Classical Music Trivia

1. "The birdies' catcher, that am I // Ever jolly, hopsasa." Which character sings this aria in Mozart's opera?

From Quiz Verirrt in der Uebersetzung

Answer: Papageno

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) composed music for 23 theatrical works, including two that were a collaboration with other composers: "Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots" (1767, a sacred Singspiel with music by Mozart, Michael Haydn and Anton Adigasser) and "Der Stein der Weisen" (1790, a pasticcio with music by Mozart, Johann Henneberg, Franz Xaver Gerl, Benedikt Schack and Emmanuel Schikaneder). Six of the theatrical works composed by Mozart alone had a libretto in German, one was with a Latin text, and the others were in Italian. The lines I translated were the opening verses of "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja", an aria from Mozart's last Singspiel, "Die Zauberflöte" ("The Magic Flute", 1791). In this merry melody Papageno introduces himself as a bird catcher, and wishes he had a net to catch girlies (instead of birdies). He would then choose the sweetest and marry her, and let her sleep at his side. In another ditty in the same Singspiel he sings his name: "Papa - papa - papa - Papageno". Experts on Mozart operas will probably recognise the name of Belmonte as the protagonist in "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio", 1782). Belmonte is a Spanish nobleman visiting the palace of a Turkish noble, where he discovers that his fiancée Konstanze was sold to the pasha to serve in his harem. Monsieur Vogelsang is a supporting character in the 1786 Singspiel "Der Impresario". The title character is Frank, and Vogelsang is one of the singers in Frank's opera company. Sethos is the only named character (a high priest) in the rarely performed theatre play "Thamos, König in Ägypten" ("Thamos, King of Egypt", first performed in 1774).

From Quiz Know Your Classical Music Forms

Answer: motet

This form became common in the Early Music period and Renaissance. It is often sung by The Cambridge Singers, The Tallis Scholars, and The 16. An example of a motet would be "O Magnum Mysterium" (O Divine Mystery) which is a common Latin textual piece such as that by Victoria or Handl.

From Quiz Light Classics

Answer: Antonin Dvorak

Dvorak wrote the Symphony Number 9 in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America. It is by far the most popular of all his symphonies and astronaut Neil Armstrong took a recording of it with him on the Apollo mission to the moon. Dvorak was very influenced by both native American and African American music. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and was first played at the Carnegie Hall on December 16, 1893 and was conducted by Anton Seidl.

From Quiz A Night on Classical Mountain

Answer: Russian

Mussorgsky originally composed the piece, although another Russian, Rimsky-Korsakov, achieved more lasting success with it.

From Quiz All in the Family

Answer: Bach

I have left out the name of the master composer of this family, Johann Sebastian. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is one of the most important baroque composers. He is remembered for his "St. Matthew Passion", over three hundred cantatas, and so on. Johann Sebastian considered his organ music "Das Wohltemperierte Klavier" as his masterpiece, and I'm convinced many of you would recognise the Toccata and Fugue in A Major from this collection. Johann Sebastian married twice. His two sons from the first marriage (Wilhelm Friedemann, 1710-1784, and Carl Philip Emmanuel, 1714-1788) were talented composers. WF Bach created over 100 works for organ, clavichord and harpsichord. CPE Bach has left us over 60 keyboard sonatas and at least four symphonies, while his most original contribution to classical music may well be the "Thirty Tunes for Musical Clock". Johann Sebastian's second marriage was blessed with three sons and three daughters. Johann Christoph Friedrich (1732-1795) was a prolific composer, as was Johann Christian (1735-1782). While most of the Bach family composed keyboard works, cantatas, sacred music and chamber music, Johann Christian also left us a number of operas (including "Temistocle" and "Amadis de Gaule").

From Quiz Crank it Up a Notch

Answer: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is one of those pieces where "you'll know it when you hear it", as it's constantly used to introduce spooky subjects. Curiously, modern scholarship now questions whether it was indeed written by Bach. But no matter who the author was, it's one of the most famous (and loud) pieces in Western classical music.

From Quiz Bells and Whistles

Answer: Jacques Ibert

Ibert based his 1930 suite "Divertissement" on incidental music he wrote for the play "Un chapeau de paille d'Italie" ("An Italian straw hat") by Eugène Labiche. The whole piece is gloriously entertaining, culminating in a riotous chase sequence which includes the blowing of a police whistle.

From Quiz Temporal Rift

Answer: Classical

Mozart lived from 1756 until 1791, beginning his musical career at an extremely young age, already composing music at the age of five, and performing (on keyboard and violin) even earlier. With more than 600 composed works, he is considered to be one of the most prolific and influential composers of the Classical period, which lasted from 1750 until 1830. The Classical period was tied in with similar movements in the world of architecture, literature, and visual art. Classicism made a move away from the florid styles of the Baroque period and returned to the perceived ideals of Classical Greece (mostly). This orderly (comparatively) style was reflected in the music of the period through less layered polyphony (multiple lines of music), and more melody over a harmonic undertone that didn't interfere.

From Quiz Classical Music

Answer: Fantasie Improumptu in C-sharp minor

He regretted writing this piece, because it sounded too much like the third movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".

From Quiz A Symphony of Animals

Answer: Sheep May Safely Graze

The "Hunting Cantata" was composed by Bach in 1713 to celebrate the birthday of Duke Christian of Sachsen-Weissenfels. In the original cantata, the aria "Schafe können sicher weiden" is sung by Pales, a Roman goddess of shepherds and sheep. The work has been arranged for many different instrumental combinations, including as a popular organ solo.

