German Opera Composers

This composer created an operatic tradition that was distinct to Germany, and he exerted enormous influence on the musical style of other composers during the end of the nineteenth century.

• Mahler

• Beethoven

• Robert Schumann

• Wagner

• Brahms

Exiled from Germany and its opera houses, he lived in Switzerland for twelve years, where he began work on his massive Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). Publishers were initially reluctant to support the Ring cycle, so he interrupted work on it to compose more manageable dramas such as Tristan und Isolde (1865) and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, 1868).

• Wagner

• Liszt

• Berlioz

• Brahms

• Mahler

The Bayreuth Festival features works by this composer:

• Tchaikovsky

• Brahms

• Wagner

• Dvořák

• Liszt

Which term did Wagner use to describe compositions for the stage?

• verismo

• music drama

• leitmotif

• Sprechstimme

• Singspiel

This term, literally meaning “total art work,” describes the unification of all the arts (poetry, music, acting, set design, etc.) for a single dramatic purpose.

• Gesamtkunstwerk

• verismo

• realistic opera

• bel canto

• all of the above

This operatic term describes a melodic gesture associated with a person, object, or idea.

• bel canto

• idée fixe

• recitativo accompagnato

• Risorgimento

• leitmotif

Which character sings the Liebestod?

• Tristan

• Carmen

• Isolde

• Violetta

• Rudolfo