Diagnostic Exams |  Comprehensive Exams  | Sample questions and answers (Q & A) from previous comprehensive examinations  |  Masters Q & A  |  DMA Q & A  

Diagnostic Exams

All entering graduate students are required to take a diagnostic exam in music history before they may enroll in music history courses at the graduate level. The examination is administered one or two days before the beginning of the Fall term. It includes sections on all historical periods, beginning with Ancient Greek theory and music in the Middle Ages and continuing, period-by-period, through twentieth-century music. More weight is given to music since 1500 (the time of Josquin and the advent of music publishing). In the grading of the exams, students are judged by a higher standard on later music, particularly that of the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Each section begins with general questions and progresses to more specific ones.

The exam includes but is not limited to the following:

Students will be required also to match important works with their respective composers.

In preparing for the examination, students may wish to consult a standard undergraduate music history textbook. We recommend A History of Western Music, Fifth Edition, by Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca. This is the text that used in undergraduate music history courses at The University of Alabama.

Another textbook that covers this same material is The Development of Western Music: A History, Third Edition, by K. Marie Stolba.

Comprehensive Exams

DMA and MM Comprehensive Examinations

Comprehensive examinations are administered twice each year, once in the Fall Semester and once in the Spring Semester. All graduate students must pass the comprehensive examination before they can be admitted to candidacy in their degree program. Students who fail on the first attempt are allowed to take the examination a second time, but not in the same semester.

Students who plan to finish the MM degree in two years or in two years and a summer, or the DMA degree in three years or three years and a summer, should plan to take the examination in the Fail semester of their second year (MM) or the Spring Semester of the second year (DMA). Since students are not eligible to take the comprehensive examinations until they are enrolled in the last semester of their required course work, careful attention should be given to the selection of courses so that students may take full advantage of the rotation (most theory courses are offered semiannually). Students are not required to take the examinations in the second year; however, postponement is likely to increase the amount of time required to finish the degree.

From the Graduate Handbook:

DMA:

The examination will consist of two parts: one in the student's major area, and one split evenly between theory and history. Each part will consist of four questions, and the student will have four hours to complete each part.

Students must arrange the taking of a comprehensive written examination with the Director of Graduate Studies in Music at the beginning of the semester in which the exam is taken. A student who fails to follow this procedure must wait until the following semester to take the exam.

MM:

The examination will consist of two parts, one in the student's major area and one split evenly between theory and history. Each part will consist of two questions, and the student will have two hours to complete each part.

Students must arrange the taking of a comprehensive written examination with the Director of Graduate Studies in Music at the beginning of the semester in which the exam is taken. A student who fails to follow this procedure must wait until the following semester to take the exam.

Below are sample questions and answers from previous comprehensive examinations:


Masters Questions/Answers

Ciconia: "O rosa bella"
Question: What performance practice questions does a modern rendition of the piece raise?

Several questions concerning performance practice may be raised in relation to this piece. It must be realized that there is no single correct way of performing this music. It must also be noted that a concert performance of this music is a compromise in itself, as it presents the music in an artificial context.
When working with the manuscript, one must make decisions regarding text underlay. Syllables were most often not precisely aligned with their respective notes. A performer must decide where melismas are intended, for example.

A performer (or performers) must also decide which parts are to be sung and which are to be played. The presence of a text does not necessarily mean the line must be sung. The absence of text does not necessarily mean the part should not be sung. Often, the text would be provided on a separate manuscript.

In a piece such as “O rosa bella,” the tenor line must be brought out more than the contratenor. The tenor line is always necessary (especially in areas of imitation), while the contratenor is an expendable part.

Transcriptions to modern notation have to deal with note values (old notation used longer note values), musica ficta (attention to any accidentals the composer wrote must address whether the accidental is being used as a “courtesy” accidental or if it is being indicated because it is an exception in what performers were trained and expected to do), and time signatures (as opposed to the old mensuration signs).

Tempo was often determined by an average man’s heartrate, so it must be decided what note value would be assigned as the basic pulse. Other decisions regard which (if any) instruments are to be used, what pitch level should be used, what tuning/temperament to use, authentic pronunciation and vocal quality (a clear, almost nasal sound will help emphasize the important consonants such as fifths and octaves).

Mozart: A Major Sonata for Violin and Piano, K. 526
Question: Compare Mozart’s ensemble treatment to that of his predecessors and of Beethoven.

