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Gustav Holst Trivia Quiz

Gustav Holst was an important part of the vanguard of modern British composers who brought British symphonic music to the world's attention.

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

Author
tjoebigham

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
93,912

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
7 / 15

Plays
803

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. Where was Holst born? Hint

Dulwich

Canterbury

Penzance

Cheltenham

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Question 2 of 15

2. Holst's original family name was "von Holst". What nationality was his family? Hint

German

Swedish

Danish

Norwegian

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Question 3 of 15

3. What instrument did Holst never play? Hint

trombone

bassoon

piano

organ

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Question 4 of 15

4. What condition prevented him from performing? Hint

Neuritis

Epilepsy

Diabetes

Tone Deafness

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Question 5 of 15

5. Who was his favorite composer? Hint

Grieg

Bach

Wagner

Mozart

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Question 6 of 15

6. What language did he once study? Hint

Greek

French

Sanskrit

Italian

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Question 7 of 15

7. What school was he a teacher at? Hint

Oxford

St. Joseph's

Eton

St. Paul's

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Question 8 of 15

8. When did his best-known work, "The Planets" debut? Hint

1912

1918

1920

1914

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Question 9 of 15

9. "The Planets" were inspired by astrology?

True

False

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Question 10 of 15

10. How many operas did Holst write? Hint

six

seven

two

thirteen

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Question 11 of 15

11. What poet did Holst base a choral symphony on? Hint

Shelley

Pope

Milton

Keats

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Question 12 of 15

12. What novelist inspired one of Holst's works? Hint

Defoe

Hardy

Dickens

Thackeray

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Question 13 of 15

13. What star did Holst write a song on? Hint

Polaris

Betelguese

Aldebaran

Antares

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Question 14 of 15

14. What conductor is most associated with Holst? Hint

Ormandy

Boult

Solti

Bernstein

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Question 15 of 15

15. Holst's daughter wrote his biography?

True

False

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Dec 12 2024 : Guest 86: 5/15
Nov 16 2024 : Guest 81: 4/15

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Where was Holst born?

Answer: Cheltenham

Holst's birthplace, Cheltenham, is in Gloucestershire County, the same county his friend and fellow composer Ralph Vaughn Williams was born in.

2. Holst's original family name was "von Holst". What nationality was his family?

Answer: Swedish

BION, the von Holsts were a musical family from Sweden, despite the German-sounding "von"!

3. What instrument did Holst never play?

Answer: bassoon

Holst also studied violin as a boy, but never learned the bassoon.

4. What condition prevented him from performing?

Answer: Neuritis

Holst also suffered asthma as a boy, but trombone playing cured it. However, the neuritis in his right arm stopped his performing, as it dogged him all his life. (he was set on composing, anyway!)

5. Who was his favorite composer?

Answer: Grieg

Despite an early influence by Wagner, Holst's favorite was Norway's Edvard Grieg.

6. What language did he once study?

Answer: Sanskrit

Fascinated by Hindu philosophy, Holst studied Sanskrit so he could read Hindu texts in their original language.

7. What school was he a teacher at?

Answer: St. Paul's

For most of his adult life, Holst taught music at St. Paul's, a girl's school in the Hammersmith district of London. He paid tribute to the school and the area in his "St. Paul's Suite" for strings and "Hammersmith" Prelude and Scherzo for military band.

8. When did his best-known work, "The Planets" debut?

Answer: 1918

World War One still raged when Holst premiered his symphonic suite, a breakthrough in British orchestral music (and still one of my all-time favorites.)

9. "The Planets" were inspired by astrology?

Answer: True

Holst also studied astrology, which inspired "The Planets". BTW, the two missing planets from the suite are Earth and Pluto (which was undiscovered by the time of the score's debut.)

10. How many operas did Holst write?

Answer: thirteen

His best-known operas are "Savriti", inspired by his Hindu studies, "At The Boar's Head", inspired by Shakespeare's Falstaff plays, "The Tale of the Wandering Scholar" and "The Perfect Fool". But Holst also penned nine earlier works: "Landsdown Castle", "Ianthe", "The Revoke", "The Idea", the operas for children "Cinderella", "he Magic Mirror" and "The Youth's Choice", another Hindu-influnced opera "Sita" and the parody "Opera As She Wrote".

11. What poet did Holst base a choral symphony on?

Answer: Keats

Holst set some poems of Keats' to music in his Choral Symphony, including a ravishing setting of the immortal "Ode To A Grecian Urn".

12. What novelist inspired one of Holst's works?

Answer: Hardy

Thomas Hardy's description of Egdon Heath in his "Return of the Native" was the basis of Holst's unforgettable rhapsody "Egdon Heath".

13. What star did Holst write a song on?

Answer: Betelguese

"Betelguese" was one of Holst's many songs.

14. What conductor is most associated with Holst?

Answer: Boult

Sir Adrian Boult conducted the debut of "The Planets" and other works of Holst, as well as those of Vaughn Williams and other British composers.

15. Holst's daughter wrote his biography?

Answer: True

Imogene, Holst's only child, wrote her father's life, and was a conductor and musicologist herself, once being assistant to Benjamin Britten.

Source: Author tjoebigham

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