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.
Louis Andriessen’s music is often divided into pre- and post-De Staat (1972):
- Ittrospezione III (1965) – music that fits in well with the avant-garde of the 1960s.
- 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.
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.
Louis Andriessen’s creative imagination was under the influence of jazz from his early youth.
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.
The term “tintinnabuli”, which Arvo Pärt uses to describe his own style and technique denotes “little bells” (Lat.).
Which ones among the four composers wrote music for the youngest performers?
Match each statement with a composer.
Pierre Boulez was once asked to write a piece for an album of modern compositions for piano learners. He did comply with the request and the piece was published on the album, but Une page d’éphéméride is a very demanding composition technically – in any case Boulez himself admitted that he seemed to be unable to write anything simpler.
Kazimierz Serocki’s The Gnomes, a collection of pieces for young pianists, became very popular and was even arranged in various transcriptions for other instruments.
In Louis Andriessen’s Dancing on the Bones, a piece the composer described as a “diabolical scherzo”, a children’s choir sings about what happens to the body after death.
Arvo Pärt’s “children’s” works were issued on the Songs from Childhood album.
Read more about his Music for Children.
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.
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