MUS 342

(Barone)

Final Exam Study Guide

The final exam will be administered in accord with the University schedule at the
following time:
5/10/2023, Wednesday
10:10AM - 12:10PM in HFA 147
Note the early start time. Latecomers cannot be granted extra time because other
obligations will be scheduled after 12:10pm.

Preparing for the Exam

Begin by ensuring that you know the specific works we have studied together, i.e., their
titles, composers, and year(s) of composition. Everything else we want to know and
understand is assembled around the scaffold of this repertoire. You are responsible only
for works we have studied during the semester; you are not responsible for works listed
on the syllabus that we will not have discussed before the end of our last class meeting.

Once you have a grasp of the repertoire, be sure to reflect on why we studied each work:
what particular compositional features of the work did we emphasize? What does that
work illustrate about the development of musical style and compositional technique?
What other works of the same genre have we studied? What other works have we studied
that share characteristics with that work? What does each work reveal about its culture,
especially the culture of Romanticism? Does a work have a sung text? What is the text
about? What relationships stand between music and text? What important contrasts can
be made among the works we have studied? What are the technical terms that help us
describe these works, their styles, and their techniques? These are some of the questions
that can help organize your preparation.

In addition, you are encouraged to collaborate (e.g., in study groups) when preparing for
the final exam. Be inclusive and welcoming when assembling study groups. You are
encouraged to ask the instructor questions in and outside of class. When you review a
work we have studied, listen attentively while studying the score and read carefully
discussion of the piece both in A History of Western Music and the Anthology. When
studying scores, make note of important musical features such as instrumental,
expression, dynamics, textures, text-music relationships. Avoid passive or distracted
listening, which is inefficient. Do not cram; pace your study in comfortable intervals.
Review the comments found in Quizzes 1 and 2 and the Midterm exam for pointers on
how to make your definitions precise, clear, and comprehensive; always include concrete
examples of music we have studied in our course when defining terms and supporting
arguments in an essay.

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When You Take the Exam
The exam will be handwritten during the exam period. No written or recorded, physical
or digital devices and resources of any kind may be used or consulted during the exam.
You may not communicate with other individuals when you take the exam. The exam is
subject to the University’s Student Academic Conduct policies and procedures.

NB: You may reference the work you wrote about in Assignment 4W to illustrate
terminology or as an example in your essay, where appropriate.

Part 1. Terminology. Important terms we have encountered in lectures and readings are
listed below. Be sure you understand the meanings of these terms and their relevance to
works we have studied. Remember that when defining terms, it is important to be able to
point to a composer and/or work we have studied to illuminate your definition.

 “Heiliger Dankgesang”  Eusebius

 “Ped” and “*” markings  Florestan
 ‘absolute’ music  folk song (significance for
 ambiguity (in Romantic music) Romanticism)
 American Revolution (year and  French Revolution
general significance)  fugue (and fugal)
 apotheosis narrative (in  German Romantic opera
connection with sonata form)  Germany (nineteenth-century
 augmentation and diminution unification; years and general
(rhythmic) significance)
 Bach revival of nineteenth  Goethe’s Faust
century  Heinrich Heine
 Beethoven’s late period and style  idée fixe
 Beethoven's “heroic” period and  Italy (nineteenth-century
style unification; years and general
 bel canto (opera) significance)
 cabaletta (in an Italian opera  Lied
scene)  Lieder cycle
 cantabile (in an Italian opera  mazurka
scene)  mediant (tonal and harmonic)
 Caspar David Friedrich relationships and their importance
 character piece in Romantic music
 Clara Schumann  Mit innigster Empfindung
 coda  motivic development
 col legno  oratorio (in nineteenth century
 con sordino period)
 Congress of Vienna  Napoleon Bonaparte
 ‘cyclic’ (with respect to a multi-  nocturne
movement composition)  program music
 enharmonic pitch relationship  recitative
 etude  revolutions of 1848–49

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  rubato  Theobald Boehm
 Romantic ‘fragment’  three-key exposition
 Romantic sublime  through-composed song
 Romanticism (causes, meanings)  Leitmotive
 sonata form  Gesamtkunstwerk
 strophic form  Tristan chord
 tempo di mezzo (in an Italian  ‘music drama’
opera scene)  Variation as a structural principle
 ternary form in Romantic music
 thematic transformation

Part II. Essay. The exam will contain two essay questions, of which you need answer
only one. Your response can probably be given in 250–350 words (25–35 average
sentences), but there is no specific required length. Your essay should be clear, coherent,
and substantive. Although the questions are not provided in advance, questions will be
designed as variations or combinations of the question types below.

