The Music And Society Quiz

Rembetika

Traditional Cretese music

Any music written for the instrument bouzouki

What Americans of Greek origin considered authentic Greek music

Answers a, b, d, and f are right

Though he played bouzouki in certain years, he was a violinist

He was a landowner and an amateur musician

He was an employee of certain aristocratic families in Vienna

He was an independent musician, though he lived also thank to the patronage of Viennese patrician families

He was an independent musician who lived only off the money that he generated through the concerts that he organised and the royalties of his publications

It depends on the patronage of a given ruler

It is by nature exceptional and unique (not to be reproduced or staged over and over)

It celebrates an important official event

It is reserved to a selected audience, each of whose member had been invited by the ruler

None of these definitions is correct

All of these definitions are correct, with the exception of e

The main goal of those involved in its production was to make money

It was by nature serial and to be staged over and over

It did not celebrate anything

Anybody who could afford to pay the ticket could attend the performances

It was sung only by castrati

All of the previous definitions are correct, with the sole exception of e

None of these definitions is correct

A specific site (city, neighbourhood, venue, etc.) were a specific kind of music is performed

A cluster of music groups sharing the same characteristics in the same years, sometimes in exactly the same place(s)

The context in which clusters of producers, musicians, and fans collectively share their common musical tastes and collectively distinguish themselves from others

Is synonymous with stage

None of the definitions is correct

An Afro-American music

It is based on texts of sadness, exploitation, misery set to a specific music

It is based on a mixture of minor and major scales

It is based on 12 bar musical phrases

All the definitions are correct

It is fast and plaid high volume

It is based on elementary chords and rhythms – though it has become more and more complex over the years

It is a protest music

It is experimental music

It has no strong political connotations

It is a music based on the idea of rejection: of conventions, of rock and roll conventions, of social rules, of the system as a whole

Answers a, b, c, f are correct

Answers a, b, d, and e are correct

It is sung and plaid by musicians of Yemenite origin

It is the music of the lower classes, often of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern origins

The singers sing with a nasal quality of the voice

It is based on standard Western popular music forms coupled with different Arabic, Greek, and Turkish musical elements

The harmony is static, with wide spread use of Arabic cyclic rhythmic patterns

An abundant use of vocal trilling

All the answers are correct

Though answers a and b are partially right, the correct answers are c, d, e, f

It comes from the latin divus (feminine, diva)– that is, divine

It is a different name for prima donnas (first women) of a given vocal musical ensemble, mostly in opera

It denotes capricious, unpredictable, voluble behaviour

All the answers are correct

A creator

Someone who creates out of nothing

Someone who leads others to create together something, while those who do take part in the creation, are largely unaware of the ultimate goal of the demiurge

Though a and b are correct, answer c is the most comprehensive and correct of all

Any music other than opera

Instrumental as well as vocal music performed in aristocratic venues and circles

Music that is written in a complex way, so that only connoisseurs can truly relate to it

Music that is not made just to entertain the audience, but rather to compel the listeners to tune in to its complex structure

In Haydn’s words (Eroica documentary movie), music whose intent was “to strike a balance between the intellect and the soul”. Beethoven however took a path more oriented towards exploring, expressing, enquiring the soul

None of the above answers is correct

Answers c, d, e are correct

All the answers are correct

Because they did not conform to social norms

Rebetiko’s texts were dimmed unfit to be heard, its music too Oriental and coarse; Arabeske had music either too Oriental, or too pop, and the texts were too much focused on personal defeats and resignation; Mizrahit was considered vulgar, too Oriental, not refined, an not contributing to the building of a new, indigenous Israeli culture

Answer b is correct but there is no mention of a common factor, that exists, and it is the fact that all three countries considered themselves for many years countries in the process of turning into real, new/old nations. Popular cultural therefore, music included, had to conform to specific aesthetic norms and cultural values

None of the above answers is correct, each of these phenomena must be judged on its own

All the answers are correct, with the exception of answer d

He had to move quite often because of external circumstances and personal choices. In each new place he had to adapt himself and his music to the current tastes of the place. His case is exemplar because he shows two important things: that popular music has individual protagonists and not only collective ones; and that also in this framework (ethnic musics), a musician is always conditioned by his social and cultural environment

His case is just as different from Beethoven’s as one can possibly imagine. This is why he is one of our course’s subjects, and he has been examined alongside Beethoven’s genius. As to his musical changes, they were born out of curiosity

He was a creative genius not less than Beethoven. As to his switching between different genres, it was due to his eclectic attitude and curiosity, which further proves his musical genius

Whatever Papadakis did, changes and switches included, was the norm among rebetiko and Cretese musicians. That is why we considered his case exemplar

Enchantment produced by singing and wonder caused by the scenography were both indispensable ingredients to the success of any given opera

