Exam Questions for Composer Study
In Progress
Ludwig von Beethoven (1810) (Classical/Romantic)
Listening selections for this term:
Piano Sonata 8 (Pathetique) Opus 13
Piano Sonata 14 (Moonlight) Op 27
Symphony No. 3 (Eroica-meaning 'heroic') Opus 55
String Quartets opus 59, no.1-3 (Razumovsky Quartets)
Piano Concerto 5 (Emporer) Op 73
Symphony No. 9 (the one with Ode to Joy at the end) Opus 125
Antonio Vivaldi (1730) (Baroque)
Gloria (choral work);
The Four Seasons;
Trio Sonata in C major, RV.82;
plus 3 concerti - Maybe one for violin, one for guitar (such as Concerto in D maj performed by guitarist John Williams on YouTube) and
one for a woodwind instrument such as oboe or bassoon.
Frederic Chopin (1840) (Romantic)
Op 09 no 2 Nocturne in E flat maj
Op 10 no 3 Etude in E-maj
Op 10 no 12 Revolutionary Etude in C minor
Op 21 Piano Concerto number 2 in f minor
Op 28 Preludes no's 15, 20 and either 16 or 17
Op 53 Polonaise in A flat, Heroic
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (early classical)
Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major (K525) ("Eine Kleine Nacht Musik")
Requiem Mass in D minor (K626) (A vocal work)
Symphony no. 41 in C major (K551) ("Jupiter)"
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E-flat major (K364)
Piano Concerto no. 21 in C major (K467)
Felix Mendelssohn (1840) (Romantic)
Songs without words
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Symphony no. 4 in A major, Op. 90 ("Italian") (4 weeks)
Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20
Fingal's Cave ("Hebrides") Overture, Op. 26
Bartok, Hindemith
Bela Bartok: String Quartet no. 1 in A minor
Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra (Sz. 116, BB 123)
Bela Bartok: Mikrokosmos (especially "Boating" and "Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythym." Notes; download individually here)
Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (the symphony, not the opera; "Matthias the Painter," based on painter Matthias Grunewald)
Paul Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis (solo piano; notes here)
Paul Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 5, op. 36 no. 4 'Viola Concerto'
Claude Debussy (1910) (Impressionist)
Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun
La Mer
Nocturnes for Orchestra
Suite Bergamasqe (includes Claire de Lune)
Children's Corner
Jeux ("Games"); a "danced poem" intended to accompany a ballet
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047
St. Matthew Passion (for 4 weeks)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 (consists of one toccata and one fugue; do-able in 2 weeks)
Well-Tempered Clavier (Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Book I)
Goldberg Variations
Opera Selections
Giuseppi Verdi: "Triumphal March" (Grand March) from Aida, "Vedi! le fosche" (Anvil Chorus) from Il Trovatore.
Giuseppi Verdi: "Libiamo Ne'lieti Calici" (Brindisi) from La Traviata, "La Donne Il Mobile," from Rigoletto.
Giacomo Puccini: "O Soave Fancuilla" and "Quando M'en Vo" from La Boheme, and "E Lucevan Le Stelle" from Tosca.
Giacamo Puccini: "Un Bel Di" from Madama Butterfly, and "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot.
Gioacchino Rossini: overture and "Largo al factotum" (Figaro Figaro Figaro...) from Il Barbiere Di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville).
Gioacchino Rossini: William Tell overture
Franz Josef Haydn (1780) (Classical)
String Quartet Op 76 no 3 "Emperor" OR String Quartet Op 76 no 4 "Sunrise"
London Symphony no 104 (4 weeks)
The Creation (4 weeks)
a horn concerto
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1880) (Romantic)
Symphony no 6 "Pathetique"
Piano Concerto no 1
Serenade for Strings
1812 Overture
String Quartet in D maj (Andante Cantabile)
Swan Lake
Mark O'Connor (1961- ) Modern, American and Igor Stravinsky
Mark O'Connor: Fanfare for the Volunteer
Mark O'Connor: The American Seasons
Mark O'Connor: Strings and Threads Suite [Note: O'Connor has free streaming radio of his music on his website]
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird
Igor Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
Igor Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Children's Classics
Benjamin Britten: Young person's Guide to the Orchestra
Sergei Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
Paul Dukas: Sorcerer's Apprentice
Engelbert Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel
Claude Debussy: La Boite A Joujoux (The Toy Box, a ballet for children)
Georges Bizet: Jeux d'enfants, op. 22 (Children's games)
Johannes Brahms (1880) (Romantic)
Variations on a theme of Haydn
Symphony no 1 Opus 68
Violin Concerto in D
Piano Concerto no 2 Op 83
Tragic Overture Op 81
Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
Franz Schubert (1823) (Late Classical/Early Romantic)
Trout quintet
Symphony no. 8 ("Unfinished")
Symphony no. 9 ("The Great") (2 weeks)
Impromptus op. 90 (D. 899)
Die schone Mullerin (a song cycle)
Antonin Dvorak (1888) 1841-1904, Late Romantic
Symphony 9 From the New World
Slavonic Dances
Carnaval Overture (may also be spelled Karneval)
Humoresques for piano
Quartet in F maj ("American")
Trio in E min ("Dumky")
Medieval Era Music (see Notes for this Term)
1. "A Feather on the Breath of God: Sequences and Hymns by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen" featuring Emma Kirkby and Gothic Voices; Hyperion label.
