Question

Section 4.4

Felix Mendelssohn was just seventeen when he composed the overture to Shakespear's
A) King Lear B) A Midsummer NIght's Dream C) Romeo and Juliet D) As You Like It

"The Moldau" is an example of a/an
A) art song B) symphonic poem C) concert overture D) prelude

Nationalist composers sometimes include ___ in their compositions.
A) improvisation B) spoken word C) Gregorian chant D) folk melodies

Giuseppe Verdi lived and composed in ___ during the romantic era.
A) Germany B) Bohemia C) Italy D) New York

The term ballad in the nineteenth century referred to a
A) true story B) love song C) narrative poem D) ghost story

Answer 1

Answer 1:

(B) A Midsummer Night's Dream

At two separate times, Felix Mendelssohn composed music for William Shakespeare's drama, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Primary in 1826, near the beginning of his career, he wrote a concert overture. Later, in 1842, only a couple of years before his death, he wrote incidental music for a production of the play, into which he included the existing Overture. The incidental music covers the world-famous Wedding March.

Answer 2:

(B) Symphonic poem

Symphonic poem, also termed as Tone Poem, musical composition for orchestra encouraged by an extra-musical idea, story, or “program,” to which the name typically mentions or alludes. The characteristic single-movement symphonic poem emerged from the concert-overture, an overture not connected to an opera or play yet suggestive of a literary or natural sequence of events.

Answer 3:

(D) Folk melodies

As a musical movement, nationalism began early in the 19th century in association with political independence movements, and was distinguished by an emphasis on national musical components such as the use of folk songs, folk dances or rhythms, or on the adoption of nationalist subjects for operas, symphonic poems, or other styles of music.

Answer 4:

(C) Italy

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian opera composer. In his early operas, Verdi showed a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the alliance of Italy. He also competed temporarily as an elected politician. The song "Va, Pensiero" from his early opera Nabucco (1842), and related themes in later operas were much in the feeling of the unification movement, and the composer himself became regarded as a representative of these ideas.

Answer 5:

(C) Narrative poem

A ballad is a kind of verse, usually a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French chanson balladée or ballade, which were basically "danced songs''. Ballads were especially characteristic of the popular poetry and song of the British Isles from the later medieval period until the 19th century.

Answer 2

1) Felix Mendelssohn was just seventeen when he composed the overture to Shakespeare's B) A Midsummer NIght's Dream. He composed music for this Shakespeare's work twice, but at different periods of time. His first attempt was in 1826, when he started his career. At that time he wrote a concert overture.Then, in 1842 he wrote incidental music for a production of the play, and that's how the Overture was born.

2) The Moldau" is an example of a B) symphonic poem. Symphonic poem is also known as a tone poem, and its definition says that it is a musical composition for orchestra inspired by an extra-musical idea, story, or “program,” to which the title alludes. Its term including form and structure was analyzed and invented by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.

3) Nationalist composers sometimes include D) folk melodies in their compositions. To both express their admiration of homeland and contribute to music, they often use motifs that are identified with their country or ethnicity. Such characteristics usually can be observed as folk tunes and rhythms, and harmonies inspired by native melodies.

4) Giuseppe Verdi lived and composed in Italy during the romantic era. He travelled around the world to find a proper place for his works, to find some people who could support and appreciate his views, but all the compositions of 1830-1850 years were created in his homeland.

5) The term ballad in the nineteenth century referred to C) narrative poem. Ballad came from France in form of a narrative song. The theme and function of ballads appeared to be originated from Scandinavian and Germanic, following all the Scandinavian traditions of storytelling. It has something similar to what can be seen in poems such as Beowulf.