Special Sub-Topic: Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries Click Here To Play: Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Who was the composer of "Quatuor pour la fin du temps"?

Olivier Messiaen. Olivier Messiaen composed "Quatuor pour la fin du temps" or "Quartet for the End of Time" while in Görlitz, a Nazi prison camp.

Composer Sofia Gubaidulina was born in what country?

Russia. Sofia Gubaidulina was born in 1931 in Chistopol, in what is now Russia.

Which of the following pieces was NOT composed by György Ligeti?

Signs, Games and Messages. "Signs, Games and Messages" is an ongoing composition by György Kurtag, begun in 1989. "Le Grand Macabre" is an opera by Ligeti, composed in 1977. "Lux Aeterna" is Ligeti's work for 16 solo singers, written in 1966. "Chromatische Phantasie" is a piece by Ligeti for solo piano, composed in 1956.

Which of the following pieces was composed by Igor Stravinsky?

L'histoire du Soldat. Stravinsky's "L'histoire du Soldat" was composed in 1918.

In Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire", which of the following is NOT found in the text?

Coffin nails. "Pierrot Lunaire" was premiered in 1912. It is scored for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano.

Which of these composers was most strongly associated with dodecaphony?

Anton Webern. Dodecaphony refers to the twelve-tone method of composition, which was developed by Arnold Schoenberg, and used by his student, Anton Webern.

Which of the following composers wrote a series of "Sequenza", one each for voice and several solo instruments?

Luciano Berio. Berio wrote a total of 14 sequenzas - for flute, harp, voice, piano, trombone, viola, oboe, violin, clarinet, trumpet, guitar, bassoon, accordion, and cello.

Which of these composers is associated with the term "the new complexity"?

Brian Ferneyhough. The New Complexity is a movement characterized by music that requires complex musical notation.

What style of music is most strongly associated with the music of Philip Glass?

Minimalism. Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley were pioneers of the minimalist movement.

Which of the following composers is NOT well-known for his or her religious works?

Dmitri Shostakovich. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and Gubaidulina and Pärt are also deeply religious. Shostakovich was an atheist.