Listening Quiz Annotations copy PDF

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Annotations regarding the chosen pieces we are required to identify on a listening quiz. Contains summaries of the history behind each piece and certain sound qualities to listen for during the quiz....

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Listening Quiz #1 Annotations

1. Palestrina, “Agnus Dei II” from Missa Brevis Missa Brevis was first published in 1570 by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. While Missa Brevis is commonly a short mass, Palestrina’s version is longer. Of Palestrina’s repertoire, this mass is one of the most frequently performed of his polyphonic pieces. This is a sacred vocal piece sung by a choir. “Agnus Dei I & II” make up the final movement of the six movements. It consists of four to five vocal parts (the second Agnus Dei has five, increasing the vocal texture), with vocal types: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. The term, Missa brevis, is Latin for “short mass” and the Latin text of the Roman Rite Mass is set to music.

2. Monteverdi, Aria “Possente Spirto” Act III from opera Orfeo Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) composed the opera, L’Orfeo, which is a late Renaissance and early Baroque composition written in 1607. The piece “Possente Spirto,” which translates to “Mighty spirit and formidable god” is an aria in the third act of the opera. It has one lowervoiced male singer. The story of the Italian show is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus and involves stories of Hades and Eurydice. The opera, Orfeo, is known to have bold polyphony, which was unorthodox during this time period. In addition, Monteverdi lists 41 instruments to be deployed during the opera. Lastly, Monteverdi is considered a trailblazer in the development of the opera.

3. Purcell, Aria “When I am laid in earth”, Act III, from the opera Dido and Aeneas “When I am laid in earth” is an aria from the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, sung with a singular female singer with a voice type around a mezzo-soprano. Purcell (1659-1695) was an English composer and specialized in Baroque music. The opera was written around 1688, and was first performed by a girls’ school in London. Dido and Aeneas is his only all-sung dramatic work. The story is based on Virgil’s Aeneid, which involves a love story. This is also one of the earliest known English operas.

4. Vivaldi, the first movements of each season from The Four Seasons

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Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer whose best-known works include The Four Seasons, a group of four concerti written for violin. The seasons are “Spring,” “Summer,” “Autumn,” and “Winter.” Written in 1721, they were published in Amsterdam in 1725. This classical music was intended to bring to the listener’s minds the spirit and essence of each season as demonstrated in a collection of sonnets that came released with the concerti (it is unknown who composed the sonnets). Vivaldi separated each concerto into three movements with varying tempi (fast, then slow, then fast again) and textures.

5. Handel, “He shall feed His flock” from the oratorio Messiah Messiah is a Baroque oratorio in English composed by German man George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) in 1741. The text for the piece was a scriptural text derived from the King James Bible. It is one of the best-known and frequently performed choral works in Western music. The piece is a duet of female singers, one a soprano and one a mezzo-soprano, accompanied by string instruments. This piece is from Part I of the oratorio, and involves no harmony between the singers. While Messiah’s structure resembles an opera, there is no direct speech nor any dramatic form; it is an extended reflection on Jesus.

6. Bach, “Credo” (the whole section usually #1-9) from the Mass in B minor “Credo” is the second section of the Mass in B minor, which is a piece of baroque vocal and instrumental music by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), based on the complete Ordinary of the Latin Mass. This was one of his last compositions, published in 1749, before he died in 1750. This movement includes both vocal parts (both male and female) and instrumental parts (strings are prominent). The vocal parts have very much harmony, and Bach also uses polyphony in this piece. “Credo” contains nine movements within the section, and each movement is written for four to five vocal parts.

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