Arias were enchanting because during their performance time stood still. Their performance was mostly given on the fore-stage, because they had little to do with the plot. They were a pure expression of an abstract feeling produced by the most moving of all instruments, the human voice. The scenography and its machinery also were the source of major wonder

Though answers a and b are absolutely right, they do not address the common factor, i.e., the need of the society to see itself as an enchanted world, whereby everything is exceptional. From this point of view, opera wasn’t, but a very effective mirror of a desire turned into self-image

Answers a and b are correct. There isn’t any common factor unifying the two features, that both contributed to make any opera performance special

None of the above answers is correct

Authenticity was a key factor in the decision made by the direction of the Greek public radio in the 1970s to ban Costas Papadakis because he plaid the violin, an instrument considered foreign to the authentic Cretan musical tradition, even though it features prominently in music performances on the island since more than 4 centuries

Authenticity is a key factor in musical tourism in Chicago. People want to experience the real, authentic Chicago blues and jazz. Venues for this two different kinds of music are supposed to have specific characteristics

Answers a and b are correct. Authenticity is often the key word for taking a specific phenomenon that took place in a given place at a given time, and make it an immutable point of reference. This notion of authenticity is exclusive and tends to ignore the complexity of real, ongoing phenomena. Authenticity is also sometimes synonymous with true. The truth it refers to is a construct

All the above answers are not correct

Authenticity was the key word in the fight waged by Haydn’s followers against Beethoven. They claimed that his music was lacking authentic feeling

Authenticity is what characterises the life and art of Maria Callas and Britney Spears in the eyes of their followers

There are no differences at all. British and USA punk labels distribute bands that musically and politically are mutually interchangeable.

Answer a is correct, under certain respects. The differences lie in the fact that independent British labels tend to bankrupt, Americans not. It stems from the fact the Brits live in a society marked by strong class differences, where social solidarity within one’s social class is more important than anything else. The Americans live in a culture that puts strong emphasis on personal responsibility, stressing the need to survive by yourself at any cost

The main differences across the Atlantic Ocean lie in the musical and political differences between British and American bands. Whereas British band are much more political and outspoken, their music being much less refined and actually coarse than that of American bands, the USA groups focus more on the musical quality of their performances

All the answers are partially right. None however is satisfactory enough

It was a musical school, characterised by a soft and mellow sound and many experimentations. It was not a music scene

It was a virtual music scene, invented/created by the press

Though it was a virtual music scene, the bands labelled as Canterbury School were actually made by people who grew up in the Canterbury area in England

The bands had little in common, but they were all experimental in nature, they all blended pop and rock elements with folk, jazz, electronic music. Most of their pieces were quite long and defied the LP format

The media and the market are in constant need of labelling phenomena. Labelling means also marketing. Hence the sometimes artificial creation of countless sub-genres, such as the Canterbury School

All the previous answers are correct

All the previous answers are correct, with the exception of a and f

Simulacrum is an image of the sacred. As if it’s the sacred being. Divas are divine by definition, of this world and not of this world. They bring the audience into a different dimension. The audience adores a simulacrum. It is the medium to a transcendent dimension. The press allows the audience to share the simulacrum, to devour pieces of it by plunging into his/her private dimension

Simulacrum is an interesting and brilliant metaphor of the diva-like being and experience. Yet, the two dimensions do not share anything. The press provides the audience gossip about divas

The whole question is absolutely out of place

Answers a and b are both somehow correct, but only in part

The question is not out of place, and yet the answer are not correct at all. All of them

Because she is an image to a sound that has become a commodity

Because of her sexual ambiguity – virgin and sexy, innocent and lascivious , so common and middle class and yet diva like

Because she successfully placed herself at the intersection of fashion and music

Because she it the perfect example of how the mass media and the entertainment industry converge in creating a series of illusions that are in turn functional to the making of a brand and therefore of a commodity

Because she is the most typical example of a person made into an image, and the image becomes the commodity

Because she is a star with no talent

All the above answers are correct, with the exception of answer f

Herbert von Karajan does not make any effort to establish an eye-to-eye communication with the players. He seems to be wanting to keep a distance

He is very kind and respectful towards the orchestra members

Though extremely courteous on a formal level, von Karajan treats the musicians like necessary appendixes who must carry on his orders

Answers a and c are correct

Though correct, answers a and c do not address the fact that von Karajan through the films about his rehearsals wants to communicate how much he is in control of even the most minute of all details, and how every performance isn’t but the perfect implementation of his will and vision

Though correct, answers a and c do not explain the very simple fact that von Karajan wants just to show how he works

Answer f is simplistic. Answer e is correct and almost complete. Von Karajan is the epitome of the conductor as the role model of a leader in an authoritarian society (Adorno)

None of the answer is either correct or complete