Operatic History - the Fifteenth Century Quiz

Answer: Timur Lenk

Händel (1685-1759) is one of the greatest English composers, although born in Saxony (Germany). He is well known for his operas (for example "Rinaldo", 1711, and "Serse", 1738) and oratorios (especially "The Messiah", 1742). The opera hinted at in this question is entitled "Tamerlano".
Genghis Khan (1167-1227) founded a Mongol Empire which stretched from Peking to the Persian borders. Pasquale Anfossi (1727-1797) named an opera after him in 1777.
Ögedei (1186-1241) was one of Genghis' four sons, and inherited the Northwest of China.
Kublai Khan (1214-1294) was Genghis' grandson and founded the Yuan dynasty in China.
Timur Lenk (1336-1405) claimed to be a distant relative of Genghis Khan's. He ruled a monarchy in Central-Asia, with the heart in present-day Uzbekistan. At the top of his reign, Timur captured Moscow, defeated the Osman (Turkish) sultan Bayezid and planned to invade China.
By the way, there is also an opera named after Sultan Bayezid. This opera was composed in 1722 by Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) and carries the title "Bajazett, Imperador de Turchi" ("Bayezid, Emperor of Turkey").

Answer: Jeanne d'Arc

Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was one of the most important Russian composers. However, he did not make part of "The mighty five", a group of nationalist Russian composers: Mily Balakirev (1837-1910), Cesar Cui (1835-1918), Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Alexander Borodin (1833-1887). Tchaikovsky is best known for his ballets "The Swan Lake" (1877) and "The Nutcracker" (1892).
Joan of Arc was born in the small town Domrémy in 1412. When she was thirteen, she claimed she heared divine voices ordering her to take up arms and fight in the Hundred Years' War against the English. The French dauphin Charles VII believed her story and gave her a small army unit to capture Orleans. After she had accomplished this tremendous task (May 8, 1429) in a few days, she took other cities, including Reims, where Charles was crowned King of France.
After the initial successes at Orleans and Reims, Joan of Ark tried to conquer Paris, but failed due to a lack of military support.
In 1430, Joan was captured by the Burgunds (English allies) and handed over to the English. She was tried for witchcraft and burnt at the stake in 1431. Joan was canonised in 1920.

Answer: Agnès Sorel

Gyrowetz (1763-1850) was a Czech composer who left us 30 operas and "Sangspiele". Some sources mention that he was an Austrian composer, because at that time Austria comprised the present day countries the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and others.
Charles VII (1403-1461) was perhaps the first French King whose mistress became well known in history. Former kings were, perhaps, more discreet. Charles' mistress Agnès Sorel was portrayed by Jean Fouquet (1420-1481) as the Madonna with Child feeding her baby. This world famous painting could have inspired some chef to name a creamy white soup after Agnès. The "potage Agnès Sorel" has many variants: chicken soup, mushroom soup, asparagus soup or cauliflower soup.
By the way, Cesar Cui (1835-1918) also portrayed Agnes in his opera "The Saracen".

Answer: Constantine XI Palaeologus

Kalomoires (1883-1962) was a Greek composer, although born in Smyrna (now Turkey). He composed five operas, one ballet and two creations for musical theatre.
John II Komnenos (1088-1143) was Byzantine Emperor from 1118 until his death. His surname refers to the dynasty to which he belonged.
Leo III the Isaurian (675 or 685-741) was crowned Emperor of Byzantium in 717. He founded the Isaurian (also known as Syrian) dynasty.
Basil II (957-1025) ascended the Byzantine throne in 976. His surname doesn't refer to his dynasty, but to the harsh treatment he reserved for the Bulgarians after defeating them in 1018.
Constantine XI (1404-1453) was the last of the Palaeologi. He is sometimes named Constantine Dragases, after his mother's uncle. He ruled Byzantium for four years. When the city fell to the Turks in 1453, Constantine was killed in action.

Answer: Francois Villon

Sem Dresden (1881-1957) was a Dutch composer, of Jewish origin. He left us several orchestral works, one opera, one operetta (with his own libretto) and some oratorio.
Chrétien de Troyes (second half of the XIIth Century) was a French poet. The five books he left us all deal with the legend of King Arthur and his fellows. The most famous of his works include "Lancelot" and "Perceval" ("Parsifal").
François Rabelais (1490-1553) was a French monk until 1527. After having obtained papal dispensation from his monastic oath, he studied medicine and published two well-known books: "Pantagruel" (1532) and "Gargantua" (1534). "Gargantua" deals with a giant gourmet, Pantagruel is Gargantua's son. Rabelais wrote also two more books with the same characters, and after his death someone published a fifth instalment (the latter perhaps not being written by Rabelais).
François-Marie Arouet le Jeune (1694-1778) is better known under his pseudonym Voltaire. He chose this pseudonym as an anagram: his family name "Arouet" combined with the abbreviation "l.j." for "le Jeune" ("Junior") would form "Voltaire" if we substitute the u by a v, and the letter i by j (which was common practice in French anagrams up till the XVIIIth Century). Voltaire's best known book is "Candide ou l'optimisme" ("Candide, or Optimism").
François Villon (1431-1463) was not only a French poet, but also a convicted thief. His "Little Testimony" contains about 320 verses, his "Grand Testimony" over 2000. Up till the present day his poem "Ballade des Pendus" ("Ballad of the Hanged") can boast of some reconnaissance. For those of you who speak French, you can find the text on http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballade_des_pendus. These thirty-five verses are too long to translate here.

