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TwentiethCentury Classical Music Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
TwentiethCentury Classical Music Quizzes, Trivia

Twentieth-Century Classical Music Trivia

Twentieth-Century Classical Music Trivia Quizzes

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For mixed quizzes on a variety of 20th century composers and works. Quizzes on individual composers go under the composer's name in the alphabetical section of Music.
12 quizzes and 125 trivia questions.
1.
  Twentieth Century Classical Favourites   popular trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
All composed in the first half of the twentieth century and all still popular - match the piece to the composer.
Very Easy, 10 Qns, dellastreet, Mar 25 23
Very Easy
dellastreet gold member
Mar 25 23
241 plays
2.
  Who Wrote This Symphony?   great trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
If you know anything about 20th-century classical music, you've probably listened to symphonies that were given nicknames rather than just a number. Let's try matching the symphony's name with the 20th-century composer who wrote it.
Easier, 10 Qns, Kenners158, Feb 27 23
Easier
Kenners158 gold member
Feb 27 23
132 plays
3.
  Twentieth Century Classical Music    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A variety of questions on classical music and musicians in the twentieth century.
Average, 10 Qns, Frideswide, Sep 11 08
Average
Frideswide
1234 plays
4.
  20th Century Music Around the World [2]   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Another quiz in which we will take a trip around the world, looking at the music of important 20th century composers. Bon voyage!
Average, 10 Qns, PianoWilmer, Sep 11 08
Average
PianoWilmer
601 plays
5.
  20th Century Music Around the World [1]    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A trip around the world, looking at composers and their music during the last century.
Tough, 10 Qns, PianoWilmer, Sep 11 08
Tough
PianoWilmer
521 plays
6.
  Modern Music    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
A few questions about post-war music, which may as well be useful as references if you are not yet familiar with this subject. Have fun.
Difficult, 15 Qns, op1n1, Feb 18 20
Difficult
op1n1
Feb 18 20
889 plays
7.
  Some of my Favorite Classical Music    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
These are some of my favorite composers and pieces from the 20th Century. Fill in the blank with the correct choice. Good luck!
Tough, 10 Qns, stureg10, Jan 08 17
Tough
stureg10
760 plays
8.
  The Contemporary Classical Music Scene    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
These questions cover the classical music scene between 1960 and 2010.
Average, 10 Qns, edgeboss, Jun 29 13
Average
edgeboss
260 plays
9.
  20th Century Art Music    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Some questions on 20th century art music, which I consider important.
Tough, 10 Qns, Kultica, Jul 22 09
Tough
Kultica
656 plays
10.
  20th Century Music Around the USA    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A trip around the United States, looking at famous (and not-yet-famous) composers of the last century.
Average, 10 Qns, PianoWilmer, Jan 27 23
Average
PianoWilmer
Jan 27 23
415 plays
trivia question Quick Question
How many Symphonies did Shostakovich write?

From Quiz "Shostakovich"




11.
  What do you know about Twentieth Century Classical Music?    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
When you say "classical music", most people think of music before 1900. However there were also a lot of great composers in the twentieth century. Test your knowledge about them.
Average, 10 Qns, queenofsheba, Jul 24 09
Average
queenofsheba
738 plays
12.
  Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
How well do you know composers and pieces of the 20th and 21st Centuries?
Tough, 10 Qns, pianocrazy87, Mar 30 12
Tough
pianocrazy87
281 plays
Related Topics
  Britten, Benjamin [Music] (2 quizzes)

  Holst, Gustav [Music] (2 quizzes)

  Mahler, Gustav [Music] (3 quizzes)

  Orff, Carl [Music] (2 quizzes)

  Shostakovich, Dmitri [Music] (2 quizzes)


Twentieth-Century Classical Music Trivia Questions
1. Which composer was the subject of both an award-winning play and an award-winning movie?

From Quiz The Contemporary Classical Music Scene

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The play "Amadeus" by Peter Shaffer, a fictionalized account of Mozart's life, won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1984 film won eight Academy Awards.

