Arts & Books Mixed Bag 7 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alistair MacLean

Alistair Stuart MacLean's first novel, 'H.M.S. Ulysses', was published in 1955. Two years later, he followed with 'The Guns of Navarone', which was subsequently adapted for the 1961 film starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn and David Niven. MacLean wrote the novel and the screenplay for 'Where Eagles Dare' almost simultaneously, and the 1968 film starring Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton firmly established him as one of Scotland's most successful writers. MacLean also wrote under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. The alternatives are three more Scottish novelists. Science-fiction writer Iain Banks was born in Dunfermline in 1954. Ian Rankin, creator of Inspector Rebus, was born in Cardenden, Fife in 1960. A.J. Cronin, creator of TV's Dr Finlay and writer of numerous best-selling novels, was born in Cardross in 1896.

Answer: Felix Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano and chamber music and is considered one of the leading composers of the Romantic era. His first major composition for a full-scale orchestra, 'Symphony No. 1 in C minor', was first performed in 1824 when Mendelssohn was just 15. Five years later, he made his first visit to London in order to conduct the piece played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The alternatives are three more German composers from the first half of the 19th Century. Brahms was born in Schleswig-Holstein in 1833 and Schumann in Saxony in 1810. Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig in 1813.

Answer: To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee's Pulitzer-winning novel, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was published in 1960. The subsequent 1962 film earned Gregory Peck his only Best Actor Oscar for his performance as the memorable Atticus Finch.
The alternatives are three more classic novels with well-known openings. John Wyss's 'The Swiss Family Robinson' begins: "For many days we had been tempest-tossed." Joseph Heller's 'Catch-22' opens: "It was love at first sight." 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess begins: "What's it going to be then, eh?"

Answer: France

Cassini was born in Paris in 1913. In the 1940s, he was married to actress Gene Tierney and his designs were used to costume many of her films. In the early 1960s, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy selected him to design her state wardrobe, and it was this assignment that catapulted him to international stardom.
Cassini lived to the age of 92, dying of a stroke in Manhasset NY in 2006.

Answer: Francisco

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born in Fuendetodos, Spain in 1746. He was the official court painter during the reigns of Charles III, Charles IV and Ferdinand VII. His 1800 portrait of 'The Family of Charles IV' is one of his best-known works from this period.
Goya is known both as the last of 'The Old Masters' and the father to the modern school. The reasons for his reputation as a modernizer can be seen in many of his later works such as 'Saturn Devouring His Son' (1819).
Regarded today as one of Spain's finest ever painters, a statue of Goya stands outside the famous Prado Museum in Madrid.

Answer: Melchester Rovers

The 'Roy of the Rovers' comic strip, featuring the eponymous hero Roy Race, first appeared in 1954. His 40-year career as the heroic striker for Melchester Rovers finally ended in 1993 when he lost a foot in a helicopter accident. A monthly comic strip now features Roy's son, Rocky, playing for the same team. The alternatives are three more fictional football teams. Earl's Park is the name of the team around which the TV series 'Footballers' Wives' is based. Harchester United is the team featured in the TV series 'Dream Team'. Fulchester United are the team based in the fictional town inhabited by many of the regular characters in the magazine 'Viz'.

Answer: Sleeping Beauty

Completed in 1889, 'Sleeping Beauty' is the second, and arguably the best of the three ballets composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It is based on the 17th Century Charles Perrault fairytale "La Belle au Bois Dormant" ("The Beauty Asleep in the Wood"). The alternatives are three more well-known ballets. 'The Nutcracker' is another Tchaikovsky composition.

The main characters include Councilor Drosselmeyer, his God-children Clara and Fritz, Marianna, the President's niece, and the Sugar Plum Fairy. 'Don Quixote' is a ballet based on the Cervantes novel with music by Ludwig Minkus.

The major characters include Gamache, Kitri and a young barber named Basil. 'Coppélia' is a comic ballet featuring music by Leo Delibes. The main characters include Franz, Swanilde, the inventor Doctor Coppélius and his creation, a life-size dancing doll.

Answer: Twelfth Night

'Twelfth Night' which has the alternate title 'What You Will', was first performed in 1602. Shakespeare was at the height of his powers at this time -- his previous work was 'Hamlet', and 'Othello', 'King Lear' and 'Macbeth' made their debuts in the following year or so.
The three alternatives are also Shakespeare comedies. 'As you Like It' is set in Arden, a forest near Stratford-upon-Avon. 'The Comedy of Errors' is set in the ancient Greek towns on Syracuse and Ephesus. 'Much Ado About Nothing' is set in Messina, Sicily.

Answer: Marcel Duchamp

Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp, born in Blainville-Crevon, France in 1887, was a leading member of the Surrealist and Dadaist movements. 'Fountain' was first displayed in 1917 but was lost in the confusion at the end of WWI. Replicas can be seen today at numerous galleries. Duchamp's title for his 1919 defaced Mona Lisa is a French pun -- the letters 'L.Q.O.O.Q.' when spoken form the phrase 'Elle a chaud au cul', which literally means 'She has heat in the ass' and is used as slang to mean 'she is horny'. The alternatives are three more surrealist painters. German Max Ernst is another member of the Dada school.

His most famous works include 'The Elephant Celebes' and 'Europe after the Rain'. Spaniard Joan Miró's best-known masterpieces include 'The Tilled field' and the giant 'Woman and Bird' sculpture. Belgian Paul Delvaux is famous for his surrealist paintings of nude females.

Answer: New England

Novelist and short-story writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. His 1851 novel, 'The House of the Seven Gables', is recognized today as an American classic.
The answer to the question posed here is answered in the novel's opening sentence: "Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst."
The story tells of the Pyncheon family and their lives in a house reputedly haunted by fraud, witchcraft and sudden death.