CHAPTER 52 Anything Goes: Schoenberg and Musical Expres-
sionism
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following describes dissonance?
a. It is the element of rest in music.
b. It was a normal sound for most audiences.
c. It played a large role in twentieth-century music.
d. All answers shown here.
2. The “emancipation of dissonance” refers to freeing
a. harmony from the necessity of moving from tension to rest.
b. melody from periodic phrase structure.
c. rhythm from moving from dissonance to consonance.
d. the orchestra from dissonant sounds.
3. Which early twentieth-century style dealt with the realm of the psyche?
a. Neo-Classicism c. Impressionism
b. Expressionism d. post-Romanticism
4. Which painter associated with Expressionism influenced Schoenberg?
a. Kandinsky c. Picasso
b. Klee d. Munch
5. Which of the following characterizes the musical language of Expressionism?
a. hyper-expressive harmonies
b. instruments in their extreme registers
c. extraordinarily wide leaps in the melody
d. All answers shown here.
6. Music that rejects the framework of key is described as
a. atonal. c. hypertonal.
b. polytonal. d. anti-tonal.
7. Which of the following early twentieth-century composers moved to the United States and taught composition at the University of
California, Los Angeles?
a. Stravinsky c. Berg
b. Schoenberg d. Bartók
8. Which Viennese composer invented the twelve-tone method after writing in both post-Romantic and atonal styles?
a. Schoenberg c. Berg
b. Webern d. Stravinsky
9. Alban Berg and Anton Webern were students of
a. Igor Stravinsky. c. Gustav Mahler.
b. Claude Debussy. d. Arnold Schoenberg.
10. Which of the following works did Schoenberg compose?
a. Pierrot lunaire, Wozzeck
b. Variations for Orchestra, Pierrot lunaire
c. A Survivor from Warsaw, Wozzeck
d. Lulu, Five Pieces for Orchestra
11. With which period in Schoenberg’s career is Pierrot lunaire associated?
a. the post-Romantic phase c. the twelve-tone or serial phase
b. the atonal-Expressionist phase d. the American phase
12. Schoenberg created a new style in which vocal melodies were spoken rather than sung with exact pitches and rhythms. This was
known as
a. Singspiel. c. Sprechstimme.
b. recitative. d. Klangfarbenmelodie.
13. Pierrot lunaire is based on a cycle of poems written by
a. Giraud. c. Mallarmé.
b. Verlaine. d. Rimbaud.
14. How many songs are in Pierrot lunaire?
a. twelve c. twenty-four
b. twenty-one d. thirty-two
15. Each poem in Pierrot lunaire is in ________ form.
a. sonnet c. villanelle
b. ballad d. rondeau
16. What accompanies the voice in Pierrot lunaire?
a. an orchestra c. a chamber group
b. a piano d. a choir
17. Schoenberg experimented with tone-color melody, or shifting each note of a melody to a different instrument. He called this
a. Sprechstimme. c. Singspiel.
b. polymelody. d. Klangfarbenmelodie.
18. Klangfarbenmelodie refers to a
a. form of a tone row.
b. style that gives each note of a melody to a different instrument.
c. style in which a vocal part is spoken rather than sung on exact pitches.
d. French poetic form of thirteen lines.
19. Which of the following is true of Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire?
a. It employs Sprechstimme.
b. It employs Klangfarbenmelodie, or tone-color melody.
c. It expresses mood changes, such as from guilt and depression to playfulness.
d. All answers shown here.
20. The Moonfleck from Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire is characterized by
a. a three-voice fugue. c. dissonance.
b. a musical refrain. d. All answers shown here.
21. Which of the following describes consonance?
a. It is the element of rest in music.
b. It was a normal sound for most audiences.
c. It played a large role in twentieth-century music.
d. It is the sound of chords played in a major key.
22. What creates the element of tension in music?
a. consonance c. rhythm
b. dissonance d. melody
23. Which nationality is associated with Expressionism?
a. French c. Italian
b. German d. Spanish
24. Which composer is associated with atonal music?
a. Kafka c. Ellington
b. Schoenberg d. Debussy
25. Arnold Schoenberg was born in ________, but he became an American citizen in 1940.
a. Berlin c. Paris
b. Vienna d. Hamburg
26. Schoenberg invented the ________ method of composing.
a. twelve-tone c. pre-tonal
b. post-Romantic d. nonlinear
1. Schoenberg was a leading figure in the “emancipation of dissonance.”
2. Expressionism was inspired by French painters.
3. The melodies in Expressionistic music usually were conjunct.
4. Atonality gives all twelve tones equal importance.
5. Schoenberg’s early works exemplify post-Wagnerian Romanticism.
6. Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire is a series of miniatures for voice and piano only.
7. In Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, the principal character is obsessed with the sunrise.
8. Schoenberg developed the new vocal style of Sprechstimme in an attempt to bring together the spoken word and music.
9. Each of the poems in Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire has a different structure.
10. In Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, no two songs have the same combination of instruments.
11. Tension became the norm in many twentieth-century works.
12. Consonance is the element of tension.
13. The Scream, a painting by Edvard Munch, is an example of an Impressionist work.
14. Schoenberg had four compositional phases during his career.
15. Klangfarbenmelodie is when each note of a melody is played by a different instrument.
16. The ensemble for Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire includes five players on eight instruments.
1. What is the emancipation of dissonance?
2. Describe how Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire is typical of the Expressionist style.
