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

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