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Famous Concertos Trivia Quiz

The concerto has long been a popular form of concert music. Can you match the descriptions of these concertos with the composers?

A matching quiz by madfilkentist. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
madfilkentist

Time
4 mins

Type
Match Quiz

Quiz #
418,772

Updated
Jan 09 25

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Easy

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
40

Last 3 plays: wyambezi (10/10), Synerco (3/10), Guest 76 (6/10).

(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.

Questions		Choices
1. A set of six concertos, all written for different instruments, presented to a nobleman in 1721.		Tchaikovsky
2. A concerto originally written for the basset clarinet, a kind of clarinet with an extended lower range, but often performed on a regular clarinet.		Beethoven
3. This concerto, which opens with a bold outburst in the piano, was premiered in 1811. It's known in English by a title which the composer wouldn't have approved of.		Vivaldi
4. The first concerto by this Russian composer was premiered in the USA. It opens with a grand tune which is the most famous part yet is never repeated later on.		Bart�k
5. Andrew Lloyd Webber's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" sounds suspiciously like the slow movement of this 19th century violin concerto.		Schumann
6. This is a piano concerto, the composer's second, but the pianist faces competition from a solo cello in the third of four movements. It's one of the longest concertos in the standard repertoire.		Mendelssohn
7. Concertos are usually designated for one or more solo instruments, but this twentieth-century work is called a "Concerto for Orchestra."		Price
8. A set of violin concertos for all times of the year, written in the early eighteenth century.		J. S. Bach
9. A piano concerto by an American woman, first performed in 1934 but lost until the 21st century.		Brahms
10. The composer of this piano concerto, his only one, started it in 1837, but it wasn't till 1846 that it was premiered with his wife at the piano.		Mozart

Select each answer

1. A set of six concertos, all written for different instruments, presented to a nobleman in 1721.

2. A concerto originally written for the basset clarinet, a kind of clarinet with an extended lower range, but often performed on a regular clarinet.

3. This concerto, which opens with a bold outburst in the piano, was premiered in 1811. It's known in English by a title which the composer wouldn't have approved of.

4. The first concerto by this Russian composer was premiered in the USA. It opens with a grand tune which is the most famous part yet is never repeated later on.

5. Andrew Lloyd Webber's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" sounds suspiciously like the slow movement of this 19th century violin concerto.

6. This is a piano concerto, the composer's second, but the pianist faces competition from a solo cello in the third of four movements. It's one of the longest concertos in the standard repertoire.

7. Concertos are usually designated for one or more solo instruments, but this twentieth-century work is called a "Concerto for Orchestra."

8. A set of violin concertos for all times of the year, written in the early eighteenth century.

9. A piano concerto by an American woman, first performed in 1934 but lost until the 21st century.

10. The composer of this piano concerto, his only one, started it in 1837, but it wasn't till 1846 that it was premiered with his wife at the piano.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. A set of six concertos, all written for different instruments, presented to a nobleman in 1721.

Answer: J. S. Bach

The "Brandenburg" Concertos are among Bach's best known works. The instrumentation varies hugely; the first uses horns, oboes, a bassoon, and a violino piccolo (small, high-pitched violin) in the solo section, while the sixth uses only the lower string instruments - not even any violins in the orchestra.

They may be a collection of works Bach had already written and bundled together for the Margrave of Brandenburg.

2. A concerto originally written for the basset clarinet, a kind of clarinet with an extended lower range, but often performed on a regular clarinet.

Answer: Mozart

The Clarinet Concerto was Mozart's last concerto, written in 1791. He wrote it for the basset clarinet, which allowed the soloist to reach lower notes, but only an arrangement for the normal A clarinet survives. It's often performed on a basset clarinet in a reconstructed version.

3. This concerto, which opens with a bold outburst in the piano, was premiered in 1811. It's known in English by a title which the composer wouldn't have approved of.

Answer: Beethoven

Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto is called the "Emperor" Concerto, but only in English. Unlike any previous piano concerto, it opens with a series of loud flourishes from the piano. Beethoven tore out the dedication of the "Eroica" Symphony when he learned that Napoleon had accepted an emperor's crown, so he wouldn't have liked the title for this work.

It was premiered in Leipzig, but Beethoven didn't take the solo role, as his hearing was too far gone.

4. The first concerto by this Russian composer was premiered in the USA. It opens with a grand tune which is the most famous part yet is never repeated later on.

Answer: Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto got its premiere in Boston in 1875. After a short introduction, it goes into a sweeping tune which, structurally, is still introductory material. It's the part which everyone knows, but it doesn't come back again.

5. Andrew Lloyd Webber's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" sounds suspiciously like the slow movement of this 19th century violin concerto.

Answer: Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn wrote a violin concerto which was premiered in 1845 in Leipzig. Many people have noticed the resemblance of "I Don't Know How to Love Him," from "Jesus Christ Superstar," to the main tune of the slow movement.

The E minor concerto is usually referred to as his only violin concerto, but he wrote an earlier one in D minor at the age of thirteen. It doesn't get counted, just as his youthful String Symphonies don't count among his numbered symphonies.

Answer: Brahms

Brahms' Second Piano Concerto premiered in 1881. It has four movements instead of the usual three, and the slow third movement begins with a long melody for the solo cello.

7. Concertos are usually designated for one or more solo instruments, but this twentieth-century work is called a "Concerto for Orchestra."

Answer: Bart�k

B�la Bart�k's "Concerto for Orchestra" is a five-movement work in which all the instruments get a turn in showing off. In a sense, it's a return to the "Concerto Grosso" form of the Baroque era. It was premiered in 1944 in Boston. Bart�k was Hungarian but emigrated to the US to escape the Nazis.

8. A set of violin concertos for all times of the year, written in the early eighteenth century.

Answer: Vivaldi

Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" is a set of four violin concertos called "Spring," "Summer," "Fall," and "Winter." Their music reflects the climate in Italy at those times of year. The concertos were published in 1725.

9. A piano concerto by an American woman, first performed in 1934 but lost until the 21st century.

Answer: Price

Florence Price's "Piano Concerto in One Movement" was a big success in its 1934 premiere but somehow disappeared from public availability. In 2012 Trevor Weston reconstructed the orchestration from a two-piano arrangement, and in 2019 Price's full orchestration resurfaced. It's been frequently performed and recorded in recent years.

10. The composer of this piano concerto, his only one, started it in 1837, but it wasn't till 1846 that it was premiered with his wife at the piano.

Answer: Schumann

Robert Schumann was an influential music critic as well as a composer. His wife Clara was one of the top pianists in Europe and was also a composer. He initially wrote the first movement as a standalone piece, then expanded it into a three-movement concerto at Clara's urging. The Piano Concerto in A minor is one of Robert's most famous works.

Source: Author madfilkentist

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