Selected Works
The "drinking gourd" itself was a nickname for what constellation?
Big Dipper
What popular patriotic song, published in 1910, contains the phrase "from sea to shining sea"?
America the Beautiful
The speed of the beat is called...
Where did George Washington first hear a performance of Benjamin Franklin's "armonica"?
Williamsburg
The primary theater district in New York, named for the street that runs through the heart of it.
Broadway
How long did it take Xian Xinghai to compose the "Yellow River Cantata"?
Six days
Within which musical era did Fryderyk Chopin live?
Romantic
What's an octave?
The distance from one key to the next higher or lower one.
What is the most common written language used for specialized markings in music?
Italian
A concert that features one performer who is perhaps supported by an accompanist; the performer often sings or plays from memory.
Recital
What year was the musical "The Pajama Game" first presented on Broadway?
1954
What genre did Franz Liszt effectively invent?
Symphonic Poem
What are cadences?
The resting point in a piece of music
South American water drums are played by the...
Chacho
An instrumental genre for a solo instrument, usually in several movements; most sonatas for wind or string instruments are accompanied by a keyboard.
Sonata
Camille Saint-Saens wrote "The Carnival of the Animals" for what type of party?
Mardi Gras
What did a group of young men who were digging a foundation at the new Fisk University discover?
Piles of Chains and Manacles
Name the 4 groups instruments are categorized in:
Chordophones, Aerophones, Membranophones, Idiophones
The first performances of the "armonica" were by who in the first half of 1762?
Marianne Davies
A compositional style initiated in France that de-emphasizes functional harmony, conventional forms, and rhythmic pulse, often resulting in a fluid, floating sensation
Impressionism
Who did Debussy compose "Children's Corner" for?
His daughter Claude-Emma
Which composer suffered from seasickness in spite of composing a piece about calm seas?
Mendelssohn
What is the form (also known as the ABA form) in which 2 sections of very similar music frame a contrasting middle section?
Ternary Form
What is the instrument that is a water driven organ of the ancient Greeks?
The Hydraulis
An instrument (invented by Benjamin Franklin) made of nested glass bowls spinning on an axle; moistened fingers resting on the bowls’ rims create tones.
Armonica