Question

Section 4.2

1) Works for piano, four hands are intended to be performed by
A) four players on two pianos B) two players on one piano C) two players on two pianos
D) four players on one piano

2) What is the tempo of the fourth movement of Brahm's Symphony no.4 in E.Minor?
A) Largo B) De capo C) Allergro D) Lento

3) How many movements are in a typical romantic concerto?
A) four B) two C) three D) one

4) Gioacchino Rossini is best known for composing
A) opera buffa B) lyric opera C) music drama D) grand opera

5) A nocturne is a
A) slow march B) love poem C) song for solo vocalist D) night song

Answer 1

Answer 1:

(B) Two players on one Piano

Piano four hands is a kind of piano duet in which the two players perform on a single piano. A duet with the players performing separate instruments is usually referred to as a piano duo. Music written for piano four hands is normally printed so that the part for each player controls the page which is directly contrary to him.

Answer 2:

(C) Allergro

The Symphony No. 4 in E minor, by Johannes Brahms, is the end of his symphonies. Brahms started struggling on the piece in Mürzzuschlag, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1884, just a year after finishing his Symphony No. 3. It was premiered on October 25, 1885, in Meiningen, Germany.

Answer 3:

(C) Three

The usual Romantic concerto remembered the most general features of the Classical concerto. It was an extensive work in three movements, in a fast/slow/fast sequence. The single part comprises lyric moments and dazzling passage work, and there was at least one cadenza.

Answer 4:

(A) Opera buffa

Gioachino Rossini, in full Gioachino Antonio Rossini, an Italian composer regarded for his operas, especially his comic operas, of which The Barber of Seville (1816), Cinderella (1817), and Semiramide (1823) are amongst the best recognised. Of his later, larger-scale dramatic operas, the most extensively heard is William Tell (1829).

Answer 5:

(D) Night song

A nocturne (from the French which meant nocturnal, from Latin nocturnus) is normally a musical composition that is encouraged by, or evocative of, the night. Historically, Nocturne is a very ancient term practiced for night Offices and, since the Middle Ages, to divisions in the canonical hour of Matins.

Answer 2

1. The correct answer is B. two players on one piano.
Four hands refers to two players, each of whom obviously has two arms and hands. However, they are playing on the same piano, rather than having one each, which would be called piano duo. Schubert was famous for his four hands piano compositions.

2. The correct answer is C. allegro.
Even the name of the fourth movement says that - it is called Allegro energico e passionato. This means that the tempo is fast and lively, and quite energetic and passionate. The other options do not fit this description.

3. I believe there are typically C. three movements in a Romantic concerto. This was the standard schematic for most concertos, not only the Romantic ones, but also those during Classicism, Baroque, etc. I am not sure about this, but I believe three is the correct answer.

4. Gioacchino Rossini is best known for composing A. opera buffa. I believe this is the correct answer because Rossini is famous for his libretto The Barber of Seville, which is considered to be opera buffa. Opera buffa is a type of opera which is comic in nature, and that is the most famous example there is.

5. A nocturne is D. a night song. I am not sure about this one either, but a nocturne is a song, or a musical piece which is inspired by night and usually performed during the evening/night as well. It isn't necessarily linked to love, it is not sung, but rather played on the piano, and it isn't a march either, so I'd choose D.