Mozart’s violin sonatas show a transformation in the balance and equality between the two instruments. In the Baroque era, (J. S. Bach) the sonatas placed all emphasis on the violin part, with the keyboard playing solely a supporting, accompanying role (often a realization of figured bass). During the time immediately preceeding and during Mozart’s early work with the combination, the roles had been almost completely reversed, the keyboard part dominating, and the violin playing a supporting role (doubling the melody at the interval of a third or sixth, “filling in” harmonies, etc). This was largely because the “polite houses” practically insisted that the young ladies play the piano. Violin playing was also encouraged, but not with as much emphasis. Therefore, a keyboard sonata with an added (and dispensable) violin part were very much in demand.

Mozart continued in this manner (as it came to him through composers such as Schobart and J. C. Bach; Schobart’s sonatas were Mozart’s precedent for number of movements, and J. C. Bach’s sonatas led toward a freer dialogue between the two instruments.) for his first sonatas for the combination. After hearing and playing a set of six sonatas by Schuster, Mozart’s “eyes were opened” to the possibilities of better equality between the two instruments.

In his A Major Sonata, K. 526, Mozart achieves that equality. This is especially evident in the first two movements. In the finale, the violin often doubles the keyboard part in thirds or sixths. (Ex. opening in the violin parallels the bass line.) However, the violin often does have the difficult scalar passages first presented in the piano. In this movement, there are virtuoso exchanges of material between the two parts. For example, in the refrain (mm. 167-183) the second 8 measures are a repetition of the first 8, with an exchange of parts between the violin and R. H. piano part.

This sonata leads to Beethoven in shifting the heavy emphasis on the first movement toward the finale. This sonata has been compared to Beethoven’s Kreutzer. (I could not find any material that carefully analyzed the similarities.) This comparison is probably based on the increased importance of the violin part and the shift in emphasis toward the final movement.


DMA Questions/Answers

Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp
Question: Discuss Debussy’s plan for his last group of chamber works, with special attention to orchestration.

Debussy planned to write six sonatas in 1915 towards the end of his life dedicated to his wife Emma. The first of his “6 sonates pour instruments divers” was for cello and piano. The second, for flute, viola, and harp was originally intended for flute, oboe, and harp, but he ultimately decided that the viola would better balance the two other instruments since it resembled the flute with its ability to play sustained tones, and it resembled the harp’s string timbre. The third sonata for violin and piano, more closely resembled the first sonata in its more traditional orchestration, in its more traditional use of the sonata form, and in its evocation of the fantastical: its chromatic passages resemble the cello sonata’s enigmatic second movement titled “Pierrot Lâché avec la lune” or Pierrot angry at the moon.

The next 3 sonatas, never written, would have been for clarinet and piano; for oboe, horn, and harpsichord; and for a combination of all five ensembles! (plus a string bass). Though he never finished them, we see how creative Debussy’s talent was at combining orchestral timbres.

Of course, the most original of those he completed, the “sonata en trio” shows a wide palatte of timbres including harmonics (on both viola and harp), glissando, sul ponticello, and tremelo. Like in the second movement of the cello sonata, we see how Debussy uses timbre as a form-demarcating device, since his harmonic language only contains vestiges of functional tonal harmony. We see new sections (in mvt. 1 of sonata for fl, vla, hp) signaled by sur le touche (m. 9, vla), subito pp trill m. 31, and sul ponticello (vla. m. 14).

Debussy’s return to classical forms at the end of his life was really a new way for him to explore his stylistically overlapping phrases; cellular, organic development of ideas; and exploratory, inventive use of timbre.

Carter: String Quartet No. 2
Question: Place this composition in the twentieth-century string quartet tradition.

Elliott Carter wrote of his first (1951) and second (1959) string quartets that they were two of his first “serious” pieces whereby he composed without concern for the desire or taste of his audience, or for technical consideration for his performers. The result is a quartet which contains several elements similar with previous works in this genre by Schoenberg, Bartok, and Ives.
Ives’s second quartet (1910) inspired Carter to imbue each instrument of the quartet with a distinct personality. In Ives’s work, the second movement, “arguments,” the second violin seems to be at odds with the other instruments as it banters back and forth with its “neighbors.” In Carter’s Quartet #2, he takes the notion of distinctive personality to a dramatic extreme. The first violin plays with virtuosic bravura, the second with obsessive rhythmic regularity, the violas with plaintive, melancholic cries, the cello with impetuous, rhapsodic accelerandos. The four personalities each lead one of the 4 main movements: Intro, 1. Allegro fantastico (Vn I), viola cadenza, 2. Presto Scherzando (Vn II), cello cadenza, 3. Andante (Vla), violin I cadenza, 4. Allegro (Vc), Conclusion. In the intro and conclusion the 4 personalities cooperate (“companionship” as Carter describes the level of responsiveness) in the 4 main movements one instrument leads and the others follow in their own style (“discipleship”); in the three cadenzas, the solo instrument is opposed (“confrontation”) by the others. (Va vs. indifference, Vc’s accelerando vs. strict rhythm, Vn I’s virtuosity vs. silence.)

