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Another Musical Alphabet Trivia Quiz

This is my second musical alphabet. Unlike the first one, which related to musical terms and instruments, the subject this time is composers.

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

Author
ertrum

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
197,741

Updated
Oct 14 23

# Qns
20

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
13 / 20

Plays
1827

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 20

1. This French composer wrote the melody for "O Holy Night" as well as
the ballet "Giselle" Hint

Samuel Adler

Francisco Alonso

Issac Albeniz

Adolph Adam

NEXT>

Question 2 of 20

2. This composer wrote for orchestra and Broadway. He was conductor
of the New York Philharmonic, and made a famous television series
introducing children to classical music. Hint

John Bennet

Leonard Bernstein

Arthur Benjamin

Arnold Bax

NEXT>

Question 3 of 20

3. This American avant-garde composer wrote for piano, "prepared piano",
percussion, and orchestra. His most famous work is titled 4'33". Hint

Elliot Carter

John Cage

Thomas Campion

John Corigliano

NEXT>

Question 4 of 20

4. A theme from a waltz written by this Austrian composer and
publisher was used by Beethoven as the basis of his variations, named
for this composer. Hint

Anton Diabelli

Paul Dukas

Gaetano Donizetti

Marcel Dupre

NEXT>

Question 5 of 20

5. Who was the composer of the "Pomp and Circumstance" marches? Hint

Duke Ellington

Maurice Emmanuel

Edward Elgar

George Enescu

NEXT>

Question 6 of 20

6. This Spaniard wrote "The Three Cornered Hat" and "Nights in the
Gardens of Spain": Hint

Zdenck Fibich

Cesar Franck

Manuel de Falla

Gabriel Faure

NEXT>

Question 7 of 20

7. Name the American pianist and composer from New Orleans who wrote
various piano and orchestral pieces which include "The Banjo" and "A
Night in the Tropics" Hint

Charles Gounod

Gabriel Grovlez

Ferde Grofe

Louis Moreau Gottschalk

NEXT>

Question 8 of 20

8. This German composer wrote an opera based on the life of Matthias Gruenwald. Hint

Paul Hindemith

Hans Henze

Georg Frederic Handel

Stephen Heller

NEXT>

Question 9 of 20

9. Who wrote the ballet "Diane de Poitiers" as well as a setting of
"The Ballad of Reading Jail", and a song cycle "Songs of Don Quixote"?
Hint

Charles Ives

Vincent d'Indy

Jacques Ibert

John Ireland

NEXT>

Question 10 of 20

10. Who wrote the opera "The Cunning Little Vixen"? Hint

Leos Janacek

Joseph Joachim

Clement Janequin

Archibald Joyce

NEXT>

Question 11 of 20

11. This Russian composer wrote the opera "The Comedians", two cello
concertos, and a suite of incidental music to "Romeo and Juliet", among
other works. Hint

Aram Khachaturian

Jerome Kern

Vasily Kalinnikov

Dmitry Kabalevsky

NEXT>

Question 12 of 20

12. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's father was also a composer. What was his
first name?

Answer: (One Word - Same as Stokowsky's first name)

NEXT>

Question 13 of 20

13. What American composer wrote "Amahl and the Night Visitors"?
Hint

John Mitchell

Jef Maes

Edward MacDowell

Gian Carlo Menotti

NEXT>

Question 14 of 20

14. Who wrote the opera "The Merry Wives of Windsor"? Hint

Otto Nicolai

Luigi Nono

Carl Nielsen

Santo Nicolo

NEXT>

Question 15 of 20

15. This German composer and musicologist wrote a book about musical
instruments, as well as composing the melody for the hymn "Lo How a
Rose E'er Blooming" Hint

Perotin

Hans Pfitzner

Michael Praetorius

Johann Pachelbel

NEXT>

Question 16 of 20

16. Who was the Russian composer and teacher who composed "The Golden
Cockerel" and "Scheherazade" and who arranged and orchestrated
Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain"? Hint

Max Reger

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Anton Rubenstein

NEXT>

Question 17 of 20

17. Which Italian composer taught Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt, among
others? Hint

Jean Sibelius

Giovanni Sammartini

Antonio Salieri

Roger Sessions

NEXT>

Question 18 of 20

18. This Swiss virtuoso pianist wrote piano arrangements of operatic themes
from operas such as "Don Giovanni" or "The Barber of Seville".
Hint

John Taverner

Alexandre Tansman

Ernst Toch

Sigismond Thalberg

NEXT>

Question 19 of 20

19. "Joe Green" wrote many operas and established a home for retired
musicians in his native Milan. What name is he better known by?
Hint

Giuseppe Verdi

Edgar Varese

Gerard Victory

Jazeps Vitols

NEXT>

Question 20 of 20

20. Who was the German composer of "The Threepenny
Opera", a modernization of John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera"?
Hint

Carl Maria von Weber

Kurt Weill

Emile Waldteufel

Hugo Wolf

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This French composer wrote the melody for "O Holy Night" as well as the ballet "Giselle"

Answer: Adolph Adam

Adam lived in Paris from 1803 to 1856. He was also a music critic and
percussionist.

2. This composer wrote for orchestra and Broadway. He was conductor of the New York Philharmonic, and made a famous television series introducing children to classical music.

