Question
Handel uses this device in Messiah’s “Ev’ry valley shall be exalted,” setting words like “mountain,” “low,” and “crooked” to melodic peaks, troughs, and uneven notes. For 10 points each:
[10m] Composers evoke lyrics’ literal meaning in what technique seen in 16th-century Italian or English madrigals? Despite mastering it like Purcell, Thomas Campion critiqued this two-word effect, later used in the Embroidery Aria.
ANSWER: word painting [accept tone painting or text painting; prompt on madrigalisms]
[10h] In the Cold Song from this Restoration spectacular by Purcell and Dryden, tremors on each note depict shivering. This semi-opera with spoken main roles and supernatural masques inspired Michael Nyman’s Chasing Sheep.
ANSWER: King Arthur [or King Arthur, or The British Worthy] (The Cold Song is also known as the Frost Scene.)
[10e] Nyman’s raspy An Eye for Optical Theory loops a C minor piece with this title attributed to Purcell or William Croft. The descending “lament bass” in “When I am laid in earth” is a repeating ostinato known by this English word.
ANSWER: ground [accept ground bass; accept Ground in C minor, Z. 221; accept “Two in One upon a Ground” or “Three Parts upon a Ground”; reject “round”]
<OL, Classical Music and Opera>
Data
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Exact Match? | Heard | PPB | Easy % | Medium % | Hard % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Chicago Open | 07/28/2024 | Y | 13 | 13.08 | 23% | 85% | 23% |