Program Music Quiz

Which statement is not a facet of program music?

• a. inspired by some extra-musical source, such as a story, historical event, or even a painting

• b. the art song was a favored medium for this type of music

• c. it is fully harmonious with the literary spirit of the nineteenth-century

• d. based on the fact that specific kinds of music can evoke particular feelings and associations

• e. it is usually written for a symphony orchestra

Which genre of composition consists of three, four, or five movements that together tell or depict a succession of specific events drawn from some extra-musical work or story?

• a. incidental music

• b. character piece

• c. song cycle

• d. tone poem

• e. program symphony

Which composition is an example of the program symphony?

• a. Romeo and Juliet

• b. Symphonie fantastique

• c. Thus Spoke Zarathustra

• d. Pictures at an Exhibition

• e. Wild Hunt

Which genre typically precedes an opera or a play and consists of a single movement that encapsulates the essence of the drama?

• a. incidental music

• b. concert overture

• c. dramatic overture

• d. tone poem

• e. program symphony

Identify the genre of program music that consists of a single movement that gives expression to the emotions and events associated with a story, play, political event, or personal experience.

• a. incidental music

• b. concert overture

• c. dramatic overture

• d. tone poem

• e. program symphony

Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Musorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and Strauss’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra are all examples of the:

• a. symphonic poem

• b. character piece

• c. incidental music

• d. dramatic overture

• e. program symphony

Which instrument is a low-sounding oboe?

• a. English horn

• b. cornet

• c. ophicleide

• d. col legno

• e. metronome

Which brass instrument is similar in sound and shape to the trumpet?

• a. ophicleide

• b. cornet

• c. harp

• d. English horn

• e. mirleton

The idée fixe is associated with what object or idea?

• a. death

• b. passion

• c. music

• d. the beloved

• e. any recurring theme

Which composition features the celesta?

• a. Wilde jagd

• b. Symphonie fantastique

• c. Romeo and Juliet

• d. Pictures at an Exhibition

• e. The Nutcracker