BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Western Music History 4

Question 1

Which compositional technique, developed by Arnold Schoenberg around 1921, organizes pitch material using all twelve chromatic tones in a fixed series?

Accepted Answer

Twelve-tone serialism

Answer

Schoenberg's twelve-tone method uses a tone row of all twelve chromatic pitches as the basis for melodic and harmonic organization.

Question 2

The 'Mannheim school' of the mid-18th century was noted for contributing which orchestral technique?

Accepted Answer

Orchestral crescendo and controlled dynamic nuance

Answer

The Mannheim orchestra under Johann Stamitz pioneered the orchestral crescendo and precise ensemble dynamics that influenced Classical symphonic style.

Question 3

Béla Bartók's use of 'Bulgarian rhythm' or 'aksak' refers to which rhythmic characteristic?

Accepted Answer

Additive meters with asymmetric beat groupings such as 5+3+3+2+3

Answer

Bartók systematically collected and employed asymmetric folk rhythms from Bulgaria in works like his 'Mikrokosmos' and string quartets.

Question 4

The term 'musique concrète' refers to the practice of:

Accepted Answer

Composing with recorded and manipulated real-world sounds

Answer

Pierre Schaeffer coined 'musique concrète' in 1948 for music assembled from recorded sounds of the physical world, manipulated on tape.

Question 5

In the context of Renaissance counterpoint, 'fauxbourdon' (or faburden) refers to:

Accepted Answer

A technique of adding parallel sixths and octaves below a chant melody

Answer

Fauxbourdon is an early 15th-century technique where a chant melody appears in the top voice, harmonized with parallel sixths and octaves below, implying 6-3 chords.

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Western Music History 4