Answer: Leonard Bernstein

Bernstein wrote the score, and some of the lyrics, to "West Side
Story", as well as musicals, several symphonies, choral works, and the
ballet "Fancy Free". He died in 1990.

3. This American avant-garde composer wrote for piano, "prepared piano", percussion, and orchestra. His most famous work is titled 4'33".

Answer: John Cage

4'33" is performed by the performer entering the stage, sitting down
at the piano, playing nothing, and remaining silent for four minutes
and thirty-three seconds!

4. A theme from a waltz written by this Austrian composer and publisher was used by Beethoven as the basis of his variations, named for this composer.

Answer: Anton Diabelli

Diabelli was not a success as a composer. In fact, Beethoven referred
to the waltz which he based the "Diabelli Variations" (opus
120) on as a "cobbler's patch". Diabelli commissioned 50 other Viennese
composers to write variations on this waltz for a volume he published.

5. Who was the composer of the "Pomp and Circumstance" marches?

Answer: Edward Elgar

The trio of "Pomp and Circumstance" march number one is commonly used
as a processional for graduation ceremonies.

6. This Spaniard wrote "The Three Cornered Hat" and "Nights in the Gardens of Spain":

Answer: Manuel de Falla

De Falla worked in Paris with Ravel and Debussy, before returning to
Spain during World War I. "The Three Cornered Hat" was composed for
Serge Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes". Picasso designed the scenery for
this ballet. De Falla emigrated to Argentina, dying there in 1946.

7. Name the American pianist and composer from New Orleans who wrote various piano and orchestral pieces which include "The Banjo" and "A Night in the Tropics"

Answer: Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Gottschalk incorporated the styles of music he heard in New Orleans
into his music, giving it a jazzy and latin feeling.

8. This German composer wrote an opera based on the life of Matthias Gruenwald.

Answer: Paul Hindemith

Hindemith was obliged to leave Germany to avoid Nazi persecution. He
came to the US and taught at Yale for several years.

9. Who wrote the ballet "Diane de Poitiers" as well as a setting of "The Ballad of Reading Jail", and a song cycle "Songs of Don Quixote"?

Answer: Jacques Ibert

Ives, an American, was famous for his "manly dissonance". Vincent
d'Indy was a Frenchman, and John Ireland was English. Ibert, also
French, lived from 1890 to 1962.

10. Who wrote the opera "The Cunning Little Vixen"?

Answer: Leos Janacek

Aside from composing, Janacek was an organist and schoolteacher. His
music was greatly influenced by the folk music of his native Moravia.

11. This Russian composer wrote the opera "The Comedians", two cello concertos, and a suite of incidental music to "Romeo and Juliet", among other works.

Answer: Dmitry Kabalevsky

Kabalevsky taught at the Moscow Conservatory. Unlike many
contemporary Russian composers, Shostakovich for one, he stayed in
favor with Stalin's government.

12. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's father was also a composer. What was his first name?

Answer: Leopold

Leopold wrote the "Toy Symphony" and "The Musical Sleighride", among
others. He was court composer and deputy Kapellmeister to the
Archbishop of Salzburg.

13. What American composer wrote "Amahl and the Night Visitors"?

Answer: Gian Carlo Menotti

Menotti was born in Italy, but moved to the US when he was 17. He won
Pulitzer Prizes for his operas "The Consul" and "The Saint of Bleeker
Street". He founded the Spoleto festival in Italy (and later in the
US) in 1956.

14. Who wrote the opera "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?

Answer: Otto Nicolai

Nicolai died two months after the Berlin premiere in 1849.

15. This German composer and musicologist wrote a book about musical instruments, as well as composing the melody for the hymn "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming"

Answer: Michael Praetorius

Praetorius' "Syntagma Musicum" is an important book of musical
practice and instruments of his time. He also wrote a set of dances,
"Terpsichore".

16. Who was the Russian composer and teacher who composed "The Golden Cockerel" and "Scheherazade" and who arranged and orchestrated Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain"?

Answer: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

Rimsky-Korsakov was one of the Russian Five, along with Mussorgsky,
Borodin, Cui, and Balakirev. He was a professor at the St. Petersburg
Conservatory, where he taught Stravinsky.

17. Which Italian composer taught Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt, among others?

Answer: Antonio Salieri

If you believe the play and film, "Amadeus", Salieri was responsible
for Mozart's early death. In any case, Salieri wrote 45 operas, and
much choral and orchestral music. He died in Vienna in 1825.

18. This Swiss virtuoso pianist wrote piano arrangements of operatic themes from operas such as "Don Giovanni" or "The Barber of Seville".

Answer: Sigismond Thalberg

Thalberg was a contemporary of Liszt.

19. "Joe Green" wrote many operas and established a home for retired musicians in his native Milan. What name is he better known by?

Answer: Giuseppe Verdi

The Casa Verdi was founded at the beginning of the 20th century, and
is still providing a retirement home for musicians.

20. Who was the German composer of "The Threepenny Opera", a modernization of John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera"?

Answer: Kurt Weill

Weill left Germany in 1933, eventually settling in the US, where he
wrote for Broadway and Hollywood. His music was strongly influenced
by jazz and other popular music of the time. He wrote "The Threepenny Opera" with Berthold Brecht.

Source: Author ertrum

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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