Listening Test #2

Front 1

Chopin, Prelude No. 1, from Préludes, Op. 28

Back 1

Chopin (1810-1849)

Fact 1: unified by a triplet-semi-quaver figuration as the hands run over the keys.

Fact 2: the epithet of the piece is feverish anticipation of loved ones

Front 2

Chopin, Mazurka, Op. 17, No. 4

Back 2

Chopin (1810-1849)

Fact 1: the piece ends with the same four measures as it began.

Fact 2: remains in the very homophonic texture of the first three pieces, but the dynamic variation is much greater.

Front 3

Chopin, Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23

Back 3

Chopin (1810-1849)

Fact 1: piece was dedicated to Baron Nathaniel von Stockhausen

Fact 2: was a reflection about his loneliness in the city far away from his home in Poland.

Front 4

Liszt, Les preludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3

Back 4

Liszt (1811-1886)

Fact 1: Has the following sections in the music: Question, Love, Storm, Bucolic calm, and Battle and Victory

Fact 2: The music is partly based on Liszt's 1844/5 choral cycle Les quatre élémens

Front 5

F. B. Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, Movement I

Back 5

Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Fact 1: almost immediate entrance of the violin at the beginning of the work

Fact 2: through-composed form of the concerto as a whole, in which the three movements are melodically and harmonically connected and played attacca

Front 6

Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, Prelude and Act III "Isolde's transformation"

Back 6

Wagner (1813-1883)

Fact 1: The very first chord in the piece, the Tristan chord, is of great significance in the move away from traditional tonal harmony as it resolves to another dissonant chord.

Fact 2: frequent use of two consecutive chords containing tritones.

Front 7

Verdi, Rigoletto, Act III, No. 16 "Un di, se ben rammentomi.."

Back 7

Verdi (1813-1901)

Fact 1: In the whole opera, there is only one conventional double aria and no concerted act finales.

Fact 2: uses a continual string of duets

T

Front 8

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36, Movement I

Back 8

Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Fact 1: movement is marked by continual introductions of the fate motif

Fact 2: unleashes the musical equivalent of lightning bolts: two short fortissimo chords, each followed by a long measure of silence.

Front 9

Brahms, Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25, Movement IV

Back 9

Brahms (1833-1897)

Fact 1: This movement is notable for its difficulty, rhythmic and metrical complexity, and harmonic exploration.

Fact 2: Clara Schumann played the piano at the premiere of this piece.

Front 10

Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Movement II

Back 10

Dvorak (1841-1904)

Fact 1: Influenced by Native American music

Fact 2: Dvorak said the third movement scherzo was "suggested by the scene at the feast in Hiawatha where the Indians dance".

Front 11

Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah), Bacchanale

Back 11

Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Fact 1: use of orientalism (which is what Bacchanale is trying to depict.)

Fact 2: subtley satrinizes middle eastern culture music

Front 12

Borodin, Prince Igor, "Polovtsian Dances," Act II, No. 17

Back 12

Borodin (1833-1887)

Fact 1: political implications in opera because internal conflict in Russia

Fact 2: expanded use of exotic harmonies

Front 13

Leoncavallo, Pagliacci (Clowns or Players), "Vesti la giubba"

Back 13

Leoncavallo (1857-1919)

Fact 1: example of verismo style

Fact 2: unexpected lack of bel canto