Three full practice sets

Give Bach's dates, nationality and period, and name two of his contemporaries.

Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685–1750, German, late Baroque (the era is dated to his death in 1750). Contemporaries: Handel and Domenico Scarlatti (both born 1685), Telemann, Vivaldi, Rameau, Couperin.

What does "BWV" stand for, who compiled it, and how are its numbers ordered?

Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue), compiled by Wolfgang Schmieder, published 1950. Numbers are grouped by genre, not chronology — which is why BWV 85 is a church cantata but BWV 875 is a keyboard prelude & fugue.

When and where was Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier compiled, and how is the collection organised?

In Leipzig, c. 1739–42, while Bach was Thomaskantor (Book I was 1722 at Köthen). Each book has 24 preludes & fugues, one in every major and minor key, rising chromatically — so D minor is No. 6.

What is "Sturm und Drang", and which other Haydn works belong to it?

"Storm and stress" — a dramatic phase (c. 1768–72) with minor keys, sudden loud–soft contrasts, silences and wide leaps. Companions: Symphonies No. 44 "Trauer", No. 45 "Farewell", No. 49 "La Passione", and the Op. 20 "Sun" quartets.

Why was Haydn's C minor sonata written in 1771 but not published until 1780?

Contractual, not artistic: under his 1761 Esterházy contract his music belonged to the family; the 1779 contract revision let him publish freely, and the 1780 Artaria set (the six Auenbrugger sonatas) was the immediate result.

Who were the dedicatees of the 1780 set, and what did Haydn say about this sonata?

The sisters Katharina and Marianna von Auenbrugger. Haydn called this sonata "the longest and most difficult" of the six, and said their approval mattered most to him.

Why does Chopin's waltz have no opus number, and how is it catalogued?

Chopin never authorised publication (he wanted his manuscripts destroyed). It wasn't in Fontana's posthumous set (Opp. 66–73), surfaced separately, and was first printed in 1868. It's catalogued as B. 56, KK IVa/15, WN 29, P. 1/15.

What was happening in Chopin's life around 1830?

Aged 20, he played a farewell concert in Warsaw (11 Oct 1830, the E minor Concerto), left Poland on 2 November, the November Uprising broke out weeks later, Warsaw fell (Sept 1831), and he reached Paris that autumn — never to return.

Where did Bartók collect the tunes for the Romanian Folk Dances, and with what equipment?

In named Transylvanian villages (Mezőszabad, Egres, Bucium, Belényes, Nyágra), recorded on an Edison phonograph using wax cylinders — capturing exactly what villagers played on fiddle and peasant flute.

Put your four works in date order of composition, then date order of publication.

Composed: Bach c. 1739–42 → Haydn 1771 → Chopin c. 1830 → Bartók 1915. Published: Haydn 1780 → Bach c. 1801 → Chopin 1868 → Bartók 1918. Only the Haydn and Bartók were printed in the composer's lifetime.

Describe the fugue subject of BWV 875.

Exactly two bars. First half: twelve rising triplet semiquavers (sextuplets), diatonic and mostly stepwise. Second half: a leap to high D, then a slow chromatic descent in quavers (D–C♯–C♮–B♮–B♭–A) — the passus duriusculus, the Baroque lament figure.

Is the fugue's answer real or tonal? Prove it with the notes.

Real. Subject D–E–F–G; answer A–B♮–C–D. The B natural shows an exact transposition up a perfect fifth with no adjustment — a tonal answer would have tweaked a note to stay in the key.

In what order do the fugue's voices enter, and where does the exposition end?

Alto (bar 1, alone) → soprano (bar 3, real answer) → codetta (bar 5) → bass (bar 6). So middle, top, bottom; the exposition ends at bar 8.

What contrapuntal devices does the fugue use — and which does it avoid?

Uses stretto (four passages) and inversion, extensively. Avoids augmentation, diminution and pedal point. The climax is bar 25 — three voices combining direct and inverted forms half a bar apart.

Describe the form of the prelude (and its invertible counterpoint).

Continuous binary, 61 bars, in 3/4. Bars 1–4 are restated at 5–8 with the hands swapped (invertible counterpoint at the octave), and bars 26–29 replay 5–8 transposed up a perfect fifth. No repeat signs; it ends on D major (Picardy third).

