Classical Music Volume 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi composed hundreds of concertos, sonatas, and church music during his lifetime. "L'Estro Armonico" is a series of 12 concertos that divides into groups of three, each group having a quadruple, a double, and a single concerto. Vivaldi's most famous composition, of course, is "Le Quattro Stagioni", which translates into English as "The Four Seasons."

Answer: Edward Elgar

Sir Edward Elgar came to the forefront of British classical music during the late Victorian period. Among his famous works are "Pomp and Circumstance", "The Dream of Gerontius", and "Cockaigne Overture: In London Town."

Answer: Felix Mendelssohn

When Felix Mendelssohn visited Britain in the 1840's, he became a close friend of the then-young Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert. The royal couple found Mendelssohn's music much to their liking: elegant, precise, and in a pure Classical style.

Answer: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"

Beethoven's political beliefs were decidedly anti-royalist and republican. He initially admired Napoleon and dedicated his Symphony No. 3 to the French ruler. Beethoven was so enraged when Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor that he tore up the symphony's title page, with Napoleon's name on it, and renamed the symphony "Eroica" (translates into English as "Heroic").

Answer: Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn was 66 years old when he composed his first oratorio, "The Creation." He later composed "The Seasons." Among his many masses are the "Lord Nelson Mass" and "Mass in a Time of War."

Answer: Erik Satie

Blood, Sweat and Tears included an adaptation of Erik Satie's "Trois Gymnopédies" on the "Blood, Sweat and Tears" album.

Answer: Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky was born in Russia in 1882. "Firebird" and "Le Sacre de Printemps" ("The Rite of Spring") are two of his early compositions that established him as one of the great twentieth century composers. Stravinsky left Russia shortly after the Russian Revolution in 1917. He eventually settled in the United States.

Answer: Johannes Brahms

Most historians doubt that the relationship between Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann was ever anything more than a platonic one. Brahms was too gruff, and Clara too devoted to promoting the name and works of her late husband.

Answer: Gran Partita

The "Serenade in B-flat major, K.361", also known as "Gran Partita", is scored for thirteen solo instruments. Four horns (paired in different keys); a pair each of clarinets, basset horns, bassoons, and oboes, and a string bass. This composition is featured in the movie "Amadeus." In an early scene, the aged Salieri describes the "Gran Partita" as "on the page it looked like nothing; the beginning, simple... almost comic... like a rusty squeeze box..."

Answer: Ludwig van Beethoven

The "Diabelli Variations" is a series of variations for piano composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. The original waltz theme was composed by Anton Diabelli, who invited Beethoven and 49 other composers to write one variation each on the original theme. Beethoven responded by writing 32 variations on Diabelli's original composition in a two-year period (1821-23).