- 1. The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross is an insightful and expansive exploration of the music of the twentieth century, intricately weaving together the social, political, and cultural contexts that shaped the landscape of modern classical music. Ross, a music critic for The New Yorker, takes readers on a captivating journey from the aftermath of World War I through the rise of composers like Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Copland, illustrating how their revolutionary works changed the fabric of musical expression. The narrative is rich with anecdotes about key figures in the music world, revealing their personal struggles and triumphs, as well as the reception of their innovative compositions. Through his meticulous research and engaging prose, Ross not only chronicles the evolution of musical styles and philosophies but also addresses the profound impact of historical events on the art of music, showcasing how the fears, joys, and conflicts of the century found their voice through sound. The book is not just a history; it is a passionate plea for the appreciation of music's complexity and its crucial role in shaping human experience, making it an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the intricate tapestry of music that defines the modern era.
What is the subtitle of Alex Ross's book 'The Rest is Noise'?
A) The Sound of Revolution
B) From Wagner to Radiohead
C) A History of Modern Music
D) Listening to the Twentieth Century
- 2. Which city was the center of a musical revolution in the early 20th century, as described by Ross?
A) Vienna
B) London
C) New York
D) Paris
- 3. What is the term for the atonal composition system developed by the Second Viennese School?
A) Minimalism
B) Twelve-tone technique
C) Impressionism
D) Chance music
- 4. Which American composer, known for his populist style, is discussed in the chapter 'The Art of Fear'?
A) George Gershwin
B) Aaron Copland
C) John Cage
D) Charles Ives
- 5. Under which totalitarian regime did Dmitri Shostakovich compose his controversial symphonies?
A) Fascist Italy
B) Soviet Union
C) Francoist Spain
D) Nazi Germany
- 6. What was the name of the Nazi exhibition that denounced modern art and music as 'degenerate'?
A) Entartete Kunst
B) Die Endlösung
C) Volksmusik
D) Gleichschaltung
- 7. Which French composer is associated with the musical style of Impressionism?
A) Hector Berlioz
B) Claude Debussy
C) Gabriel Fauré
D) Camille Saint-Saëns
- 8. What is the name of the method of composition using random elements, pioneered by John Cage?
A) Polytonality
B) Serialism
C) Chance operations
D) Microtonality
- 9. Which work by John Cage famously consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence?
A) Sonatas and Interludes
B) 4'33"
C) Music of Changes
D) Imaginary Landscape
- 10. Which American minimalist composer wrote 'Music for 18 Musicians'?
A) Philip Glass
B) Terry Riley
C) Steve Reich
D) John Adams
- 11. Which composer's work is central to the chapter 'The Pastoral'?
A) Benjamin Britten
B) Ralph Vaughan Williams
C) Gustav Holst
D) Jean Sibelius
- 12. What musical technique, involving the use of two or more keys simultaneously, is discussed in the book?
A) Dodecaphony
B) Atonality
C) Polytonality
D) Sprechgesang
- 13. The book discusses the impact of which technology on the dissemination of music in the 20th century?
A) Telegraph
B) Telephone
C) Cinema
D) Radio
- 14. Which composer is known for developing 'metric modulation'?
A) Elliott Carter
B) Ned Rorem
C) Leonard Bernstein
D) Samuel Barber
- 15. Which American composer, discussed by Ross, incorporated jazz elements into classical forms?
A) Aaron Copland
B) George Gershwin
C) Leonard Bernstein
D) Duke Ellington
- 16. What is the name of the electronic music studio in Cologne where Stockhausen worked?
A) WDR Studio for Electronic Music
B) IRCAM
C) BBC Radiophonic Workshop
D) Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center
- 17. Which composer wrote the 'War Requiem'?
A) William Walton
B) Benjamin Britten
C) Michael Tippett
D) Ralph Vaughan Williams
- 18. Which American composer is noted for developing a complex, dissonant style and living as an insurance executive?
A) Charles Ives
B) Aaron Copland
C) Leonard Bernstein
D) John Cage
- 19. What groundbreaking 1913 ballet caused a scandal with its primitive rhythms and dissonance?
A) Swan Lake
B) Petrushka
C) The Firebird
D) The Rite of Spring
- 20. Who composed the opera 'Wozzeck', a key work of atonal expressionism discussed in the book?
A) Kurt Weill
B) Alban Berg
C) Gustav Mahler
D) Anton Webern
- 21. Which composer is most associated with the twelve-tone technique or serialism?