Bartok’s quartet no. 4 (1926) is famous for its synthesis of several musical traditions. By using the modes of Eastern European folk traditions, he creates an atonal harmonic vocabulary that retains the essence of many folk traditions, but quotes none of them. his use of Bulgarian 3 & 3 & 2/8 and Hungarian bagpipe drones culminates in a compositional language that is entirely unique to Bartok. Furthermore he extended the technique of the string quartet by his timbral use of slap pizzicato, left hand articulation, glissandi, etc.

Likewise, Carter places (extreme) technical demands on the platers while creating his own harmonic language. Each instrument is assigned not only a distinctive personality, but also characteristic intervals (Vn I m3, P5, M9; Vn II M3 M6 M7; Va T m7 m9; Vc m6 P4). Like Bartok who synthesized folk modes to create the Z-cell and other harmonic features unique to his oeuvre, Carter creates a harmonic dialectic unique to his quartets.

Schoenbergs’ late quartets (especially no. 4, 1920) were written during his dodecaphonic period. In them he explores 12-tone rows that can be combined both horizontally as melody in counterpoint, and vertically as elements of harmonic sonorities. carter, as we saw above, concerned himself with the horizontal projection of characteristic intervals. He also organizes them vertically by use of all-interval tetrachords, 4-note sonorities that contain all 6 of the main interval classes.

We see how Carter was inspried by Ives’s use of dialogue, Bartok’s synthesis of a unique and personal musical language, and Schoenberg’s serialism with its horizontal and vertical implication.

Bach: Cantata No. 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden
Question: Explain the rhetorical and liturgical function of this work in the Lutheran Gottesdienst.

The Lutheran Gottesdienst is the liturgy for the Lord’s Day; the main Sunday service each week. The cantata was to support/interpret the Gospel (and sometimes the Epistle) reading for the day. It was performed near the Gospel reading before the sermon or divided before and after the sermon. Therefore, litrugically, it functioned as proclamation of the Word for the day. Proclamation of God’s Word (as contained in the New Testament (especially)) was a central focus of Reformed worship. Rhetorically it was intended to present God’s Word at a different level than the spoken Word. It was meant to move the hearts, emotions, and spirit of the worshipers.

Bach achieved this with great success by means of rhetorical figures and musical affekt. The entire cantata is based on no other musical themes than Luther’s Chorale, “Christ Lag . . .” He sets all seven verses and includes a brief introductory Sinfonia. Luther’s text is all about the struggle of sin, death, and the gift of eternal life through Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection. Bach’s musical setting of the text is highly sensitive to the spirit and meaning of the text. For instance, he sets “for our sins” in vs. 1 to a descending chromatic line which is imitated in the other voices. When the text turns its focus from sin and death chromaticism is greatly decreased. He sets the word “froehlich” with a joyful, melismatic motive. However, this constant struggle between life and death is evident throughout with shifts between major/minor mode. The affekt of the very key itself, e minor, has a very sad, somber spirit (the chorale was originally in Dorian).

This is best seen and heard in the Sinfonia with the violin’s opening B-A# motive. While this is based on Bach’s first two notes of the chorale (he altered A to A#), one historian states that this descending half step has been a figure of “grief” since the Middle Ages.

The final “Hallelujah” is set to twice the speed (cut time) and the chorale motive is heard 39 times in a variety of forms.
There are too many textual/rhetorical figures to discuss in complete detail, but Bach makes musical use of every expressive/important word possible. His well-achieved goal not only communicates words, but communicates their deepest meanings and emotions through music of great drama. In addition, the music is tightly woven and profound musical unity is achieved through the constant use of imitation. Through this, the chorale melody can be heard at many levels, and all the music is crafted from it.
Curiously, the final “Hallelujah” is 27 measures in length; 3x3x3. Could this be yet another work of Bach’s art to represent the Christian Holy Trinity in the very numbers of its measures?! I love this work—I could keep talking, but . . .

Haydn: Symphony No. 93
Question: How did the nature of the commission for Haydn’s last twelve symphonies shape his compositional decisions?

