CHAPTER XLIII
EXAMINATION PAPERS IN MUSIC HISTORY, SET BY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

The papers that follow will give the reader a comprehensive idea of the scope and extent of music history as a study in schools and colleges. In nearly all instances the subject, presented in the form of lectures, requires work based upon one or more text-books and, in addition, a certain amount of research over a somewhat extensive bibliography.

No. I. NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

History of Music

Answer six questions from this group.

Group I.

  1. What do the terms “classic” and “romantic” signify as applied to periods of music history? Give the approximate date of the beginning of each period and name six important composers belonging to each.
  2. Name three great oratorios by different composers and briefly describe each.
  3. What composer is called the “creator of the modern song”? What did he do for the song to justify this praise? Name four of his greatest songs.
  4. Give an account of the origin and development of the orchestra.
  5. What composers have written the finest music for the orchestra? Name four of the greatest symphonies the world has yet known.
  6. State the distinctive influence on opera or the contribution to opera of each of the following composers: Gluck, Wagner, Weber, Beethoven, Verdi, Mozart, Rossini, Gounod. Arrange the names in chronologic order and name one opera of each.
  7. For what is each of the following musicians most esteemed: J. S. Bach, Muzio Clementi, Hector Berlioz, Paganini, F. Chopin, Franz Liszt, Georges Bizet, Anton Rubinstein, Peter Tschaikowsky, Anton Dvořák, Edvard Grieg, Edward Elgar?
  8. Why are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms often ranked together? Write quite fully concerning the life and work of one of these musicians and briefly concerning the work of the other two.

No. 2. NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT History of Music

Answer eight questions from this group.

  1. Write briefly on the contrapuntal, classic, and romantic schools of music, stating the characteristics of each and naming its most distinguished representatives.
  2. Write briefly on the music of Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy. State what, in your opinion, individualises the work of each. Name at least three of the representative compositions of each.
  3. Answer both a and b:
    1. Name four European composers specially esteemed for their songs, state where and when each one lived, and name two well-known songs of each.

    2. Name three eminent American song composers and mention two songs of each.
  4. Name at least two distinguished musical contemporaries of (a) Louis XIV, (b) Napoleon, (c) Queen Victoria.
  5. Describe briefly the classical symphony. Name six symphonic writers. Give a list of symphonies that you have heard or studied.
  6. Answer a, b, c, and d:
    1. When was the pianoforte invented? What did it supersede?
    2. When did Clementi live? What influence had he and his followers on the growth of piano composition and technic?
    3. Name some of the piano compositions of Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann, and Liszt. Write briefly of the style of each.
    4. Name six famous pianists now living.
  7. Give the prevailing characteristics of music in the period between (a) 1400–1600, (b) 1600–1700, (c) 1700–1800, (d) 1800–1900.
  8. Distinguish between the forms in each of the following groups: (a) cantata and oratorio, (b) grand opera, romantic opera, and opera comique, (c) symphony and symphonic poem. Name one composition of each class, with its composer.
  9. Write briefly on the general characteristics of (a) classical music, (b) romantic music, (c) programme music. Name three representative composers of each style with one work of each.

No. 3. (a). INSTITUTE OF MUSICAL ART OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

Examination in Music History

Special Course

  1. Remark on (a) The contrast between the ancient and the modern conception of music, Or (b) The growth of musical notation.
  2. Contrast the piano with preceding keyboard instruments.
  3. Describe the origin and purpose of the opera as an art form.
  4. What is a sonata and by whom and when was its modern form specially determined ?
  5. Give an account of the orchestra and the styles peculiar to it. N. B. Any one question may be omitted for the sake of answering the others more fully.

No. 3. (b).

Examination in Music History

General Course

  1. What forms or styles of composition were already prominent before 1700? Give a brief account of one of these.
  2. What was Handel’s preparation for oratorio writing? When and why did he enter upon it and with what results?
  3. Give an outline of Bach’s life with special comment on some one aspect of his style and genius that interests you.
  4. Compare Haydn and Mozart as to personality, career, style, and influence.
  5. Remark on Beethoven’s life and work in relation to the advance of musical art at the opening of the nineteenth century.

N. B. Any one question may be omitted for the sake of answering the others more fully.

No. 4. HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Music 3

The given order of questions to be followed. Write legibly. Express yourself clearly.

