MA 4.11-4.12

Which of the following statements about Mozart's final years and premature death is accurate?

• Mozart left his last German opera, Die Zauberflöte, unfinished.

• The last work that Mozart completed was a requiem (a mass for the dead).

• The failure of the opera Don Giovanni in Vienna led to a decline in Mozart's popularity.

• Mozart died in his forties.

Some of Mozart's greatest works are his ______, which he wrote to feature many different instruments such as the piano, violin, oboe, and bassoon.

• concertos

• string quartets

• arias

• symphonies

What is considered Mozart's finest opera in German?

• Don Giovanni

• The Magic Flute

• Così fan tutte

• The Marriage of Figaro

Select all the statements about Mozart's childhood and youth.

• He could improvise fugues at age 6, compose symphonies by age 8, and wrote his first opera at age 12.

• He was a child prodigy who toured throughout Europe, performing before the public and before Louis XV of France and other royalty.

• He retired from touring at age 15 and spent the rest of his life in a comfortable job as a court musician.

• He learned the operatic style practiced in Italy at that time when he traveled there.

Select all the descriptions that summarize or typify the music of Mozart.

• Balance, restraint, and proportion

• Very few powerful moods to avoid disturbing the sense of balance

• Mysterious harmonies which bring dark moods that contrast with the lyricism

• Ease, grace, and spontaneity

Select all the statements that apply to how characters are portrayed in Mozart's operas.

• Their emotions evolve and change through shifts in the musical tone of the music.

• Even in ensemble settings, their individual personalities shine through.

• Each character's emotions match the mood of a single theme played throughout the opera.

• Their stage actions rarely match the music, creating a sense of tension and mystery.

Select all the statements about Mozart's adult career.

• He became friends with Haydn, who considered Mozart the greatest composer he knew or had ever heard of.

• He left Salzburg at 25 and had some years of success as a freelance performer and composer in Vienna.

• He became popular in Prague, especially with the opera The Marriage of Figaro (1786).

• He enhanced his success as a composer and performer with vast business interests in publishing and concert promotions.

Select all the categories of instrumental music at which Mozart excelled.

• Symphonies

• Cantatas

• Piano concertos

• String quartets

• Operas and operettas

What was odd about the commission of Mozart's Requiem in D Minor?

• It was commissioned by a Russian emperor.

• Beethoven had been originally commissioned the Requiem but passed on it.

• It was commissioned by an anonymous patron.

• Mozart won a composition competition to write it.

What does requiem mean?

• Music for a king (re in Italian)

• A mass for the dead

• A mass for Christmas Day

• Music for the coronation of the Austrian emperor