From Quiz Animals in Classical Music

Answer: Actaeon

Believe it or not, but all these Greek characters appear in some operas. Let's start with the unfortunate Actaeon, for he is the character we were looking for. There is no unanimity on the reason for his fate. Some sources say Actaeon witnessed Artemis taking a bath, others state that he boasted to be a better hunter than Artemis (goddess of the hunt). Marc Antoine Charpentier (1634-1704) was a French opera composer. His best known work is the hymn "Te Deum", which is used as the opening tune to any Eurovision television broadcast. Orpheus' music calmed all animals. His fate inspired composers such as Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880). Offenbach's opera "The Cat Turned into a Woman" quite fits the theme of this quiz. Phaeton was the son of Apollo who once drove the sun chariot. Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) dedicated an opera to him. Aeneas was one of the Trojan survivors to the Trojan war. Henry Purcell (1659-1695) composed an opera about Aeneas' meeting the Carthaginian queen Dido.

From Quiz Mixed, Musical Bits

Answer: They were expert violin makers

This family lived and worked in Cremona, Italy, from the 16th to the 18th century. Nicola Amati taught Stradivari and Guarneri who also became famous violin makers.

From Quiz Classical, Baroque, and Romantic Music

Answer: L. V. Beethoven

Beethoven wrote the letters in 1812, while he lived at the Teplitz resort. Three of them were found in his belongings after he died. Among other possible candidates for the addressee of the letters are Antonie Brentano, Thérèse von Brunswick, Anna-Marie Erdödy, or Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. It is only speculation, though, since the letters were not addressed, and may never have been sent.

From Quiz 10 MORE Favorite Concert Band Works

Answer: Rocky Point Holiday

Rocky Point, Rhode Island was his favorite seaside resort (now closed). "Rocky Point Holiday" was written on a commission by Frank Bensicrutto and the University of Minnesota Concert Band for the group's upcoming concert tour of Russia. Nelson was born in 1929 and wrote the other pieces here as well, but of course, only Rocky Point is in Rhode Island.

From Quiz Not opera, but the next best thing...

Answer: Baroque

Among the best composers of vocal music, most of the compositions of Schütz (1585-1672) are works for the church. His music often explored the acoustical possibilities of church music, and the dramatic elements that those acoustics gave him freedom over. Among his best works is a German Requiem, which was one of the great inspirations for composers like Johannes Brahms centuries later.

From Quiz Classical Musical Classics

Answer: Gustav Holst

Each selection of this suite represents British born Holst's impressions of a different planet in our solar system. Despite this quite successful effort he was primarily a music teacher living from 1874-1934.

From Quiz Who Wrote...?

Answer: Schubert

This ballad was written as a setting for a poem by Goethe. The story tells of a father riding home late at night with his son, who hears the Erl King (death) beckoning him to come to him. When the two make it home at the end, the father sees that it is too late. The Erl King won the race, and the boy is dead.

From Quiz All About Musical Pieces

Answer: 21

The "Hungarian Dances" were written by Johannes Brahms. They were written in both major and minor keys.

From Quiz Classical Music in Popular Culture

Answer: "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss

Kubrick had originally commissioned Alex North to write a soundtrack for "2001: A Space Odyssey" but later decided to use other already composed works by Ligeti, Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss, and Khachaturian.

From Quiz Music History for Classical Fanatics

Answer: New York, NY

Aaron Copland was born around the turn of the century in New York City, in a poor Jewish neighborhood.

From Quiz Which Musical Period?

Answer: Medieval

Leonin, the choir director of Notre Dame, was the leading composer of two part Organum. The Motet was developed from Organum.

From Quiz Have a very Classical Christmas!

Answer: Corelli

The nickname of this work by Corelli (1653-1713) refers to its last movement, which is marked "Pastorale" - a term derived from the Italian word "Pastori", referring to the shepherds who were the first to greet the newly-born Christ.

From Quiz Welcome to The Proms

Answer: 1890s

The first Proms concert took place on 10th August 1895 in the newly-built Queen's Hall in London, of which Robert Newman was the manager. While Newman had previously organised symphony orchestra concerts at the hall, his aim with the Proms was to reach a wider audience by offering a low-cost, informal season of concerts, with popular programmes.

From Quiz Made in America? You Better Believe It!

Answer: Randall Thompson

"Testament of Freedom" is a rousing piece for mixed chorus and full orchestra.

From Quiz The Invasion of Classical Music

Answer: Wagner

This famous piece of music is called "The Ride of the Valkyries", in which Brunnhilde chants her famous "Ho-jo-to-ho" warrior cry. The Valkyries are the German counterpart to the Amazon women. This opera took Richard Wagner two years to complete (1854-6)!

From Quiz Classical Nicknames

Answer: Eroica

The "Eroica" symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon. However, after Napoleon declared himself emperor, Beethoven angrily changed the dedication "to the memory of a great man."

From Quiz Classical Music Volume 1

Answer: Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky was the Russian composer who composed this highly descriptive orchestral work.

From Quiz Symphonies and their Nicknames

Answer: Gustav Mahler

Mahler's Eighth Symphony, first performed in 1910, so called because at its first performance over 1000 performers took part, including a huge orchestra, choir and soloists. Modern performances rarely achieve the same numerical strength, but the effect of a good performance is still overwhelming.

From Quiz Symphonic Poems

Answer: Bedrich Smetana

Smetana wrote this symphonic poem as a depiction of the river the Moldau, from the source till the sea.

From Quiz Famous Pieces of Music

Answer: Bach

This is the creepy organ music you always hear in old horror movies.

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