  1. Name four composers between Schubert and Richard Strauss who have contributed to the development of the German Lied. Name four well-known lyric poets from whom the texts for their songs were often taken. What are the special features of the German art song in distinction from the folk-song? Give the titles of six representative German songs, one, at least, of each of the composers treated above.
  2. State the leading facts in the life of Von Weber. In what important respects did he differ as a musician from his predecessors? What were the national tendencies of his time and how do his works embody these tendencies? Describe the characteristics of romantic opera as conceived by Von Weber and name his chief works in this field. Who were three of the lesser composers of this type of opera associated with him?
  3. Describe the prominent characteristics of Chopin’s music and name the works which best represent his style. Give a list of the celebrated artistic and literary people with whom Chopin associated in Paris during the decade 1830–40.
  4. In what three classes may all programme music be grouped? Name a representative composer of programme music in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Describe clearly what has been the influence of Berlioz and of Liszt upon modern orchestral music. Name several important works of each composer. What term did Liszt invent and apply to his orchestral works? What is the essential difference in content and treatment between works of this type and the classic symphony? What were some of Liszt’s manifold activities? What four cities are prominently associated with his career?
  5. Name standard compositions by various composers which find their source in the works of the following authors: Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, Scott, Byron, Hugo. Comment briefly on the connection in any one of these works between the literary basis and the musical treatrhent.
  6. Name the composer and branch of music of each of the following compositions: Fingal’s Cave, L’Africaine, Prince Igor, The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1812 Overture, Hans Heiling, Tod und Verklärung, Reflets dans l’eau, Sampson and Delilah, Scheherazade, Sakuntala, Louise, Boris Godounow.
  7. Describe the social and political conditions of Italy during the first seven decades of the last century. In the works of what composer are these conditions most vividly reflected? Name several of his works. What striking use was often made of his name? Who is the most prominent living exponent of Italian music? Name three of his well-known works.

    8. Take either question 8 or 9

  8. Contrast briefly the essential characteristics of Russian, Norwegian, and Hungarian folk music.
  9. State the prominent characteristics and mention at least one representative work of each of the following masters: Grieg, Dvořák, Tschaikowsky, César Franck, Chabrier, Brahms, Debussy, d’Indy.
  10. What are the striking differences between the music-drama of Wagner and the former type of opera? Give a chronological list of Wagner’s works and describe the changes in his dramatic ideals and musical style which these works embody. Mention two incidents in Wagner’s life which influenced strongly his inspiration. Explain the terms “leading motive” and “transformation of motive.”

No. 5. HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Music 3

  1. Give some account of the influence of Beethoven during the nineteenth century. On whom did he react and in what manner?
  2. Compare and differentiate the romanticism of Weber (instrumental music), Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Schumann.
  3. Trace the general course of programme music from Beethoven to the present day. Mention as many specific works as possible to give point to your statements.
  4. State wherein consists the greatness of Chopin. What were the sources of his piano style and of his forms? What was his treatment of sonata form? Comment on Chopin as nationalist.
  5. In what respects was Berlioz a pioneer? Show clearly the relation between the artistic and sociological conditions of the times and Berlioz’s musical standpoint. Describe his personality as man and artist. What contemporaries were influenced by him? What was Berlioz’s attitude toward opera? Toward sonata form?
  6. Describe Liszt’s attainments and influence as a pianist. What were the sources of his epoch-making technic? Comment on Liszt as transcriber. What did he accomplish at Weimar? Describe the symphonic poem in respect to form and contents. Where and on whom has the influence of Liszt reacted most noticeably?
  7. Outline briefly the conditions existent in French and Italian opera during the first half of the nineteenth century. Wherein consisted Wagner’s “reform” of opera. What are the important stages in his work as a dramatic composer? What were the origin and function of the leading motive? Comment briefly on Wagner’s use of the orchestra.
  8. Compare and differentiate the critical activity of Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner.
  9. Select any six of the following names for a concise summary of their characteristics as composers and their historical influence: Brahms, Tschaikowsky, Bruckner, Saint-Saëns, Richard Strauss, César Franck, Grieg, Dvořák, Moussorgsky, Debussy, Elgar, Rimsky-Korsakow, d’Indy, MacDowell.

