Music Theory
This symbol raises a note by one half step.
What is a sharp?
Although he composed only one opera, Fidelio, he is better known for his nine symphonies and 32 piano sonatas.
Who is Ludwig van Beethoven?
This era of music is known for emotional expression, dramatic contrasts, and composers like Chopin and Liszt.
What is the Romantic period?
This composer’s Symphony No. 5 begins with one of the most recognizable four-note motifs in classical music.
Who is Ludwig van Beethoven?
This brass instrument uses a slide instead of valves to change pitch.
What is the trombone?
This compositional technique involves one melody being imitated by another voice entering after it begins.
What is a fugue?
This Russian composer completed only one symphony before turning his attention primarily to ballet, composing The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring.
Who is Igor Stravinsky?
This instrument maker from Italy created famous violins that are still played today.
Who is Antonio Stradivari?
Known as the "New World Symphony," this composer's Symphony No. 9 was inspired by his time in America.
Who is Antonín Dvořák?
This woodwind instrument uses a single reed and is commonly heard in both orchestras and jazz ensembles.
What is the clarinet?
This term describes the process of changing from one key to another during a piece of music.
What is modulation?
This composer completed the opera Turandot only in part before his death in 1924.
Who is Giacomo Puccini?
This period of music came before the Baroque and includes composers like Palestrina and Josquin des Prez.
What is the Renaissance?
This composer’s Symphony No. 4, nicknamed "Italian," was inspired by his travels through Italy.
Who is Felix Mendelssohn?
This large double-reed instrument produces the lowest sound among the standard orchestral woodwinds.
What is the contrabassoon?
A chord built by stacking three minor thirds is called this type of chord.
What is a diminished seventh chord?
Known for his use of leitmotifs, this composer wrote the four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung.
Who is Richard Wagner?
This 1740s collection of keyboard works by J.S. Bach demonstrated the possibilities of playing in all major and minor keys and became a landmark of tonal harmony.
What is The Well-Tempered Clavier?
This composer’s Symphony No. 2, nicknamed "Resurrection," concludes with a massive finale featuring chorus and soloists.
Who is Gustav Mahler?
This instrument’s name comes from the Italian words meaning "soft-loud," referring to its ability to play different dynamics.
What is the piano (pianoforte)?
In four-part writing, this voice-leading error occurs when two voices move in the same direction from one perfect fifth (or octave) to another perfect fifth (or octave).
What are parallel fifths (or parallel octaves)?
This French Romantic composer pioneered the use of the idée fixe in his Symphonie fantastique.
Who is Hector Berlioz?
This wealthy Florentine family were among the most influential patrons of Renaissance art and music.
Who were the Medici family?
This composer wrote a Symphony No. 8 nicknamed the "Unfinished," though some scholars debate whether it was intentionally incomplete.
Who is Franz Schubert?
This brass instrument is pitched in F and uses a rotary valve system in its modern form, though early versions lacked valves entirely.
What is the French horn?