listen8e

Reading Quiz for Chapter 18

Read Chapter 18 in your book and check your comprehension by answering the following questions. Then “submit” your work.

Question

For the plots of their operas, many Romantic composers drew from
A. historical subjects.
B. famous novels and plays, especially Shakespeare’s plays.
C. Greek and Roman myths.
D. biblical stories.

For the plots of their operas, many Romantic composers drew from

Correct.

Incorrect. See the opening of Chapter 18.
Question

Romantic composers of opera viewed opera as
A. a form of light entertainment.
B. less important than symphonies.
C. a form of serious drama in music.
D. a mere vehicle for song and spectacle.

Romantic composers of opera viewed opera as

Correct.

Incorrect. See the opening of Chapter 18.
Question

In what way did the orchestra’s role greatly change in nineteenth-century opera?
A. The full orchestra’s role expanded to accompany passages of recitative with active music that urged the singers on.
B. The orchestra joined the continuo.
C. The orchestra no longer played during arias.
D. The orchestra no longer played during ensembles.

In what way did the orchestra’s role greatly change in nineteenth-century opera?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Recitative and Aria: The Role of the Orchestra in Chapter 18.
Question

The bel canto style emphasizes what?
A. the role of the orchestra
B. virtuoso techniques
C. beautiful singing
D. plot and action

The bel canto style emphasizes what?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Early Romantic Opera in Chapter 18.
Question

Who composed the opera Rigoletto?
A. Rossini
B. Wagner
C. Puccini
D. Verdi

Who composed the opera Rigoletto?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto in Chapter 18.

Question

Which describes the plot of Rigoletto?

The Duke seduces Gilda, the daughter of his court jester. Her father hires an assassin to kill the Duke, but Gilda tragically is killed instead.

A young huntsman, Max, sells his soul to the Devil for seven magic bullets, but he is redeemed by the love of his innocent fiancée, Agatha.

Cho-Cho-San, a teenage geisha in Japan, falls in love with an American naval officer, who “marries” her but then abandons her. When he returns with his American wife to take custody of his and Cho-Cho-San’s child, Cho-Cho-San commits suicide.

Siegmund and Sieglinde, two children of Wotan, the leader of the gods, fall in love, unaware that they are brother and sister. Siegmund is killed by Sieglinde’s husband, but Sieglinde escapes and later bears their child.

Which describes the plot of Rigoletto?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto in Chapter 18.

Question

Which composer complained that opera had degenerated into a concert in costume when it should be serious drama?
A. Bellini
B. Wagner
C. Donizetti
D. Rossini

Which composer complained that opera had degenerated into a concert in costume when it should be serious drama?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Wagner and Music Drama in Chapter 18.
Question

Which composer’s operas and anti-Semitic writings were later taken up by the Nazis in the twentieth century?
A. Wagner
B. Verdi
C. Puccini
D. Donizetti

Which composer’s operas and anti-Semitic writings were later taken up by the Nazis in the twentieth century?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Richard Wagner in Chapter 18.
Question

What did Wagner call the new style of opera that he developed?
A. opera seria
B. bel canto opera
C. mythic opera
D. music drama

What did Wagner call the new style of opera that he developed?

Correct.

Incorrect. See The Total Work of Art in Chapter 18.
Question

What is Gesamtkunstwerk?
A. an opera by Wagner
B. a guiding or leading motive
C. Wagner’s term for “the total work of art,” in which music, drama, poetry, philosophy, acting, and stage design all have an equal part
D. Schopenhauer’s term for his theories about “the Will” (human emotions and drives) and its dominance over “Appearance” (ideas, morals, and reason)

What is Gesamtkunstwerk?

Correct.

Incorrect. See The Total Work of Art in Chapter 18.
Question

A musical motive that is associated with a particular person, idea, thing, or symbol in a drama, and that helps guide the listener through the story, is called a
A. leitmotiv.
B. thematic transformation.
C. character variation.
D. bel canto principle.

A musical motive that is associated with a particular person, idea, thing, or symbol in a drama, and that helps guide the listener through the story, is called a

Correct.

Incorrect. See Leitmotivs in Chapter 18.
Question

Wagner’s opera The Valkyrie is one of four parts in the larger music drama called
A. The Rhine Gold.
B. Twilight of the Gods.
C. Siegmund.
D. The Nibelung’s Ring.

Wagner’s opera The Valkyrie is one of four parts in the larger music drama called

Correct.

Incorrect. See The Nibelung’s Ring in Chapter 18.
Question

How did opera audiences’ tastes change in the period following Verdi and Wagner?
A. They demanded a return to bel canto style.
B. They wanted more mythic subjects.
C. They wanted more modern-day, realistic subjects about regular people.
D. They wanted historical stories about kings and queens.

How did opera audiences’ tastes change in the period following Verdi and Wagner?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Late Romantic Opera in Chapter 18.
Question

Who was the main Italian opera composer after Verdi?
A. Donizetti
B. Puccini
C. Bellini
D. Rossini

Who was the main Italian opera composer after Verdi?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Giacomo Puccini in Chapter 18.
Question

What is Cho-Cho-San singing about in the aria “Un bel dì”?
A. She is planning to commit suicide.
B. She is fantasizing about Lieutenant Pinkerton’s return, which she is sure will happen one day.
C. She is resisting the Duke’s romantic advances.
D. She is mourning the fact that her lover has been killed by her husband in a duel.

What is Cho-Cho-San singing about in the aria “Un bel dì”?

Correct.

Incorrect. See Giacomo Puccini, Madame Butterfly in Chapter 18.