Music History and Literature
What to know
The history portion samples broadly, so build a timeline with style markers for each era: Medieval (plainchant, organum, modal), Renaissance (imitative polyphony, Josquin, Palestrina, madrigal), Baroque (basso continuo, terraced dynamics, fugue, opera; Vivaldi, Bach, Handel), Classical (homophony, sonata form, Viennese school; Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven), Romantic (expanded harmony, program music, lieder; Chopin, Berlioz, Wagner, Brahms), and twentieth century (Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Copland, minimalism). Know genre definitions: mass, motet, madrigal, cantata, oratorio, opera seria and buffa, symphony, concerto, string quartet, art song. Terms such as word painting, leitmotif, recitative, and ground bass are frequently tested.
Traps
Questions often hinge on style evidence rather than names. A passage with continuing bass and ornaments suggests Baroque, not Classical. A “first” claim is usually wrong unless firmly documented; Monteverdi's Orfeo is an early opera, not the first. Do not assign a composer to the wrong nationality or period; Beethoven straddles Classical and Romantic. Dates are approximate, so use style features to decide.
Rule of thumb
Anchor a work with three questions: What era? What genre? What texture? Example: unaccompanied Latin polyphony with imitative entries and no basso continuo points to Renaissance sacred music, such as a motet or mass movement by Palestrina.