sat suite question viewer

Information and Ideas / Central Ideas and Details Difficulty: Easy

In the 1700s and 1800s, European composers experimented with volume in their musical works. They did so by increasing the number of musicians playing in the orchestra. For example, in some of his operas, German composer Richard Wagner added more horns, trombones, and tubas to the orchestra. With more instruments playing at the same time, the orchestra could play extremely loudly at key moments in his operas.

According to the text, how did Richard Wagner achieve moments of extremely high volume in his operas?

By moving the performances of his operas from outdoor stages to indoor ones

By increasing the number of musicians playing horns, trombones, and tubas in the orchestra

By building a concert hall whose shape would cause sounds to echo

By insisting that the singers undergo special training to sing for extended periods of time

Back question 106 of 116 Next

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116

Explanation

Choice B is the best answer because it presents a statement about how Richard Wagner achieved moments of extremely high volume in his operas that is supported by the text. The text states that European composers experimented with volume in their works by increasing the number of musicians in the orchestra and provides the example of Wagner, who "added more horns, trombones, and tubas to the orchestra." The text explains that by having more of these instruments playing at the same time, the overall volume of the orchestra could be dramatically increased at key moments in Wagner’s operas.

Choice A is incorrect because the text never indicates that Wagner moved his operas indoors to achieve moments of extremely high volume, nor does it indicate that his operas were previously performed outdoors. The only technique discussed in the text for achieving extremely high volume is Wagner’s addition of more instruments to create a bigger, louder orchestra. Choice C is incorrect because the text never says that Wagner built or used a specially designed concert hall to increase volume through echoes. The only technique discussed in the text is Wagner’s addition of more instruments to create a bigger, louder orchestra. Choice D is incorrect because the text never mentions any special training for singers related to volume or singing for extended periods. The text’s focus is entirely on the orchestra and how Wagner and other European composers used instruments to experiment with volume in their musical works.