Answer: Mary of Burgundy

Blaramberg (1841-1907) was a Russian composer. He completed four operas.
All women mentioned in this question are related to Emperor Charles V (1500-1558).
Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539) was married to Charles V. She was the mother of Philip II of Spain.
Joanna of Castile was born in 1479 and married Philip the Handsome in 1496. When her husband died in 1502, Joanna's nerves broke down. She would travel through Spain always carrying Philip's coffin with her. This explains her nickname "Joanna the Mad". She was Charles V's mother.
Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482) was mother to Philip the Handsome and hence Charles V's maternal grandmother. Charles inherited the Netherlands and Burgundy through her.
Margaret of Parma (1522-1586) was the illegitimate daughter of Charles. She was appointed governor of the Netherlands from 1559 until 1567, on the eve of the Eighty Years' War.

Answer: York

Mayr (1763-1845) was a German composer who created about 70 works for musical theatre.
The Wars of the Roses was fought between 1455 and 1485. Although a civil war, there were hardly any civilians who participated in this war: it was a feud between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. These events derive their name from the emblem on the escutcheons of both rivalling dynasties: the House of Lancaster shows a red rose, while the House of York shows a white rose.
During the Wars of the Roses, there were three kings from the House of York: Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III. There were also three kings from the House of Lancaster: Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI.
The House of Tudor was founded by Henry VII and ruled England from 1485 until 1603 (death of Elisabeth I). Tudor monarchs further include Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary Tudor (nicknamed "Bloody Mary").
The House of Windsor is the name given to the dynasty of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha in 1917. The original name sounded to German to be accepted in the post-war era. The first monarch who adopted the name Windsor was George V (1865-1936), King from 1910 till his death. He was succeeded by Edward VIII (1894-1972), who abdicated in 1936. Then followed George VI (1895-1952) and Elisabeth II (born in 1926, Queen since 1952).

Answer: Granada

Arrieta Correra (1821-1894) was a Spanish composer who specialised in zarzuelas. He composed 23 works for musical theatre. The opera I refer to is entitled "La Conquista de Granada" ("The Conquest of Granada"). Agustin Lara (1897-1970) composed the famous aria sung by (among others) Mario Lanza and José Carreras.
Aranjuez is a city some 48 km (30 miles) south of Madrid. A revolt in 1808 in Aranjuez led to the abdication of King Charles IV. Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) named a guitar concerto after this city.
Valencia is a Spanish city near the Mediterranean Sea. A popular song named after Valencia was composed by Jacques Ibert, a French composer died in 1962.
Cordoba is a city in the region of Andalusia. It was for many years the capital of the Moorish caliphate. Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) named a sonnet after this city.
Granada, also situated in the region of Andalusia, was occupied by the Moors in 711. It was recaptured by the Spanish in 1492, thus ending the period of the Reconquista.

Answer: Christopher Columbus

Milhaud (1892-1974) was a French composer who left us at least eleven operas.
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was born in Genoa, Italy. After having completed several trading expeditions in the Mediterranean, Columbus got fascinated by finding a route to the Far East, while travelling westward.
Many people believe that Columbus was one of the first sailors to believe that the earth is a sphere. Wikipedia states this is not the fact. However, Columbus believed it was feasible to sail from the Canary Islands directly to Japan. With the means of transportation then available, this was impossible: lack of food and fresh water would kill all adventurers. Columbus would have based his presumption on a miscalculation.
However, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were ready to gamble on Columbus, and provided him with three ships: the Santa Maria, the Nina and the Pinta. Columbus left Spain on August 3rd, 1492. He landed in the Caribbean on October 12th.

Answer: True

Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was born in Germany but worked mostly in France. This explains why a German citizen is considered to be one of the leading French Romantic opera composers. He completed at least sixteen operas.
Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) was only one of a large number of important Portuguese adventurers, and not the most famous.
The history of Portuguese expeditions at sea started more or less with Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) who sponsored many trips.
It was Bartholomew Diaz (1450-1500) who first reached the most southern cape of Africa. He called it "Storm Cape", after the weather conditions over there. This name was later altered to "Cape of Good Hope" in order to mark the eagerness of the crew to reach this point - an ideal place to take in fresh supplies.
In 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon to the Cape of Good Hope and succeeded in finding a way from there to India, where he arrived in 1498. The journey home took another year.
Probably the most famous Portuguese sailor is Ferdinand Magellan (1470-1521). After having commanded several expeditions, he set out in 1519 on the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. However, Magellan was killed by native people in the Philippines in 1521. It was his assistant Juan Sebastian Elcano (1476-1526) who completed this famous voyage, with only 18 of the 265 initial crew members. The others had died on route, mostly due to diseases. By the way, you can find a list of all these eighteen survivors on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Sebasti%C3%A1n_Elcano.
Sources for this quiz include: "World History" by Carl Grimberg, "7000 Years of World History" edited by Christoph Columbus Verlag AG, "Verschueren Groot Encyclopedisch Woordenboek", "Phaëton's Great Opera Book", "Le Petit Larousse", the Encarta Encyclopedia on CD-ROM, www.operone.de, the Catholic Encyclopedia (www.newadvent.org/cathen) and Wikipedia (http:/en.wikipedia.org).