2. Who was the composer of "Quatuor pour la fin du temps"?

From Quiz Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Answer: Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen composed "Quatuor pour la fin du temps" or "Quartet for the End of Time" while in Görlitz, a Nazi prison camp.

3. What's unusual about Arnold Schönberg's "Second String Quartet"?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: There's a singer in it.

In the fourth movement a soprano sings: "Ich fühle Luft von anderen Planeten." (I feel air from other planets.)

4. Samuel Barber's most famous work is called "Adagio for _______."

From Quiz Some of my Favorite Classical Music

Answer: Strings

This is one of the most emotional pieces of music ever created by an American composer, and many feel it is one of the best-written pieces by an American.

5. We'll start our worldwide journey in South America. Argentinian composer Astor Piazzola is famous for bringing which dance style into classical music?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the World [2]

Answer: Tango

Piazzola's use of the tango in his compositions was similar to Gershwin's use of jazz.

6. We'll start our trip around the world in California, USA. Which young composer wrote the opera "Dead Man Walking", based on the film of the same name?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the World [1]

Answer: Jake Heggie

Although harrowing, disturbing, and tragic, this opera has taken off with audiences since its premiere late in the last century and has put Heggie's name on the composition map.

7. When was Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' completed?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: 1913

Stravinsky's ballet score 'The Rite of Spring' premiered to a shocked audience in Paris on May 29, 1913. The first night has become notorious for the audience's angry reaction to the music, booing and protesting whilst the dancers tried to continue with their moves.

8. The 2005 opera "Doctor Atomic" is about what unusual subject?

From Quiz The Contemporary Classical Music Scene

Answer: The development of the atomic bomb

John Adams' opera "Doctor Atomic" is about the development of the first atomic bomb in Los Alamos by J. Robert Oppenheimer. The opera premiered in 2005 at the San Francisco Opera and has been performed subsequently at New York's Metropolitan Opera and Chicago's Lyric Opera.

9. Composer Sofia Gubaidulina was born in what country?

From Quiz Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Answer: Russia

Sofia Gubaidulina was born in 1931 in Chistopol, in what is now Russia.

10. Alan Hovhaness wrote a piece that is usually played by Organ and Trumpet. It's called "The Prayer of St. ___________."

From Quiz Some of my Favorite Classical Music

Answer: Gregory

St. Gregory was born in Rome circa 540 A.D. He was elevated to Pope on September 3, 590 A.D. St. Gregory is the Patron Saint of Musicians, Singers, and Teachers.

11. The Tanglewood Music Festival has been an important institution in American classical music for many years. In what mountain range is Tanglewood located?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the USA

Answer: Berkshires

Serge Koussevitzky, longtime director of the festival, was an accomplished composer himself.

12. On to our next destination, China. The opera "Nixon In China" is written in which 20th-century style?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the World [2]

Answer: Minimalist

Like his other opera "The Death of Klinghoffer", John Adams wrote "Nixon In China" based on current events of his time.

13. What nationality was composer Jean Sibelius?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: Finnish

Finland's most famous composer, Jean Sibelius, wrote seven symphonies and a violin concerto, which is considered to be one of the most difficult to play.

14. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, which conductor in 1989 led a stirring performance in Berlin of Beethoven "9th Symphony" with performers from both East and West Germany?

From Quiz The Contemporary Classical Music Scene

Answer: Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein conducted this gala concert of Beethoven's "9th Symphony" with one significant change. In the "Ode to Joy" sung in the final movement, Bernstein substituted the word for "Freedom" in place of "Joy."

15. Which Hungarian composer wrote "Concerto for Orchestra"?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: Bela Bartok

He could have called it a symphony, but the title refers to the old concerto grosso.

16. Percy Grainger arranged a version of "Danny Boy" which he called, "Irish Tune from County _______."

From Quiz Some of my Favorite Classical Music

Answer: Derry

Grainger was born in Australia and had a penchant for arranging folk tunes from the UK. "Irish Tune from County Derry" is better known as "Danny Boy." It's also sometimes known as "Londonderry Air."