No. 6. YALE COLLEGE

Semiannual Examination

Music 3—History of Music

  1. How is design in music shown? Is painting a more imitative art than music or less?
  2. Contrast Chinese and Hindu scale systems. Of what nature are modern European scales? Give a short account of ancient Greek and mediæval church scales.
  3. Define organum, counterpoint, discant. Describe the steps taken during the Middle Ages toward the development of harmony.
  4. Who was Adam de la Halle, Frescobaldi, Guido of Arezzo, John Dunstable, Henry Purcell, Orlando Lasso?
  5. Give an account of the Netherlands school of composers with names and approximate dates.
  6. Write a short biographical sketch of Palestrina. To what kind of music did he restrict himself? What is the present importance of his music? How does it differ from the music of our own time?
  7. Compare folk music and art music.
  8. State the achievements and limitations of early choral music.
  9. What serious errors in church music was Palestrina called upon to correct?
  10. Describe early musical instruments and the style of music written for them.

No. 7. YALE COLLEGE

Semiannual Examination—History of Music

  1. Write a biographical sketch of Bach with a discussion of his position in music.
  2. What important influences tended to make Handel’s style different from that of Bach? In what does this difference consist?
  3. Give a brief history of oratorio, naming important composers and their works.
  4. Describe the growth and climax of sonata form.
  5. Wherein lies the greatness of Beethoven?
  6. Contrast and explain classicism and romanticism. Classify under these two heads the French and German composers from the time of Bach to that of Wagner. Arrange the names chronologically.
  7. How many symphonies are known by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Tschaikowsky, Wagner.?
  8. Give an account of the development of opera in Italy from its beginning to the present, with composers’ names, dates, and works.
  9. Give a like account of opera in Germany.
  10. Explain the Wagnerian system of opera and name as many of Wagner’s operas as you can.
  11. Mention important works by each of the following composers: Haydn, Mozart, Handel, Liszt, Chopin, Weber, Saint-Saëns, Verdi, Berlioz, Schumann.
  12. What is a symphonic poem? What composer is identified with the earliest examples of this kind of music? Name three of his works.

No. 8. TUFTS COLLEGE

  1. Write for about fifteen minutes on one of the following subjects: (a) Ambrose and Gregory, (b) Palestrina and Lasso, (c) Minnesingers and mastersingers.
  2. Indicate briefly the significance of the following: (a) Antiphonarium, (b) canon, (c) Bayreuth, (d) aria, (e) ballad, (f) chorale, (g) figured bass, (h) discant, (i) recitative, (j) mode, (k) equal temperament, (l) opera comique.
  3. Name, with approximate dates, some composers who have had important influence on the development of opera, and state, if you can, the contribution which each made to that development.
  4. Give author, nature, and approximate date of the following works:
    1. St. Paul.
    2. The Creation.
    3. The Unfinished Symphony.
    4. Benvenuto Cellini.
    5. The Huguenots.
    6. Iphigenia in Tauris.
    7. Oberon.
    8. Carmen.
    9. Kaiserquartet.
    10. Pastoral Symphony.
    11. The Lamentations.
    12. Genoveva.
    13. Mors et Vita.
    14. Life for the Czar.
    15. Aïda.
    16. Romeo and Juliet.
    17. Marriage of Figaro.
    18. Ein Heldenleben.
    19. Pathetic symphony.
    20. Parsifal.
    21. Kreutzer Sonata.
    22. Judas Maccabæus.
    23. Summer is a-coming in.
  5. Give approximate date and chief claim to fame of the following: C. P. E. Bach, Berlioz, Chopin, Lully, Kuhnau, Dufay.
  6. Take a topic, biographical or historical, which has interested you and outline an essay upon it. Use syllabus form if you choose.

N. B. If, in No. 4, you discover any names applying to two works, name both.

No. 9. OBERLIN CONSERVATORY

  1. What circumstances brought Handel to England? In what period of his life did he compose his Italian operas, and what was their general character?
  2. Why did he turn to writing oratorios?
  3. How does the oratorio differ from the opera and from church music?
  4. Where is the influence of the Italian opera shown in Handel’s oratorios?
  5. What can be said of his choruses: range of style and expression, variety of structure, dramatic quality, etc.?
  6. Under what conditions was the work of Sebastian Bach produced? What different national influences are found in his music? What has been the nature of his influence upon later art?
  7. What were the leading movements in music just after Bach’s time?
  8. Give an outline of the development of the symphony up to Beethoven.
  9. What is the sonata form?
  10. How was the orchestra constituted in the time of Haydn and Mozart? What additions were made by Beethoven?
  11. How did Beethoven complete the form in symphony and sonata?
  12. What is the significance of Beethoven in the development of expression?
  13. What do you consider the chief elements in the greatness of Beethoven?