What is the tonal plan of the Haydn first movement's exposition?

C minor → E flat major, the relative major (i → III, the standard minor-mode scheme) — but via a continuous exposition with no clean medial caesura; an augmented sixth around bar 18 feints and evades, and E flat arrives obliquely through an auxiliary cadence.

What key is the Haydn slow movement in, and what relationship is that?

A flat major — the flat submediant (♭VI) of C minor, a warm, remote key Beethoven later loved. It's an aria-like movement over a running, syncopated bass.

Where does the Haydn recapitulation begin, and why is it disputed?

Bar 69 and bar 78 are both defended in print. The disagreement follows from the continuous exposition: with no clean medial caesura, the "double return" of theme and tonic is genuinely ambiguous.

Give the sectional plan of the Chopin waltz with keys.

Introduction (E minor) – A – B – A – B – A – C (E major) – A′ (E minor) – Coda (E minor). A modified rondo (or ternary with E major as the central trio); the C section is the parallel major, with a temporary move to G♯ minor.

Name the tonal centre and mode of each of the six Bartók dances.

1 A (Dorian → Aeolian), 2 D Dorian, 3 B (Aeolian with an augmented second), 4 A (modal), 5 D Lydian, 6 A (Lydian/Mixolydian, then A Dorian). The centres move A – D – B – A – D – D/A.

What instrument did Bach write the "Clavier" for, and how does that shape your pedalling and dynamics?

Any stringed keyboard (harpsichord / clavichord), not the fortepiano. No dynamic control from the key and no sustaining pedal, so expression comes from articulation, timing and arpeggiation — terraced dynamics and almost no pedal on a modern piano.

How do you start a trill in Bach? Is the Haydn answer the same?

In Bach, the trill starts on the upper note, on the beat (per Bach's 1720 Explication and C. P. E. Bach). In Haydn the default is also upper-note on-beat (C. P. E. Bach, Türk), but Haydn's notation is inconsistent — so you justify each one case by case.

Was Haydn's sonata written for harpsichord or fortepiano? Give the careful answer.

Disputed. The detailed dynamics (including f–p on neighbouring notes) rule out the harpsichord. Some say clavichord in 1771, touched up for the fortepiano in 1780; others reserve "first fortepiano sonata" for a later work. Safest: the markings demand a touch-sensitive instrument.

What was the c.1770 fortepiano like compared to a modern grand?

Five octaves (61 keys), all-wood frame (a tenth of the weight), straight-strung, thin leather hammers, a light shallow Prellmechanik action, immediate tone decay, and knee levers (including a moderator). Much lighter, quicker and crisper than a modern piano.

Define Chopin's rubato as Mikuli documented it.

The left (accompanying) hand keeps strict time while the right (singing) hand moves freely around it, borrowing time and repaying it — the time is repaid, not accumulated. Steady oom-pah-pah left hand, flexible right hand.

What piano did Chopin prefer, and what does that mean on a modern grand?

Pleyel by preference (light, singing, transparent, fast precise dampers); Érard when off-form ("ready-made tone"). On a modern grand, literal pedal marks blur, so use lighter voicing and shallower pedalling.

How do you pedal the Chopin waltz, and why?

Change on every harmony, using the pedal to hold the bass note of each oom-pah-pah group rather than to blur. The chromatic coda needs clean, frequent changes so the descending line stays clear.

Bartók: tempo giusto or parlando-rubato, and why?

These are dances, so tempo giusto (strict) governs — tight and driving, not romanticised. Only the slow No. 3 (and to a lesser extent No. 4) gets a freer, singing delivery.

How long should the Bartók suite take, and what does his 4'03" tell you?

Bartók wrote 4 minutes 3 seconds in the score; most professionals take up to five. It tells you how brisk he expected the fast dances — the danger is inflating village dances until they lose their character.

How does the instrument change across your programme, and what does that mean for your playing?

Bach's harpsichord (no dynamics, no pedal) → Haydn's five-octave fortepiano (contrasts are events, not swells) → Chopin's Pleyel (singing, light pedalling) → Bartók's modern grand (percussive attack). Each work asks a different question about what a keyboard is for.