I'll Be Bach! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thüringen (Thuringia)

Bach was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, who taught him to play harpsichord and violin, and he had many other musical relatives.

Answer: They were second cousins.

Bach and Maria had seven children, four of whom survived into adulthood. Of those four, two became important composers, carrying on the family tradition. Bach was not present when Maria died: he was at the Carlsbad spa with Duke Köthen (also known as Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen), his employer, and returned to find his wife had died and been buried.

Answer: The Art of Fugue

It's actually been determined by handwriting analysis that this work was written in the 1740s, several years before Bach's death in 1750. The first known surviving manuscript actually bears the title "Die Kunst der Fuga", which was added by Bach's son-in-law. The correct German for the title "The Art of Fugue" is actually "Die Kunst der Fuge".

Answer: six

Yes, this does mean that Bach had 20 children! The 13 children included three Johanns, a Johanna, two Christianas, a Christian, and two Reginas!

His wife Anna was a soprano, and 17 years younger than he was. He married her seventeen months after his first wife died.

Answer: No

He did write a cantata about coffee addiction, though! "Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht" (Be silent, stop chattering), also known as "The Coffee Cantata", is actually more a comic opera, but is classified as a cantata.

It tells the story of Schlendrian, whose daughter Lieschen is addicted to coffee. He eventually forbids her to marry unless she gives up coffee, but as he is out searching for a husband for her, she tells her suitors that she will only marry them if they allow her to drink coffee!

Answer: Baroque

If you know your music style periods well, then you'd realize that Bach died well before the Romantic or Contemporary periods!

The Baroque period lasted approximately from 1600 to 1750. The name comes from the Portuguese "barroco" which means "misshapen pearl". Also, the art form was named before the music style!

Answer: Leipzig

Although Bach lived for many years in Weimar, he acquired the post of Cantor in Leipzig, where he spent the remainder of his life. He held the post until he died, 27 years later. This job included teaching the students to sing, and was a very creative time for Bach, in which he wrote 5 annual cantatas in his first 6 years there!

Answer: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music)

"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (also called "Serenade No. 13") was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The "Goldberg Variations" consist of thirty variations and an aria first published in 1741, for harpsichord.

"Mass in B Minor", as its name suggests, is a "missa tota" of the Latin mass, compiled from 1724 to 1749.

"Das Wohltempierte Clavier" is a collection of music for solo keyboard, published 1722.

Answer: True

British eye surgeon, John Taylor, operated on Bach while he was visiting Leipzig. However, the operation was apparently unsuccessful (the surgeon's operations on Handel had not worked, either), and Bach died not long after.

Answer: 1750

He died in Leipzig. Some historians name the cause of death as stroke complicated by pneumonia, other sources claim the unsuccessful operation was the cause. He leaves no surviving descendants (the last one, his great-granddaughter, died in 1871). But his legacy lives on in his music (and also the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Straße in Wittenberg, Germany!).