Form Fours Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Four Freshmen

Brothers Don and Ross Barbour, along with their friends Marvin Pruitt and Hal Kratsch, formed a barbershop quartet called Hal's Harmonizers when they were students at the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music at Butler University in Indiana in 1948. Later that year, they switched from barbershop to jazz, and renamed themselves the Toppers. Pruitt left the group and was replaced by Ross and Don Barbour's cousin Bob Flanigan, and in September 1948, the four boys went on the road as The Four Freshmen.

Their early work shows heavy influence by the Modernaires (Glenn Miller Band) and the Mel-Tones (Mel Torme's back-up group), but before long the group had found its own unique free improvisational jazz sound and went on to become a major musical force in the 1950s and 1960s, working with such jazz legends as Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman.

Their big break came in 1950, when bandleader Stan Kenton arranged an audition for the Freshmen with Capitol Records. Their albums exposed the mainstream music lovers to their style, and they became hugely popular.

Despite several changes in personnel (even jazz singers get old!) and a downtime in the mid-60s with the popularity of British pop bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, etc., the Freshmen never lost their audience. In 2000 the group won Vocal Group of the Year in the Downbeat Magazine readers' poll. If you've never heard the Freshmen's rendition of the Ellington classic 'Mood Indigo', get hold of a copy and give your ears a treat!

Answer: James Elroy Flecker

'The Gates of Damascus' was written by James Elroy Flecker. He was born in London in 1884 and died of tuberculosis is Davos, Switzerland in 1915. Educated at Dean Close School in Cheltenham, where his father was headmaster, and at Uppingham, he attended both Oxford (Trinity College) and Cambridge (Caius College).

While at Oxford he came under the influence of the Aesthetic Movement, and John Addington Symonds. He entered the consular service in 1910 and served in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Answer: War, Famine, Plague and Death

The Book of the Revelation was written as a letter to the churches in Asia Minor during the persecution under the Emperor Domitian in the last decade of the first century of the Common Era. It is often credited to St. John, the disciple of Jesus, but that is primarily tradition rather than certainty.

Answer: Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino sent female pulses racing during his relatively short career. Born in Castellaneta, Italy in 1895, he studied dancing in Paris, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1913. At first he supported himself as a waiter, a gardener, and a taxi dancer, and then joined an operetta company touring the western States.

The company disbanded in San Francisco and it was actor Norman Kelly who suggested that he head for Hollywood. From 1917 to 1921 he played bit parts in several films, portraying gangsters for the most part.

He landed the romantic lead in 'The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse' after screen writer June Mathis suggested him to director Rex Ingram. Mathis had been impressed by Valentino's portrayal of "a cabaret parasite" (whatever that is) in a film called 'The Eyes of Youth'. From 1921 until his death from peritonitis in 1926, Valentino was big box office, scoring huge successes with 'The Sheik', 'The Eagle' and 'Son of the Sheik'.

His funeral in New York was a mob scene, with over 100,000 people crowding the streets around the Church of St. Malachy where his requiem mass was held.

He is buried in Hollywood.

Answer: Animal Farm

"Whatever goes on four legs, or has wings, is a friend" is the second commandment of the seven found in 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell. The first commandment is "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy". 'Animal Farm', a satire on Russian Communism, was first published in 1945.

Answer: Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Atkinson's memorable "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Goat" sent filmgoers into gales of mirth, and helped to make 'Four Weddings and A Funeral' into a smash hit in 1994. The film also made an international star of Hugh Grant. One of the most moving moments in this otherwise very funny film is the scene in which John Hannah (in his first screen role, playing Matthew) recites W.H. Auden's 'Funeral Blues' at the funeral of Gareth (played by Simon Callow).

It is heart-breaking.

Answer: Lawrence Durrell

Published between 1957 and 1960, the four novels use the Rashomon device of having events that take place in and around Alexandria in Egypt before and during the Second World War described from four different perspectives. The writing is lush and recreates the time and place superbly. The novels are 'Justine'(1957) , 'Balthazar', 'Mountolive' (both published in 1958) and 'Clea' (1960).

Answer: They were baked in small ovens

The name originated in France (surprise!) in the eighteenth century. Petit Fours are small iced sponge cakes, and they get their name from the small ovens (les petits fours) in which they were baked in pre-revolutionary France. They became the cake of choice with the rise of the ritual of 'high tea' in the 19th century, later to be replaced with small crustless sandwiches (usully cucumber) and plum cake - at least in England. Nowadays they are mainstays at wedding showers, baby showers and similar events (those I attend, anyway!)

Answer: Toronto

Isadore Sharp, a Canadian architect, founded the Four Seasons Hotels in 1960, building the first one on Jarvis Street in Toronto. The chain is now worldwide and The Four Seasons is synonymous with quiet elegance, luxurious accommodation, excellent cuisine and superb decor. Mr. Sharp runs his hotel empire from his offices on Leslie Street in North York, a suburb of Toronto.

Answer: State of the Union Address, January 6, 1941

The Four Freedoms are Freedom of speech and expression, Freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, Freedom from want - individual economic security, and Freedom from fear - world disarmament to the point that wars of aggression are impossible. FDR named them in his speech on the State of the Union to the 77th Congress in January, 1941. Once the U.S. entered the Second World War the Four Freedoms were illustrated by Norman Rockwell in a series of posters which were used to promote the purchase of war bonds.

The U.S. declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, and Germany declared war on the U.S. three days later, December 11, 1941. The first U.S. troops (army and air force) arrived in the U.K. in the summer of 1942 for deployment in the European Theatre of War.