The Renaissance

The Renaissance: ca. 1425–1600 1. The Renaissance may be described as an age of __________. a) the “rebirth” of Enlightenment-era logic b) war and death c) orchestras touring extensively in Europe d) the “rebirth” of arts and sciences from antiquity 2. The Renaissance was an age of growing confidence in __________. a) the government and group dynamics b) mystical intervention c) industrial technologies d) the powers of human reason and individuality 3. William Byrd was a __________. 7 a) Catholic who wrote Protestant music for the English monarch b) Protestant who wrote Catholic music for the English monarch c) heretic who was persecuted by the French government d) Protestant who wrote Protestant music for the English monarch 4. Counterpoint is a(n) _________________ that is still taught in almost exactly the same manner as it was in the Renaissance. a) easy method b) demanding art c) secret code d) improvisatory practice 5. Josquin had his music praised by __________. a) Hildegard of Bingen b) an agent of the Duke of Ferrara c) Pope Gregory I d) Julius Caesar 6. In Josquin’s “The Cricket,” when the text sings about drinking, __________. a) a smooth, flowing melody that evokes liquid is heard b) the melody is sung in octaves c) cricket-like chirping that sounds like the hiccups of a drinker is heard d) cricket-like mating sounds are heard 7. Martin Luther declared which of the following? a) “Josquin is sinfully abusive of the art of music, while other composers write with true artistry and beauty.” b) “Josquin is the master of the notes, which must follow his wishes, while other composers must follow what the notes demand.” c) “Josquin is well behind the times in his compositions and has no idea of how to master the notes as other composers do.” d) “No composer is worthy of writing music for worship, and the church should go back to the traditional Gregorian chant in Latin.” 8. What is the name for the equal-voice texture that results from Renaissance counterpoint? a) monophony b) homophony c) polyphony d) heterophony 8 9. “The Cricket” praises the singing of __________. a) the minstrels of the royal court b) children in the summertime c) crickets over birds d) all of the above 10. Which is the following ideas does the text of “The Cricket” explore? a) love songs b) warfare c) swimming d) dancing 11. Josquin’s music makes the meaning of a text __________. a) less obvious b) more vivid and memorable c) difficult to understand d) battle the movement of the melodic line 12. In “The Cricket,” Josquin uses catchy, clever rhythms to evoke the __________. a) sound of the cricket b) rhythms of dance c) fanfare of a trumpet d) carefree feeling of children at play 13. How does Josquin use word painting to emphasize the word “love”? a) long notes b) parallel thirds c) melisma d) back-and-forth between upper and lower voices 14. Which voice is most prominent in Josquin’s four-voice texture? a) the alto voice b) the tenor voice c) the bass voice d) They are all essentially equal. 15. Josquin’s “The Cricket” uses what kind of form? a) binary b) ternary c) sonata c) rondo 16. In Josquin’s “The Cricket,” the A section __________. 9 a) appears both before and after a contrasting B section b) is first heard in the middle of the B section c) repeats nonstop in the tenor voice throughout the song d) is heard once at the beginning of the song and doesn’t return 17. How is the B section of “The Cricket” different from the A section? a) It is lower in register and slightly darker in sound. b) It has faster rhythms. c) It has fewer voices and is thinner in texture. d) It has longer notes and is slower. 18. Josquin des Prez was __________. a) unknown in his day b) an international celebrity in his time c) born a nobleman in southern France d) also a noted painter and sculptor 19. In which cathedral did Josquin spend several years working? a) Westminster Cathedral in London b) Almudena Cathedral in Madrid c) St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome d) St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna 20. How was “The Cricket” performed in the Renaissance? a) with singers alone b) always with singers and instruments c) with instruments alone d) with whatever combination of voices or instruments available 21. Manuscripts for Renaissance polyphony __________. a) always included the song text b) never included the song text c) sometimes