BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Musical Form and Analysis 4

Question 1

What term describes the technique in a fugue where the subject is presented at shorter time intervals than originally, creating an overlapping, intensified texture?

Accepted Answer

Stretto

Answer

Stretto occurs when fugue subject entries overlap, with each new entry beginning before the previous one has finished, creating increased rhythmic and harmonic tension.

Question 2

In 20th-century music analysis, what term describes a collection of pitch classes defined by their intervallic content, used in post-tonal analysis?

Accepted Answer

Pitch-class set

Answer

Pitch-class set theory, developed by Allen Forte, categorizes groups of pitches by their interval content, enabling systematic analysis of atonal music.

Question 3

What is the formal name for the structural unit in a Baroque concerto grosso where the full orchestra returns after solo passages?

Accepted Answer

Tutti / Ritornello

Answer

The ritornello (or tutti) is the recurring orchestral passage in a Baroque concerto grosso that frames and alternates with the solo episodes.

Question 4

Which analytical concept describes a chord that prolongs a structural harmony by embellishing it with neighboring or passing motion?

Accepted Answer

Prolongation

Answer

Prolongation, a key concept in Schenkerian analysis, describes how a harmony is extended over musical time through subsidiary melodic and harmonic motion.

Question 5

In a multi-movement sonata cycle, which movement type is most commonly in the subdominant or relative key rather than the tonic?

Accepted Answer

Second (slow) movement

Answer

The slow second movement is frequently in a contrasting key—often the subdominant, relative major/minor, or mediant—to provide tonal contrast before the return to the tonic in later movements.

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Musical Form and Analysis 4