CHAPTER 49 Mythical Impressions: Program Music at the End of
the Nineteenth Century
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The earliest practitioners of modernism were artists and writers from
a. Russia. c. France.
b. Spain. d. Germany.
2. Impression Sunrise, the painting that sparked the Impressionist art movement, was created by
a. Auguste Renoir. c. Claude Monet.
b. Edgar Degas. d. Paul Verlaine.
3. Impressionism was a style of painting that was cultivated principally in
a. Paris. c. Berlin.
b. London. d. Rome.
4. Which of the following painters were associated with the Impressionist school?
a. Monet, Degas c. Picasso, Renoir
b. Degas, Goya d. Goya, Renoir
5. Which of the following best describes the work of the Impressionist painters?
a. They adhered firmly to academic traditions.
b. They preferred to do their painting indoors.
c. They attempted to capture the freshness of first impressions.
d. all of the answers shown here.
6. Which of the following best describes the effect achieved by Impressionist painting?
a. bold, brilliant colors c. luminous, shimmering colors
b. drab, dark colors d. consistent use of a single color
7. The French movement in poetry that rebelled against traditional modes of expression is called
a. Imagism. c. Expressionism.
b. Symbolism. d. Impressionism.
8. Mallarmé and Verlaine were
a. Symbolist poets. c. Impressionist composers.
b. Impressionist painters. d. none of the above
9. The Symbolist poets were strongly influenced by the works of
a. George Sand. c. Robert Frost.
b. Emily Brontë. d. Edgar Allan Poe.
10. The whole-tone scale used by Impressionist composers derives from
a. the post-Romantic music of Mahler. c. medieval church music.
b. non-Western music. d. the Classical-Romantic tradition.
11. Impressionism in music is best exemplified by the works of
a. Claude Debussy. c. Hector Berlioz.
b. Gustav Mahler. d. Frédéric Chopin.
12. Which of the following are characteristics of Impressionist music?
a. whole-tone scales c. ninth chords
b. parallel chords d. All answers shown here.
13. The Impressionist painters’ interest in color is paralleled by Impressionist composers’ interest in
a. rhythm. c. timbre.
b. melody. d. texture.
14. Debussy was highly influenced by the sounds of a gamelan from
a. Japan. c. Turkey.
b. Algeria. d. Java.
15. The Spanish dance style performed at the World Exhibition of 1889 was
a. the habanera. c. the tango.
b. flamenco. d. the rumba.
16. What nationality was Claude Debussy?
a. German c. Italian
b. French d. Austrian
17. Debussy’s opera Pelléas and Mélisande is based on a Symbolist drama by
a. Giraud. c. Maeterlinck.
b. Ibsen. d. Mallarmé.
18. Which of the following was composed by Debussy?
a. Spanish Rhapsody c. Boléro
b. Scheherazade d. None of the answers shown here.
19. The program of Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” evokes a
a. nationalistic folk dance. c. child’s view of heaven.
b. river flowing through France. d. landscape with a mythological creature.
20. The overall form of Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” is best described as
a. binary. c. sonata-allegro.
b. A-B-A. d. rondo.
21. What is unusual about the opening of Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun”?
a. It opens with solo bassoon in the high register.
b. It opens with a drum roll and fanfare.
c. It opens with a flute solo in the velvety lower register.
d. It opens with unison strings.
22. Which of the following characterizes the choreography for the Ballets Russes production of Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a
Faun”?
a. It caused a scandal in Paris.
b. It was a turning point in modern dance.
c. It featured one of the great male dancers of the time.
d. All answers shown here.
23. Symbolist poetry rebelled against
a. traditional modes of expression. c. Expressionism.
b. French modes of expression. d. Impressionism.
24. What chord created elusive effects that evoke the misty outlines of Impressionist painting?
a. the triad c. the ninth
b. the dominant d. the diminished
25. Who choreographed the Ballets Russes production of Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun”?
a. Vaslav Nijinsky c. Debussy himself
b. Marius Petipa d. George Balanchine
1. Impressionist artists abandoned the grandiose subjects of Romanticism.
2. Impressionism takes its name from a painting by Claude Monet.
3. Impressionist painters slowly re-created an idealized impression of an object under perfect lighting.
4. The Symbolist movement began in England.
5. Impressionist composers felt, even more strongly than their predecessors, the need to resolve all chords back to the tonic.
6. Impressionist composers avoided ninth chords because they were prohibited in the Classical system of harmony.
7. Debussy was much influenced by the non-Western music he heard at the Paris World Exhibition of 1889.
8. Debussy attempted to imitate traits of flamenco music in several of his piano compositions.
9. Like Berlioz, Debussy won the coveted Prix de Rome during his compositional studies at the Paris Conservatory.
10. Debussy’s music reflects a strong adherence to the traditional forms and scales of Western music.
11. Debussy was important in establishing the French art song.
12. Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” was inspired by a poem by Maurice Maeterlinck.
13. Claude Monet was a Symbolist poet.
14. Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” was choreographed by Nijinsky.
15. Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” includes “blue” chords.
1. Describe the musical characteristics of Impressionism. Which of these do we hear in Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a
Faun”?
2. What effects did non-Western music have on Impressionist and early-twentieth-century composers? Cite examples.
3. Discuss how painting and art influenced music in France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
4. Discuss the impact of the 1889 Paris World Exhibition on French music. Cite specific examples in your answer.