had the song text and sometimes did not d) included song text alongside suggested instrument combinations 22. Which music imitates the sounds and gestures of legendary fighting monkeys? a) the Kaluli of Papua New Guinea b) Balinese Cecak c) La bataille d) none of the above 23. Which movement represents the Catholic Church’s response to Protestantism? a) Calvinism b) Lutheranism c) the Counter-Reformation d) humanism 10 24. Which assembly was responsible for crafting the Catholic Church’s reaction to the Protestant Reformation? a) the Council of Trent b) the Vienna group c) the Council of Nicea d) the synod of Paris 25. What did the Council of Trent seek to remove from musical settings of the Mass? a) female voices b) homophony c) priests d) secular musical influences 26. Which of the following best describes the myth that has developed around Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass? a) Palestrina saved polyphony with the Mass. b) Palestrina composed the Mass to demonstrate his Catholicism. c) The Council of Trent immediately rejected the Mass. d) The pope died suddenly after hearing it. 27. The Mass is the ritual reenactment of which of the following? a) Christ’s death and resurrection b) the conversion of Emperor Constantine c) Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples d) the Buddhist philosophy of reincarnation 28. The Ordinary and the Proper are the terms for what two kinds of Mass texts, respectively? a) texts that never change and those connected to specific seasons, weeks, or days b) texts that are improvised and those that are fixed c) texts connected to specific seasons, weeks, or days and those that never change d) texts in Greek and those in Latin 29. Which of the following are parts of the Mass Ordinary? a) Credo and Allelulia b) Gloria and Agnus Dei c) Sanctus and Epistle d) Kyrie and Allelulia 30. How has the Catholic Mass change changed since the mid-1960s? a) The Ordinary is typically no longer sung. b) The Propers are now typically sung. c) Services are typically in the vernacular now. d) The “Gloria” has been removed. 31. What makes the Pope Marcellus Mass a capella? a) It is performed with instruments. b) It is in Latin. c) It is sung by voices alone. 11 d) It was composed by an Italian. 32. Which two voice parts does Palestrina use extras of to create a six-part texture? a) soprano and alto b) soprano and tenor c) alto and tenor d) tenor and bass 33. What does an elided cadence omit? a) consonant harmony b) the silence that follows a full cadence c) textual repetition d) the use of all voices 34. How does Palestrina create a variety of textures? a) He alternates between five-voice homophony and five-voice polyphony. b) He doubles each voice with an instrument. c) He employs different combinations of his six-voice ensemble. d) He alternates between unison monophony and six-voice homophony. 35. What is dissonance? a) the harsh sound created when two or more notes clash b) contrasting notes that create a harmony that sounds “sweet” and pleasing c) the silence omitted by an elided cadence d) a rhythm that flows consistently 36. What is the term for harmony, created by contrasting notes, that sounds “sweet” and pleasing? a) dissonance b) elision c) consonance d) a capella 37. Which statement best describes Palestrina’s use of dissonance in the “Gloria”? a) A dash of dissonance now and then enhances the overall flavor. b) The more dissonance the better. c) Dissonance is evil and is to be avoided at all costs. d) A composition should consists of equal parts consonance and dissonance. 38. How does Palestrina keep the music from becoming rhythmically monotonous? a) by maintaining a consistently steady, even flow b) by inserting brief passages of faster rhythmic motion c) by slowing down slightly over the course of the movement d) by giving each phrase of the text a simlar melodic idea 39. From where does Palestrina’s name come? a) the city where he died b) the church where he was baptized 12 c) the town near Rome where he was born d) the basilica where he worked 40. Which prominent church employed Palestrina and now houses his tomb? a) St. Peter’s Basilica b) the Cathedral of Notre Dame c) Winchester Cathedral d) the Duomo in Florence 41. The style of composition that combines complex polyphony with clarity, beauty, and grace is known as the __________ style. a) Weelkes b) des Prez c) Palestrina d) Marcellus 13