A) Béla Bartók
B) Maurice Ravel
C) Arnold Schoenberg
D) Igor Stravinsky
- 22. What was the name of the artistic and cultural movement in Weimar Germany that influenced composers like Kurt Weill?
A) New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit)
B) Dadaism
C) Futurism
D) Symbolism
- 23. Which American composer is known for using 'prepared piano' and ideas of chance in music?
A) Philip Glass
B) Steve Reich
C) George Gershwin
D) John Cage
- 24. Which Russian composer faced official condemnation from the Soviet government in 1948?
A) Igor Stravinsky
B) Dmitri Shostakovich
C) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
D) Sergei Prokofiev
- 25. What is the name of the minimalist composition by Steve Reich that uses phasing tape loops?
A) Music for 18 Musicians
B) It's Gonna Rain
C) In C
D) Einstein on the Beach
- 26. What was the title of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio address program, which featured classical music?
A) The Oval Office Hour
B) National Radio Address
C) American Voices
D) Fireside Chats
- 27. Which composer led the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop and is known for the 'Doctor Who' theme?
A) Karlheinz Stockhausen
B) Brian Eno
C) Delia Derbyshire
D) Pierre Boulez
- 28. Who was the Hungarian composer known for his ethnomusicological work and use of folk melodies?
A) Béla Bartók
B) Franz Liszt
C) Zoltán Kodály
D) György Ligeti
- 29. What 1960s countercultural event featured performances by avant-garde composers like La Monte Young?
A) The Harlem Renaissance
B) Woodstock
C) The Paris Exposition
D) The Fluxus movement
- 30. What term describes the style of composers like Arvo Pärt, using simple harmonies and silence?
A) New Simplicity
B) Neo-Classical
C) Sacred Serialism
D) Holy Minimalism
- 31. Which opera by Benjamin Britten is a central work in the book's discussion of post-war British music?
A) Peter Grimes
B) Death in Venice
C) The Turn of the Screw
D) Billy Budd
- 32. Which American composer wrote the politically charged opera 'The Mother of Us All' about Susan B. Anthony?
A) Virgil Thomson
B) Gian Carlo Menotti
C) Samuel Barber
D) Ned Rorem
- 33. Who is the author of 'The Rest is Noise'?
A) Alex Ross
B) Igor Stravinsky
C) John Cage
D) Leonard Bernstein
- 34. Which Strauss opera scandalized audiences with its depiction of sexuality and biblical subject matter?
A) Elektra
B) Der Rosenkavalier
C) Ariadne auf Naxos
D) Salome
- 35. What is the collective name for Schoenberg and his pupils Berg and Webern?
A) The Vienna Circle
B) The Expressionists
C) The Atonalists
D) The Second Viennese School
- 36. Which German composer remained in Germany during the Nazi regime, a subject of controversy discussed in the book?
A) Paul Hindemith
B) Arnold Schoenberg
C) Richard Strauss
D) Kurt Weill
- 37. The book discusses the influence of which African American art form on composers like Gershwin?
A) Gospel
B) Ragtime
C) Jazz
D) Blues
- 38. What post-World War II compositional school, centered in Darmstadt, emphasized total serialism?
A) The Bauhaus
B) The Vienna Group
C) The Frankfurt School
D) The Darmstadt School
- 39. Which composer, a leader of the Darmstadt School, wrote 'Gruppen' for three orchestras?
A) Luigi Nono
B) Karlheinz Stockhausen
C) Pierre Boulez
D) Iannis Xenakis
- 40. Which composer's 'Symphony of Psalms' reflects a turn towards neoclassicism?
A) Igor Stravinsky
B) Béla Bartók
C) Paul Hindemith
D) Sergei Prokofiev
- 41. The book concludes by looking at the music of which Estonian composer known for his 'tintinnabuli' style?
A) Alfred Schnittke
B) John Tavener
C) Giya Kancheli
D) Arvo Pärt
- 42. According to Ross, what was a major cultural force that shaped American music after World War II?
A) The Beat Generation
B) The Great Depression
C) The Cold War
D) The Space Race
- 43. What is the name of the state-sponsored program in the USSR that demanded music be simple and optimistic?
A) The People's Style
B) Proletarian Art
C) Soviet Classicism
D) Socialist Realism
- 44. Which influential French composer and conductor was a leading proponent of total serialism?
A) Francis Poulenc
B) Pierre Boulez
C) Henri Dutilleux
D) Olivier Messiaen
|