2. "Salve Regina - Gregorian Chant" by Benedictine Monks of Saint-Maurice & Saint Maur of Clervaux; Philips label, Silver Line Classics series.
3. "A Dance In the Garden of Mirth: Medieval Instrumental Music" by the Dufay Collective; Chandos label.
Aaron Copland (1930) & George Gershwin (American)
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
Aaron Copland: Billy the Kid or Fanfare for the Common Man
Aaron Copland: Rodeo
George Gershwin: American in Paris
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
George Gershwin: Concerto in F maj
Ludwig von Beethoven (1810) (Classical/Romantic) this term subject to change
1. Symphony 5 OR 6
2. Piano Sonata 14 (Moonlight, Opus 27) OR 8 (Pathetique, Opus 13)
3. Razumovsky String Quartets Opus 59, no 1-3 OR Septet in E-flat Opus 20
4. Piano Concerto 5 (Emperor, Opus 73)
5. Symphony 7 OR 9 (Opus 125)
6. Fidelio
Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695, Baroque)
Selections based on the CD "Essential Purcell" from the Hyperion label. Available from amazon.com Barnes and Noble
Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)
1. Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 (7 movements; 35 minutes total)
2. Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15
3. Pavane, Op. 50 (about seven minutes long)
4. The Dolly Suite, Op. 56 (Berceuse, Mi-a-ou, Le Jardin de Dolly, Kitty-Valse, Tendresse, Le Pas Espagnol)
5. Pelleas et Melisande, Op. 80 (Prelude, La Fileuse, Sicilienne, Mort de Melisande)
6. Songs:
sung by Kiri te Kanawa or Veronique Gens
Claire de Lune sung by Veronique Gens
Les Papillons et la fleur sung by Veronique Gens
Au bord de l'eau sung by Veronique Gens
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1785) (Classical/Roccoco)
Piano Concerto 20 (2 weeks)
Symphony 40 (4 weeks)
Quintet in A maj for clarinet (2 weeks)
Piano Sonata in A maj K.331 (2 weeks)
Concerto for bassoon and orchestra in B-flat major, K. 191
Robert Schumann (1848) (Early Romantic)
Carnaval (for piano)
Scenes from Childhood for piano
Symphony no 1 in B flat Op 38 "Spring"
Symphony no 2 in C Op 61
an arabeske or humoreske
Liederkreis or other song cycle
Richard Wagner (1813-1883); Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) (German Romantic)
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll (orchestral)
Wagner: Selections from The Valkyries (opera)
Wagner: The Love Feast of the Twelve Apostles (choral) (massive work requiring 1200 singers and 100 instruments!) (4 weeks)
Offenbach: Selections from Orpheus in the Underworld (opera)
Offenbach: Selections from The Tales of Hoffmann (opera)
Russian nationalists
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony 2 'Antar'
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Cappriccio Espagnol
Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain
George Frideric Handel (1750) (Baroque)
Messiah (an oratorio) (4 weeks)
Water music
Any of the organ concerti (such as Organ Concerto in B-flat Major, op. 7,no. 6)
Rinaldo (opera)
Harmonious Blacksmith (from suite in E major)
Camille Saint-Saens and Hector Berlioz (1850) (Early Romantic)
Saint-Saens - Symphony no 3 in C min
Saint-Saens - Danse Macabre
Saint-Saens - Carnaval of Animals (Le Carnaval des Animaux in French)
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Berlioz - Dance of the Sylphs
Berlioz - Rakoczy March from the Damnation of Faust
Johann Sebastain Bach (1730) (Baroque)
Magnificat in D (4 weeks)
Chaconne (2 weeks)
any Church cantata (2 weeks)
Brandenburg Concerto no. 6 (2 weeks)
Art of the Fugue (2 weeks)
Franz Liszt (1855) (Early Romantic)
Piano Concerto no 1
Hungarian Rhapsodies, especially no 2
Les Preludes
Liebestraum for piano (watch pianist Evigny Kissin on YouTube)
Piano Sonata in B min
Mephisto Waltz
Gustav Mahler (1895) and Anton Bruckner (Late Romantic/20th Century)
Mahler: Symphony 1 (Titan)
Mahler: Symphony 9
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder (song cycle)
Bruckner: Symphony no 4
20th Century British
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony 1 (A Sea Symphony)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Edward Elgar: Serenade for String Orchestra in E minor Op 20
Edward Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance
Edward Elgar: "Enigma" Variations
Edvard Grieg (1890) & Jean Sibelius (nationalists)
Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite no 1
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A
Grieg - Norwegian Dance no 2
Sibelius - Finlandia
Sibelius - Symphony 1 OR 2 (4 weeks)
Maurice Ravel (1915) (Impressionist)
Daphne et Chloe - selections
Bolero
Mother Goose Suite
Pavane pour une infante dufunte
Piano Concerto in D for left hand
Rhapsody espagnole