Bells and Whistles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jacques Ibert

Ibert based his 1930 suite "Divertissement" on incidental music he wrote for the play "Un chapeau de paille d'Italie" ("An Italian straw hat") by Eugène Labiche. The whole piece is gloriously entertaining, culminating in a riotous chase sequence which includes the blowing of a police whistle.

Answer: Bagpipes

The piece was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and first performed in 1985. The bagpipes, which make their appearance towards the end, are said to represent the sun rising. In concert performances, the score stipulates that the performer should dress in full Scottish piper's costume, and should remain offstage until his cue, at which point he should march onstage playing. Sir Peter had a cottage for many years on the Orkney island of Hoy, and in 1977 helped to found Orkney's St Magnus Festival.

Answer: Church bells

Composers have often written music that replicates the sound of church bells, normally employing tubular bells to replicate as best they can the sonorous tones of the real thing (such as Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture"). Howard Skempton's "Five Rings Triples", however, is extremely unusual in employing the techniques of traditional "change ringing" as practised in churches across the UK.

It also requires experienced change-ringers rather than orchestral musicians to play it, and can only be performed in churches that have at least eight full-size bells.

Answer: Gustav Mahler

In both works, Mahler asks the player to jangle the cowbells randomly, to create a realistic image of the sound of distant herds of cattle in the Alpine landscapes. For the composer, the sound conjured up childhood memories of walks in the meadows of the Alps - and by extension a nostalgic longing for the past.

Answer: Noye's Fludde

Britten's 1957 opera "Noye's Fludde" is based on the medieval mystery play of that name, which tells the Biblical story of Noah and the ark. The hand-bells are used to represent the appearance of the rainbow at the end of the piece, sent by God as a pledge that he will never flood the earth again.

Answer: Train whistle

Although completed in 1927, Havergal Brian's "Gothic" Symphony only received its first complete performance in 1961, and performances remain few and far between. This is due to a combination of factors, including its length (nearly two hours), the number of performers required (a 2011 performance at the Royal Albert Hall employed over 1,000 performers) and the complexity of the choral writing.

While much of the writing is delicate and tuneful, there are passages of extreme dissonance which employ an eclectic mixture of percussion instruments.

Answer: A Grand Grand Overture

Arnold wrote his "Grand Grand Overture" for Gerard Hoffnung's 1956 "Hoffnung Music Festival" concert in London's Royal Festival Hall. The use of these objects is apparently inspired by a musical rehearsal in which Arnold once took part that was disrupted by someone using a vacuum cleaner at the back of the hall.

The overture ends with a series of rifle shots (ideally using real rifles), which presumably indicates the fate which Arnold wished on the disruptive individual(s).

Answer: Metronomes

"Poème symphonique", "composed" by Ligeti in 1962, requires the 100 metronomes to be wound up and set to different speeds, before being released at the same time. They are left to wind down one after another and the piece ends when the last one stops ticking.

Answer: Eine Alpensinfonie

More of a tone poem than a traditional symphony, Eine Alpensinfonie ("An Alpine Symphony") describes a day-long walk up a mountain in the Alps. The wind machine makes its dramatic appearance in the section towards the end of the piece representing a furious storm; the score also calls for a thunder-sheet in the same section.

Answer: John Cage

John Cage (1912-1992) challenged conventional ideas about what constituted music, not least in his most famous work, 4'33", in which the musicians play nothing for precisely four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Composed in 1976, "Branches" also requires other plant-based sounds, such a rattling seed-pods and rustling twigs.