MiM quiz – Expert level / Education

Remember, this quiz is not about testing your knowledge about contemporary music. It's all about getting to know the four composers - their music, techniques, but also inspirations and private stories. We invite you to take on this challenge - discover the universe of four personalities and dive in into their music.

Creative periods - Louis Andriessen

Which work by the composer is earlier? Which is later?

The earlier one should be indicated.

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Louis Andriessen’s music is often divided into pre- and post-De Staat (1972):

  1. Ittrospezione III (1965) – music that fits in well with the avant-garde of the 1960s.
  2. Excerpt from De Materie (first part) - its characteristic features include clear pulsation, repetitions, Stravinsky and jazz influences.

Inspirations from outside European classical music were important to each of the four composers

The task is to link the source of inspiration to the right name.

folklore

Although elements of Polish folklore found their way into Kazimierz Serocki’s music only for a few years and to some extent were associated with a need for a compromise with the ideology of Stalinist Poland, the artistic results of these inspirations are still worthy of note.

jazz

Louis Andriessen’s creative imagination was under the influence of jazz from his early youth.

gamelan

Although generally Pierre Boulez was far from imitating folk music or music of other cultures, the sound of non-European instruments, like those in the Indonesian gamelan, often attracted him more than the conventional sound of classic European ensembles and orchestras.

bells

The term “tintinnabuli”, which Arvo Pärt uses to describe his own style and technique denotes “little bells” (Lat.).

Composers and trends of music of the recent and distant past had a considerable influence on all four composers. Link a source of inspiration to a composer.

Igor Stravinsky

The affinity between Stravinsky’s and Louis Andriessen’s music is evidenced not only by the Dutch composer’s works but also by a book devoted to the Russian’s oeuvre which Louis Andriessen co-authored (The Apollonian Clockwork).

Bela Bartók

The impact of Bartók’s music can easily be discerned in Kazimierz Serocki’s oeuvre of the first half of the 1950s, for example, in his Sonata for piano.

Gregorian chant, early polyphony

To a large extent the style and techniques Arvo Pärt developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s were a result of his studies of Renaissance and late medieval polyphony, and Gregorian chant.

Anton Webern

The avant-garde of the 1950s, including Pierre Boulez, considered the music of Anton Webern to be its predecessor and model to be developed further.

Creative periods - Arvo Pärt

Which work by the composer is earlier? Which is later?

The earlier one should be indicated.

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Perpetuum mobile (1963) was written before Arvo Pärt’s tintinnabuli period, Adam’s Lament (2010) is one of more recent works by Arvo Pärt.

20th- and 21st-century composers would often explain their composition techniques and engage in more general theoretical reflections

Many published books or articles; some conducted lectures at universities or courses, sometimes also commented on their works during encounters with non-expert audiences. But there were also those who did not comment on their oeuvres, assuming that music spoke for itself.

He published many books on music written by himself and other composers (especially 20th-century composers). In addition to educational and theoretical work addressed to specialists (composers, musicians, theorists), he devoted a lot of attention to providing comments on contemporary works for concertgoers, including young people.

He lectured in composition at conservatories and courses for young composers. He wrote one book – but he did not devote it to his own oeuvre but to the music of a composer that was artistically particularly close to him.

He did not give interviews and was reluctant to comment on his own oeuvre. He included his reflections on the foundations of his music in several hitherto unpublished lectures.

He did not write about his own music, but in interviews and numerous contributions on various occasions he said a lot about it.

Creative periods - Kazimierz Serocki

Which work by the composer is earlier? Which is later?

The earlier one should be indicated.

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Concerto for Trombone is an example of neoclassicism, folklorism in Kazimierz Serocki’s music (1952–53); Fantasia elegiaca – of sonorism (1971–72).

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