A major difference in the last symphonies of Haydn could be drawn between those commissioned by Salomon for the Hanover Square Rooms and those written for the opera orchestras.
The Symphonies commissioned by Salomon were certainly full of expanding orchestration and coloration, but not to the extent of the last symphonies written with the opera orchestra in mind. Salomon’s orchestra was not as large as that used by the opera house and so the forces used by Haydn for the first set of London symphonies is smaller. They do contain parts for horns, cornett, oboe, flute, and timpani but no clarinets.

In the later symphonies Haydn had much greater resources at his disposal. The scoring for the symphonies reflects this, and the range of expression is expanded and more colorful as well.
The final set of symphonies are the grandest and most varied in effect. The increased size of the orchestra for which he was composing in these last symphonies brought about a grander scale in orchestration and concept. There is no doubt that the tastes of the audiences also brought about the new developments seen in these last symphonies.

Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp
Question: Discuss Debussy’s plan for his last group of chamber works, with special attention to orchestration.

Debussy’s last group of chamber works, 3 Sonatas, were actually to include a fourth, but due to the ravages of cancer, he was never able to finish the last work.

The first is a Sonata for cello and piano; the second, flute, harp, and viola; the third, a violin sonata. The set of Sonatas was begun by Debussy in 1915. He composed the first two rather rapidly, but with failing health, the violin sonata proved more difficult to complete. In the second sonata, Debussy utilized orchestration in some interesting ways. The flute is often heard as a termination to formal sections, the viola more often cries important thematic material and therefore serves an expository role. The harp often functions as a binding, linking agent. While Debussy’s use of these instruments is by no means limited to these functions, one can see that orchestral use of them could give aural signals for structure and form to the listener.

One can also see that Debussy sometimes expoits timbres resulting from unusual orchestrations. The flute and viola unisons at the very end of the movement are a perfect example.

Debussy was interested in delicacy and understatement in his music. One can see that these sonatas (as so many of his works) create nothing blatant or overemphasized; that simply would have been the antithesis of his, and for that matter, French style. Regarding these last works, he stated his desire to return to truly French forms and style as seen in the works of such composers as Couperin and Rameau.

Victoria: Missa O quam gloriosum
Question: Discuss the way in which the motet model generates the structures of this composition, and compare it to other borrowing techniques found in Renaissance masses.

Victoria utilizes his own motet, “O Quam Gloriosum,” as the borrowed material in his parody mass, “Missa O Quam Gloriosum.” First of all, this is evident by its references in the title; a practice commended by period theorist, Cerone.

A parody mass is a mass which utilizes polyphonic portions of another pre-existing work and uses them as a means for developing original music in another composition. There are three distinct types of parody mass technique: direct, rearranged, and remote parody. While Cerone recommended direct parody as the foremost technique in his writing on the topic, that is not the type of parody that Victoria uses in this mass. In this mass, Victoria uses rearranged parody to the greatest extent. This is evident from the very beginning of the first Kyrie. Here, Victoria takes material from the 10th measure of the motet to begin the Mass’ Kyrie. Thus, the material is rearranged from its original source. But, a critical point with Victoria is his craft at creating original material for the new work inspired from the source. He is able to do this with a high-level of art and skill and also maintain the Council of Trent’s edicts regarding conjunct motion of lines, careful use and resolution of dissonance, intelligibility of text, and the all important “sacred sense.”
Throughout the work, parody is used by means of polyphonic quotations that are then re-created and used in 4-voices, in paired imitation and homophonic quotations. Cerone laid out specific guidelines for this technique, and while Victoria followed many of them, he was in no way bound by them.

Parody technique had been used in many previous works (and even by Victoria) by such as Josquin, Obrecht, etc., but parody technique and parody mass are not synonymous. Parody technique is the quotation of another polyphonic work, but it is not the work’s primary compositional technique throughout.
Both parody technique and parody mass writing evolved out of cantus firmus technique. Cantus firmus technique simply used the cantus firmus (tenor) of a previous work and quoted it literally. New parts were then composed around it. This technique was used extensively in the Renaissance as seen in the works of deBologna, Du Fay, Ockeghem, and Josquin.

Paraphrase technique is another similar borrowing technique where a borrowed melody is used as a foundation for the theme in a new work, but elaborated or altered—paraphrased. Josquin can probably be credited with the first true parody mass (Missa Mater (Deis?)).
In the high Renaissance parody mass became the main type of mass setting by such composers as Palestrina, Victoria, Willaert, Gombert, and Morales, to name a few.

Victoria is certainly one of the greatest parody mass composers of the high Renaissance. His parody masses combine Palestrina-styled polyphony with an original style and the expressive sensitivity born out of his Spanish heritage. (Seeing as he wrote nothing but sacred music: SOLI DEO GLORIA!)

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