Chapter 41

Which composer is considered the greatest figure in German opera and one of the most significant in the history of the Romantic era?

Who wrote the librettos for Wagner's music dramas?

Which of the following is an opera from the Ring cycle?

Wagner chose to base his early operas on:

Wagner's cycle of four music dramas is called:

In his Ring of the Nibelung, which characteristic of traditional opera did Wagner eliminate?

The concept of a total artwork in which all the arts—music, poetry, drama, and visual spectacle—are fused together is called:

Which of the following composers created the music drama?

Wagner called his operas:

The principal themes that recur throughout Wagner's operas and carry specific meanings are called:

Wagner based his musical language on

The emotional quality of Wagner's music is heightened by his use of:

In the Ring cycle, who is the father of the gods?

In Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, who are the Valkyries?

In Act III, Scene 1 of Die Walküre, what are the Valkyries carrying on their horses?

In the orchestral prelude to Act III of Wagner's Die Walküre, the Ride theme primarily is played by:

Who established the idea that multimedia can convey multiple meanings at once?

Where was Wagner born?

Because of his dominating personality, Wagner frequently changed librettists while composing his music dramas.

Wagner's operas employ the supernatural as an element of drama and glorify the German land and people.

Wagner did not wish to change the prevailing form of opera in the nineteenth century.

Wagner strove for a continuous flow of melody, unlike the divisions of aria and recitative in Italian opera

The focal point of Wagnerian music drama is the voice.

Wagner pushed major-minor tonality to extreme limits with his style of chromatic harmony.

In Wagner's operas, the recurring themes, which represent specific characters, emotions, or ideas, are called leitmotifs.

In Wagner's Ring operas, Brünnhilde is Wotan's wife

Wagner developed an "endless melody" that was molded to the natural inflections of the German language.

J. R. R. Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings was inspired by Norse mythology and Wagner's Ring.