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Quiz about Classical Music in Popular Culture
Quiz about Classical Music in Popular Culture

Classical Music in Popular Culture Quiz


Classical music is not just heard in the symphony hall. The work of the classical masters is often used in movies and popular songs. In this quiz you will be asked to identify classical works and their composers used in movies and popular recordings.

A multiple-choice quiz by Akhnaten. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
Akhnaten
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
244,209
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
20
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
13 / 20
Plays
1848
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 79 (14/20), Guest 24 (8/20), Bourman (7/20).
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Question 1 of 20
1. What musical composition is playing during the sunrise scene near the beginning of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey"? Hint


Question 2 of 20
2. In "A Clockwork Orange" the main passions of Alex were ultra-violence, a little bit of the old "in-out,in-out" , and the glorious Ludwig Van. What was his favorite Beethoven symphony, the sound of which later made him physically ill following his rehabilitation by the government? Hint


Question 3 of 20
3. The 1995 film "Babe" about a pig who wins a sheep-herding contest contains the uplifting song "If I Had Words" sung by both mice and James Cromwell. The lyrics were written by Nigel Westlake but the music was borrowed from what classical work? Hint


Question 4 of 20
4. In 1963 Allan Sherman recorded "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" in which a distraught camper tells his parents of the horrid conditions at Camp Granada which include ptomaine poisoning, malaria, alligators, and counselors subjecting campers to James Joyce's "Ulysses". Allan Sherman wrote the lyrics but who wrote the music used in "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"? Hint


Question 5 of 20
5. In 1972 (US) Emerson, Lake, and Palmer released a live album which contained their unique interpretation of a work by a Russian composer which left out some portions but did include "The Promenade", "The Old Castle", and "Great Gates at Kiev". Who was this composer? Hint


Question 6 of 20
6. All of the songs on Jethro Tull's second album "Stand Up" released in 1969 were written by Ian Anderson except "Bouree" which is a reworking of a melody originally written by which composer? Hint


Question 7 of 20
7. In the 1979 film "Apocalypse Now" Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore attached speakers to the helicopters during an attack on a Vietnamese village because "it scares the **** out of the slopes". What classical composition was used to strike fear into the hearts of Vietnamese villagers in "Apocalypse Now"? Hint


Question 8 of 20
8. Woody Allen's "Love and Death" (1975) told the story of Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen) and Sonja (Diane Keaton) during the Napoleonic Invasion of Russia. What composer's music was used as the soundtrack? Hint


Question 9 of 20
9. "Mack the Knife" was a number one hit for Bobby Darin in 1959. Bobby Darin performed it, but who wrote it? Hint


Question 10 of 20
10. "Death and The Maiden" was the name of a 1994 Roman Polanski film in which Sigourney Weaver kidnaps and interrogates a man whom she believes previously held her captive and raped her while playing a recording of "Death and the Maiden". Who composed the string quartet "Death and the Maiden"? Hint


Question 11 of 20
11. Who composed the operas "Akhnaten", "Einstein on the Beach", and "Satygraha" as well as film music for "The Illusionist", "Taking Lives", "The Truman Show", "Kundun", and "Clive Barker's Candyman" among many others? Hint


Question 12 of 20
12. Who wrote the soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"? Hint


Question 13 of 20
13. Who first recorded "Roll Over Beethoven"? Hint


Question 14 of 20
14. Whose "Bolero" was prominently featured in the 1979 film "10" starring Dudley Moore whose character was infatuated with a young woman played by Bo Derek? Hint


Question 15 of 20
15. The Broadway musical "Rent" is loosely based on which opera? Hint


Question 16 of 20
16. The Doors' first album released in 1967 contained two cover songs. One was the Willie Dixon blues song "Back Door Man". What was the other cover song sung by Jim Morrison on that album? Hint


Question 17 of 20
17. "A Fifth of Beethoven" was a number one hit in October 1976 for what recording artist? Hint


Question 18 of 20
18. Frank Zappa is known to most for his recordings of "Valley Girl" and "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" as well as the father who named his children Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva. He also wrote numerous classical compositions and was influenced by many twentieth century composers of serious music. The liner notes for "Freak Out" contained the quote "The present day composer refuses to die". To whom is the quote attributed? Hint


Question 19 of 20
19. Whose "Piano Concerto #21 in C major" was prominently featured in the 1967 Swedish film "Elvira Madigan"? Hint


Question 20 of 20
20. The theme song for the western television show "The Lone Ranger" was originally written as the overture to the opera "William Tell" which was first performed in Paris in 1829? Who composed this opera? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Oct 07 2024 : Guest 79: 14/20
Sep 27 2024 : Guest 24: 8/20
Sep 27 2024 : Bourman: 7/20
Sep 25 2024 : ChunkyWeenie: 17/20

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What musical composition is playing during the sunrise scene near the beginning of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey"?

Answer: "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss

Kubrick had originally commissioned Alex North to write a soundtrack for "2001: A Space Odyssey" but later decided to use other already composed works by Ligeti, Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss, and Khachaturian.
2. In "A Clockwork Orange" the main passions of Alex were ultra-violence, a little bit of the old "in-out,in-out" , and the glorious Ludwig Van. What was his favorite Beethoven symphony, the sound of which later made him physically ill following his rehabilitation by the government?

Answer: "Ninth Symphony" by Ludwig van Beethoven

Among the records in the record store in "A Clockwork Orange" are the soundtrack for "2001: A Space Odyssey", Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother", Crosby Stills Nash and Young's "Deja Vu" and Neil Young's "After the Goldrush".
3. The 1995 film "Babe" about a pig who wins a sheep-herding contest contains the uplifting song "If I Had Words" sung by both mice and James Cromwell. The lyrics were written by Nigel Westlake but the music was borrowed from what classical work?

