Burns. c. Kant.
b. Blake. d. Goethe.
8. The Classical period in music ranged from approximately
a. 1600 to 1650. c. 1700 to 1750.
b. 1650 to 1700. d. 1750 to 1825.
9. Which of the following composers is/are considered (a) master(s) of the Viennese School?
a. Beethoven c. Mozart
b. Haydn d. All answers shown here.
10. Which of the following characterizes the Classical style?
a. singable, elegant melodies c. strong, regular rhythms
b. use of folk and popular elements d. All answers shown here.
11. Which of the following best describes the lyrical melodies of the Classical period?
a. disjunct and leaping in shape
b. based on the chromatic scale
c. constructed with an irregular phrase structure
d. conjunct, diatonic, and singable
12. A melody composed with a symmetrical four-bar phrase structure delineated by cadences is characteristic of the ________ period.
a. medieval c. Baroque
b. Renaissance d. Classical
13. The concept of rhythmic regularity suggests
a. strong rhythms moving at a steady tempo.
b. meters that frequently change within a piece or movement.
c. irregular rhythms.
d. the regular use of syncopated rhythms.
14. The system in which the aristocracy sponsored musicians is called
a. patronage. c. sponsorship.
b. scholarship. d. apprenticeship.
15. Which role in musical life was socially acceptable for eighteenth-century women?
a. performer c. church musician
b. composer d. all of the answers shown here.
16. Which of the following best describe(s) musical life in the Classical era?
a. Music was performed only by professionals and aristocrats.
b. The rise of public performances gave composers new venues where their works could be heard.
c. Audiences preferred performances of old music rather than new.
d. all of the answers shown here.
17. The Classical era lasted from
a. c. 1750–1825. c. 1700–1875.
b. c. 1650–1725. d. 1750–1914.
18. Which strong aristocratic sovereigns ruled during the Classical era?
a. Louis XV c. Catherine the Great
b. Frederick the Great d. All answers shown here.
19. Which composers are considered part of the so-called Viennese School?
a. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert c. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven
b. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms d. Haydn, Mozart, Brahms
20. Composers working during the Classical era perfected a large-scale form of instrumental music
known as
a. sonata form. c. the madrigal.
b. jazz. d. the Mass.
21. Which two thinkers embraced a new philosophy that sought to understand all things according to nature and mathematics rather than
religion?
a. Voltaire and Newton c. Voltaire and Jefferson
b. Newton and Beethoven d. None of the answers shown here.
22. Who wrote an important music theory treatise during the Age of Enlightenment?
a. Jean-Philippe Rameau c. Isaac Newton
b. Beethoven d. Benjamin Franklin
23. Which statesman and scientist was central to the American Enlightenment?
a. Benjamin Franklin c. William Billings
b. Paul Revere d. George Washington
24. Who wrote the first music history textbook in 1776?
a. Thomas Jefferson c. Isaac Newton
b. Charles Burney d. Benjamin Franklin
25. Who was/were (a) stand-out keyboard player(s) of the late eighteenth century?
a. Maria Anna Mozart c. Anna Magdalena Bach
b. Maria Theresia von Paradis d. both Mozart and von Paradis
TRUE/FALSE
1. Classicism is a constant concern in Western culture.
2. The Classical era saw the publication of important new encyclopedias.
3. Despite intellectual attitudes in the Classical era, few significant advances were made in the sciences.
4. The American Declaration of Independence reflects the intellectual climate of the Classical era.
5. The Classical period also has been called the Enlightenment.
6. Eighteenth-century thinkers and artists turned away from the idealized civilization of the Greeks and Romans and embraced the
realism of the Middle Ages.
7. Romantic elements can be found in the late works of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven.
8. Music of the Classical era is characterized by lyrical, singable melodies.
9. The harmony employed by the Classical-era composers was largely chromatic.
10. Classical-era composers rarely performed their own works in concerts.
11. Some women achieved fame during the eighteenth century as opera singers and as solo instrumentalists.
12. In the eighteenth century, composers were viewed as equal to nobles at the highest level of society.
13. The audience of the eighteenth century, like that of today, was mainly interested in music from the past.
14. Public performances were rare in the Classical era.
15. The Classical style of music continues to form the core of the Western concert tradition in the twenty-first century.
16. There were very few aristocratic sovereigns during the Classical era.
17. The Classical era lasted from c. 1750–1825.
18. The Industrial Revolution gathered momentum during the Classical era.
19. The cotton gin was invented during the Classical era.
20. The eighteenth century is also known as the Age of Reason.
21. Members of the so-called Viennese School included Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms.
22. The eighteenth century looked toward the advancement of knowledge through reason and science.
23. Benjamin Franklin invented the glass armonica, for which both Mozart and Beethoven composed works.
1. Describe how various major historical events shaped the Classical era. Include examples in your answer.
2. Discuss the intellectual climate of the Classical era and how it influenced the arts. Include examples in your answer.
3. Describe the connection between science, philosophy, and music during the Age of Enlightenment.
4. Describe the advantages and disadvantages to composers of the patronage system.
5. Describe the role of women in music during the Classical era. Include examples in your answer.
6. Describe the musical elements of the Classical style.