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Quiz about About the Composers and their Works

About the Composers and their Works Quiz

Let's see how well you know the classics and how well you know the composers who wrote them.

A multiple-choice quiz by musicwriter. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
musicwriter

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
220,277

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
539

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. This composer's most famous work lasts for just one minute; "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" - who wrote this piece? Hint

Tchaikovsky

Glinka

Shostakovich

Rimsky-Korsakov

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Question 2 of 10

2. What was written as "Ballet for Martha" before Martha changed the title to what we know the work to be today? Hint

Billy The Kid

Appalachia

Rodeo

Appalachian Spring

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Question 3 of 10

3. Who wrote "Quartet For the End of Time" whilst a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp? Hint

Alban Berg

Arnold Schoenburg

Witald Lutoslawski

Olivier Messiaen

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Question 4 of 10

4. Who wrote the "African Sanctus"? Hint

Malcolm Arnold

David Fanshawe

Benjamin Britten

Harrison Birtwhistle

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Question 5 of 10

5. What work has earned for John Cage the greatest amount of royalties? Hint

Underwater String Quartet.

Four Minutes Thirty Three Seconds.

Prepared Piano

Trio Sonata

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Question 6 of 10

6. Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess", written in 1935 was the first opera written to feature an entirely black cast.

True

False

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which composer was drowned after the boat he was a passenger on was torpedoed by a German U-Boat? Hint

Isaac Albeniz

Edvard Grieg

Edward MacDowell

Enrique Granados

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Question 8 of 10

8. Name the Russian composer to complete fifteen symphonies and fifteen string quartets. Hint

Rachmaninoff

Prokofiev

Scriabin

Shostakovich

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Question 9 of 10

9. "War and Peace" was written originally for piano duet as a reflective piece - a year later the work was expanded to the orchestral masterpiece we all know today. What was it? Hint

"The Rite of Spring" - Stravinsky

"The Planet Suite" - Holst

"Mother Goose Suite" - Ravel

"War Requiem" - Britten

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Question 10 of 10

10. Who wrote "L'estro Armonico"? Hint

J.S. Bach

Vivaldi

Corelli

D. Scarlatti

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This composer's most famous work lasts for just one minute; "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" - who wrote this piece?

Answer: Rimsky-Korsakov

Rimsky Korsakov was a captain in the Russian Navy and wrote this piece, with many others, in his spare time for his own personal enjoyment.

2. What was written as "Ballet for Martha" before Martha changed the title to what we know the work to be today?

Answer: Appalachian Spring

Aaron Copland wrote "Ballet for Martha" whilst in Mexico; it was only when he returned from there to drop into rehearsals that he found out that Martha Graham had renamed it "Appalachian Spring."

3. Who wrote "Quartet For the End of Time" whilst a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp?

Answer: Olivier Messiaen

Messiaen wrote this work on scrap paper for himself and three friends. The unusual forces (instruments) employed in this quartet were decided on purely because of the musicians available at the time.

4. Who wrote the "African Sanctus"?

Answer: David Fanshawe

Fanshawe sampled many sounds in deepest Africa before blending them with a mass written for full choir, orchestra and drumkit.

5. What work has earned for John Cage the greatest amount of royalties?

Answer: Four Minutes Thirty Three Seconds.

"4'33"" has earned more, through its use on jukeboxes by those wanting absolute silence from the machine for a little while.

6. Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess", written in 1935 was the first opera written to feature an entirely black cast.

Answer: False

The first all black cast opera was written in 1902 by Scott Joplin; it is called "Treemonisha" and it received a first performance in 1972.

7. Which composer was drowned after the boat he was a passenger on was torpedoed by a German U-Boat?

Answer: Enrique Granados

Both Enrique and his wife were killed in the Irish Sea this way in 1916.

8. Name the Russian composer to complete fifteen symphonies and fifteen string quartets.

Answer: Shostakovich

These works were written across a large span of his life and reflect the social background at the time.

9. "War and Peace" was written originally for piano duet as a reflective piece - a year later the work was expanded to the orchestral masterpiece we all know today. What was it?

Answer: "The Planet Suite" - Holst

"War and Peace" became the two movements "Mars and Venus" of the "Planet Suite". It was after Holst revealed these two movements that he was persuaded to continue the work into what we all know today.

10. Who wrote "L'estro Armonico"?

Answer: Vivaldi

Vivaldi wrote this set of twelve concertos, three of each for one, two, three, and four violins. After the "Four Seasons," and "Gloria" it is probably Vivaldi's most famous work.

Source: Author musicwriter

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