Answer: "Third Symphony" by Camille Saint-Saens

"Babe" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1996 but lost to "Braveheart".
4. In 1963 Allan Sherman recorded "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" in which a distraught camper tells his parents of the horrid conditions at Camp Granada which include ptomaine poisoning, malaria, alligators, and counselors subjecting campers to James Joyce's "Ulysses". Allan Sherman wrote the lyrics but who wrote the music used in "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"?

Answer: Amilcare Ponchielli

Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" which contains the melody used by Allan Sherman in "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" also appears in Walt Disney's "Fantasia".
5. In 1972 (US) Emerson, Lake, and Palmer released a live album which contained their unique interpretation of a work by a Russian composer which left out some portions but did include "The Promenade", "The Old Castle", and "Great Gates at Kiev". Who was this composer?

Answer: Modest Mussorgsky

Other modern electronic interpretations of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" include recordings by Isao Tomita and a heavy metal version by Mekong Delta.
6. All of the songs on Jethro Tull's second album "Stand Up" released in 1969 were written by Ian Anderson except "Bouree" which is a reworking of a melody originally written by which composer?

Answer: Johann Sebastian Bach

When the album for "Stand Up" was opened, the members of Jethro Tull "stood up" like characters in a children's pop-up book.
7. In the 1979 film "Apocalypse Now" Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore attached speakers to the helicopters during an attack on a Vietnamese village because "it scares the **** out of the slopes". What classical composition was used to strike fear into the hearts of Vietnamese villagers in "Apocalypse Now"?

Answer: "Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner

The script for "Apocalypse Now" was partially inspired by Joseph Conrad's classic novella "Heart of Darkness".
8. Woody Allen's "Love and Death" (1975) told the story of Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen) and Sonja (Diane Keaton) during the Napoleonic Invasion of Russia. What composer's music was used as the soundtrack?

Answer: Sergei Prokofiev

Prior to the film's release, Woody had used the music of Igor Stravinsky for "Love and Death" but it seemed to diminish the humor of the film. He found that substituting Prokofiev for Stravinsky made the film funnier. I'm sure that Prokofiev would have been honored.
9. "Mack the Knife" was a number one hit for Bobby Darin in 1959. Bobby Darin performed it, but who wrote it?

Answer: Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill

"Mack the Knife" was written for "A Three Penny Opera" which premiered in 1929.
10. "Death and The Maiden" was the name of a 1994 Roman Polanski film in which Sigourney Weaver kidnaps and interrogates a man whom she believes previously held her captive and raped her while playing a recording of "Death and the Maiden". Who composed the string quartet "Death and the Maiden"?

Answer: Franz Schubert

The film "Death and the Maiden" was adapted from the play "Death and the Maiden" written by Ariel Dorfman.
11. Who composed the operas "Akhnaten", "Einstein on the Beach", and "Satygraha" as well as film music for "The Illusionist", "Taking Lives", "The Truman Show", "Kundun", and "Clive Barker's Candyman" among many others?

Answer: Philip Glass

Philip Glass appeared for a few seconds as a character in a Christmas pageant on "South Park". A riot began after he played several notes.
12. Who wrote the soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"?

Answer: Bernard Herrmann

Although Bernard Herrmann is best known as the composer of film scores for Alfred Hitchcock films, he also composed an opera, "Wuthering Heights", which was first performed in London in 1966 fifteen years after it was composed in 1951.
13. Who first recorded "Roll Over Beethoven"?

Answer: Chuck Berry

Although "Roll Over Beethoven" was recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra, the Beatles, and Jerry Lee Lewis, it was recorded first by Chuck Berry. Among the other groups that have recorded it are Status Quo, the Byrds, Gene Vincent, Uriah Heep, and Iron Maiden.
14. Whose "Bolero" was prominently featured in the 1979 film "10" starring Dudley Moore whose character was infatuated with a young woman played by Bo Derek?

Answer: Maurice Ravel

Peter Sellers was Blake Edward's first choice to play the role in which Dudley Moore was ultimately cast.
15. The Broadway musical "Rent" is loosely based on which opera?

Answer: "La Boheme" by Puccini

The scene moves from Paris to New York and the fatal disease changes to AIDS.
16. The Doors' first album released in 1967 contained two cover songs. One was the Willie Dixon blues song "Back Door Man". What was the other cover song sung by Jim Morrison on that album?

Answer: "The Alabama Song" by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill

The "Alabama Song" was originally written for the Brecht/Weill opera "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny".
17. "A Fifth of Beethoven" was a number one hit in October 1976 for what recording artist?

Answer: Walter Murphy

Walter Murphy later recorded a disco version of George Gershwin's
"Rhapsody in Blue" which never earned a place in history on the record charts at all.
18. Frank Zappa is known to most for his recordings of "Valley Girl" and "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" as well as the father who named his children Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva. He also wrote numerous classical compositions and was influenced by many twentieth century composers of serious music. The liner notes for "Freak Out" contained the quote "The present day composer refuses to die". To whom is the quote attributed?

Answer: Edgard Varese

In February 1983 Frank Zappa conducted the Varese works "Ionization" and "Integrales" at the "Edgar Varèse Memorial Concert" held in the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House.
19. Whose "Piano Concerto #21 in C major" was prominently featured in the 1967 Swedish film "Elvira Madigan"?

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart's "Piano Concerto #21" is often called "Elvira Madigan" because the slow movement was featured prominently in this film.
20. The theme song for the western television show "The Lone Ranger" was originally written as the overture to the opera "William Tell" which was first performed in Paris in 1829? Who composed this opera?

Answer: Rossini

The "William Tell" overture also was used in "A Clockwork Orange" as the soundtrack for a tryst shown in fast forward.
Source: Author Akhnaten

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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