17. Upward to Russia. Excluding his famous "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini", how many piano concerti did Sergei Rachmaninoff write?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the World [2]

Answer: 4

The second concerto, by far the most famous, was written after Rachmaninoff's recovery from an abysmal depression.

18. To India, a nation with its own rich history of classical music. With whom has the sitar performer Ravi Shankar collaborated on several works?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the World [1]

Answer: Philip Glass

Ravi Shankar is known to pop music fans as the father of Norah Jones and as an occasional collaborator with the Beatles.

19. What term applies better to the composer Bryan Ferneyhough, author of 'Bone Alphabet', 'On Stellar Magnitudes', and 'Unity Capsule'?

From Quiz Modern Music

Answer: New Complexity

His music is indeed highly complex, and trust me, using his scores to practice your sight-reading will only cause sever damage to your ego.

20. Where in Germany does an annual meeting of contemporary composers take place, known as the "Ferienkurse" (Holiday course)? The place was important for the developement of serial music and electronic music.

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: Darmstadt

It was and is still important for composers like Boulez, Stockhousen etc.

21. 'Music for 18 Musicians' is by which minimalist composer?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: Steve Reich

Steve Reich's catchy 'Music for 18 Musicians' was written in 1976, for an ensemble including singers, percussion, and traditional orchestral instruments.

22. What is Christopher Hogwood primarily noted for?

From Quiz The Contemporary Classical Music Scene

Answer: conducting period instrument performances

Christopher Hogwood, leading the Academy of Ancient Music, is one of the pioneers of period instrument performances.

23. "4'33" is a composition by John Cage. How many notes does it contain?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: 0

It contains 4'33 minutes of silence.

24. Which Russian composer wrote "Novorosiisk Chimes for Orchestra"?

From Quiz Some of my Favorite Classical Music

Answer: Shostakovich

Shostakovich wrote the piece to memorialize the dead in what the Soviets called "The Great Patriotic War." The tune is played by churchbells daily in Novorosiik, Russia.

25. Northward to Russia. Alfred Schnittke wrote a scathingly harsh opera commenting on the relationship between the Russian people and the Communist regime. What is the opera?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the World [1]

Answer: Life With an Idiot

Schnittke is also known for his symphonies, which include stage directions for the performers to leave and return to the stage during the piece.

26. Which country had a famous 'musical renaissance' at the beginning of the twentieth century?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: England

Spearheaded by composers like Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Elgar, and Finzi, the English musical renaissance drew on traditional folk-song resources to build up a national school of classical music.

27. Where do the famous New Music Summer Courses take place?

From Quiz Modern Music

Answer: Darmstadt, Germany

The Darmstadt Ferienkurse is a summer school for composers and interpreters. It was created in 1946, and it was intended to stimulate the creation of new music.

28. Nearly synonymous with the Boston Pops Orchestra, which conductor led it from 1930 until his 1979 death?

From Quiz The Contemporary Classical Music Scene

Answer: Arthur Fiedler

The 18th conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler gave the group its character and made it one of the best known classical groups to the general public. John Williams succeeded Fiedler after his death. Ozawa and Levine were both conductors of the nearby Boston Symphony Orchestra.

29. Which opera is by Benjamin Britten?

From Quiz Twentieth Century Classical Music

Answer: Peter Grimes

"Dumbarton Oaks" is by Igor Stravinsky, "The Seven Deadly Sins" by Kurt Weil and "Wozzeck" by Alban Berg.

30. "The Grand Canyon Suite" was written by Ferde Grofe. What piece (by a different composer) did Grofe orchestrate?

From Quiz 20th Century Music Around the USA

Answer: Rhapsody in Blue

The "Rhapsody in Blue" was written by George Gershwin at a time when he was still unfamiliar with the art of orchestration.

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