SAMPLE QUESTION TYPES

1. Explain [how / why X] changed or developed during the period [year-year]. Support
your explanation with three specific examples of works we have studied from this period
that explain these developments; and describe the specific features of each work that are
relevant.

2. Identify and explain important style characteristics and compositional techniques of

music between [year-year]. Discuss three examples of compositions written in this period
that illustrate clearly the characteristics and techniques you think are important. If the
compositions have texts, be sure to discuss composers’ treatments of these texts in
relation to their music.

3. Explain how [a specific technique or techniques] is used in a variety of compositions

between [year-year]. Discuss three examples of compositions written in this period that
illustrate various uses of this technique [or techniques].

4. Compare / contrast the works of composer X with those of composer Y. Discuss one
example of a composition by each that illustrates the similarities and differences in their
compositional style and techniques.

In general, you will always want to be able to discuss three works in some detail when
responding to an essay question.

Listening Identification. Listening identification excerpts on the final exam will be

chosen ONLY from the following works (and movements) we will have studied. In your
preparation, you should ensure that you are familiar with our class discussions about
these works.

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  Beethoven, Symphony No. 3, op. 55, i (1803)
 Beethoven, String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132, iii (1825).
 Schubert, “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” D. 118 (1814).
 Schubert, “Die Nacht,” Op. 17, no. 4, D. 983c (1822)
 Schubert, String Quintet, D. 956, i (1828), exposition only.
 Chopin, Nocturne in Db, Op. 27, no. 2 (1835).
 Liszt, Trois études de concert, No. 3, “Un sospiro” (1845–49).
 Schumann, Dichterliebe, Op. 48, No. 1, “Im wunderschönen Monat Mai” and No.
12, “Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen” (1840).
 Schumann, Carnaval, Op. 9, nos. 5 and 6 (1834–35).
 Gottschalk, Souvenir de Porto Rico, op. 31
 Clara Wieck Schumann, Piano Trio, Op. 17, iii (1846).
 Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, v (1830), mm. 1 – 186 only.
 Schumann, Symphony No. 1, op. 38, i (1841), slow introduction and exposition only.
 Mendelssohn, St. Paul, op. 36 (1836), No. 14 (recitative and chorus: “Und als er auf dem
Wege war”) only.
 Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia, act I, no. 7, “Una voce poco fa” (1816) [NB: This corrects
a typo in the syllabus.]
 Verdi, La traviata, act 3, scena and duet (1853), mm. 75–239
 Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, act 1, scene 5 (1857–59), mm. 1 – 109 only.

Six or seven listening identification excerpts will each be accompanied by four diverse
short-answer questions. These questions can call on what we have discussed in class as
well as general principles or concepts introduced in A History of Western Music and the
score anthology. You may also need to identify similarities or differences among the
works we have studied and recognize and understand the importance of specific passages
of music that we have closely examined.

General Issues

Below is a list of important concepts and broad topics that we have touched on in some
way in our class. You may wish to review these topics to consolidate your knowledge
about them as well as relevant compositions we have studied. For study purposes, you
can build your own practice essay questions using these general topics: what pieces
would you use to illustrate your arguments about these topics?

 Characteristics of Beethoven’s late style

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 Importance and characteristics of songs in the Romantic period
 The meaning and characteristics of “program” and “absolute” music
 Private and public musical life in the nineteenth century
 Origins and characteristics of Romanticism, especially German Romanticism
 Characteristics of nineteenth-century orchestral and chamber music
 Orchestration and instrumentation in the nineteenth century
 Types of nineteenth-century piano compositions
 Treatment of tonality (especially tonal organization of movements or entire
works), harmony, melody, and motive in Romantic music
 The importance of Beethoven for the Romantic period
 Innovative treatments of sonata form in the Romantic period
 The role of virtuosity in nineteenth-century music
 Prominent types of nineteenth-century operatic plots
 Characteristics of Italian and German nineteenth-century opera