CHAPTER 55 War is Hell: Berg and Expressionist Opera
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The twelve-tone method
a. revolutionized composition in the twentieth century.
b. was a dead-end style that influenced few other styles.
c. reestablished tonality in twentieth-century music.
d. was a neo-Classical movement that returned to traditional harmonies.
2. The twelve-tone method is also known as
a. chromaticism. c. serialism.
b. polytonalism. d. Expressionism.
3. In the twelve-tone method, the arrangement of the twelve tones is called a(n)
a. chromatic scale. c. octatonic scale.
b. diatonic scale. d. tone row.
4. In the twelve-tone method, which term refers to playing the pitches in reverse order?
a. transposed c. inversion
b. retrograde d. retrograde inversion
5. In the twelve-tone method, what is an inversion?
a. playing the row at a different pitch
b. playing the row backward
c. playing the row with the intervals in the opposite direction
d. all of the answers shown here.
6. Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg were members of the so-called
a. Second Viennese School. c. Twelve-tone brotherhood.
b. First Viennese School. d. Serialism Society.
7. Which composer was a disciple of Schoenberg and is best known for his operas Wozzeck and Lulu?
a. Berg c. Stravinsky
b. Webern d. Bartók
8. Which of the following are works by Alban Berg?
a. A Survivor from Warsaw, Lulu, Violin Concerto
b. Violin Concerto, Lyric Suite, Lulu
c. Lulu, Pierrot lunaire, Lyric Suite
d. Lyric Suite, Transfigured Night, Lulu
9. Berg spent the last years of his life trying to complete
a. his Lyric Suite. c. Wozzeck.
b. his Three Orchestral Pieces. d. Lulu.
10. Berg’s opera Wozzeck is based on a play by
a. Wedekind. c. Büchner.
b. Strindberg. d. Ibsen.
11. Berg’s opera Wozzeck is best described as an example of
a. Impressionism. c. Expressionism.
b. post-Romanticism. d. New Classicism.
12. Berg’s opera Wozzeck centers on a
a. clown’s obsession with the moon. c. steadfast expression of religious faith.
b. soldier’s obsession with unhappy love. d. battle in medieval Russia.
13. Which of the following best characterizes Berg’s music for Wozzeck?
a. atonal-Expressionist idiom c. tonal passages
b. leitmotifs d. All answers shown here.
14. How many scenes are there in each act of Berg’s Wozzeck?
a. three c. five
b. four d. seven
15. The final, heartbreaking scene of Berg’s Wozzeck concludes with
a. the son of Marie and Wozzeck, alone.
b. the death of Marie.
c. the death of Wozzeck.
d. more experiments performed on Wozzeck.
16. ________ turns the tone row upside down and backward.
a. Transposition c. Inversion
b. Retrograde d. Retrograde inversion
17. Which of the following were members of the so-called Second Viennese School of composition?
a. Arnold Schoenberg c. Alban Berg
b. Anton Webern d. All answers shown here.
18. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven were members of the so-called
a. Second Viennese School. c. Classical Music Club.
b. First Viennese School. d. Order of Classical Music Greats.
19. The works of the twelve-tone composers were banned in ________ prior to the start of the Second World War.
a. England c. Germany
b. France d. Russia
20. Why were works of the twelve-tone composers banned in Germany prior to the start of the Second World War?
a. They were alien to the spirit of the Third Reich.
b. They were hard to perform.
c. The public did not like them.
d. The Third Reich wanted to hide them from the Allies.
21. Who wrote the opera Wozzeck ?
a. Berg c. Büchner
b. Schoenberg d. Webern
22. Berg’s style was rooted in German Romanticism, especially the works of
a. Brahms. c. Mahler.
b. Wagner. d. All answers shown here.
23. Although Berg composed in the twelve-tone method, his style was rooted in
a. German Romanticism. c. neo-Classicism.
b. French Impressionism. d. pre-Romanticism.
24. Where was Alban Berg born?
a. Berlin c. Paris
b. Vienna d. Bonn
25. Besides Wozzeck, who are some of the other characters in the opera Wozzeck?
a. the Captain, the Doctor, Marie c. Schoenberg, the Captain, Marie
b. Drum Major, Berg, Marie d. Berg, Schoenberg, Marie
1. Berg developed the twelve-tone method.
2. Serialism is another term for the twelve-tone method.
3. The transposition of pitches in a twelve-tone composition is called the tone row.
4. In retrograde inversion, the row is turned upside down and backward.
5. Berg’s music owes much to the influence of Arnold Schoenberg.
6. Berg incorporated into his music formal patterns from the past, such as the fugue.
7. Berg’s most widely known composition is the Violin Concerto.
8. Berg’s Wozzeck reflects the ideals of Expressionism.
9. Wozzeck is based on a single twelve-tone row.
10. In Berg’s opera, Wozzeck drowns because he was following moonbeams into the lake.
11. Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern are members of the First Viennese School.
12. The Third Reich championed the work of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern.
13. Berg completed his opera Lulu just prior to his death in 1935.
14. Berg’s Wozzeck is based on a play by Schoenberg.
15. Wozzeck centers on the main character’s unhappy love for Marie.
1. Describe the twelve-tone method of composition.
2. Discuss Berg’s opera Wozzeck as an example of Expressionism in music.
3. Discuss how Wozzeck represents the struggle of disenfranchised people.
4. How does Berg fuse Expressionism, German Romanticism, and the tonal tradition in Wozzeck?