The Name Says It All...Or Does It? Multiple Choice Quiz | Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. If I told you the name of the dance that he was popular for composing, then you would know that Frederic Chopin was from _______.

Answer: Poland

Were you thinking of the Polonaise? This dance is like a waltz, except that the first beat is accented in a stately dotted rhythm. The word Polonaise literally means Polish in French. Chopin (1810-49) was such a Francophile that he changed his first and middle names from the Polish Fryderyk Franciszek to Frederic Francois. Chopin was a largely self-taught pianist.

2. Maurice Ravel composed mostly in the French language, but where was he born?

Answer: The Basque Region

Though he was born in the Basque Region, composer, conductor, and pianist (Joseph) Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) belonged to the French school of composition. He was educated at the Paris Conservatoire. He is famed for his "Bolero," which actually caused a riot at its premiere since those in attendance felt that the work had been mis-named, mostly thanks to its slow rhythm.

3. I know for a fact that Thea Musgrave lives in Norfolk, VA (as her main residence, anyway). But where was she born?

Answer: Scotland

Thea Musgrave (b. 1928) studied with Nadia Boulanger and Aaron Copland, and is mostly known as a composer and conductor of opera. Her most famous compositions are "The Voice of Ariadne," "Mary, Queen of Scots," and her most recent, for Virginia Opera, "Harriet Tubman." She is married to VA Opera's Artistic Director Peter Mark.

4. Singer, composer, and pianist Pauline Viardot-Garcia was born in __________.

Answer: France

Viardot-Garcia (1821-1910) was born and died in Paris, France. She was an accomplished pianist, having studied with Franz Liszt. She came from a famous musical family: her father, Manuel Garcia, was a famed voice teacher, singer, and impresario; her mother Joaquina was a singer and actress; and her younger sister, who was born in Spain along with her parents, was the well-known opera singer Maria Malibran (1808-36). Gounod wrote the title role of his first opera "Sapho" for Viardot-Garcia.

5. Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner were colleagues, but Liszt was not born in Germany. Where was he born?

Answer: Hungary

Virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811-86) was Hungarian. Among others, he studied with Czerny (student of Beethoven) in Vienna. After having lived with Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein in Weimar, he became a secular priest in 1865!

6. Composer and violinist Ellen Taafe Zwillich was born in which country?

Answer: USA

Despite the sound of her name, Zwillich (b. 1939) was born in sunny Miami, Florida. After acquiring her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from Florida State University, she moved to New York, eventually enrolling in the Juilliard School, where she studied with Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions, becoming the first woman to receive a doctorate in composition in 1975.

7. Cesar Cui's father was French, and his mother was Lithuanian. He was therefore born in:

Answer: Russia

Trick question: Cesar Cui (1835-1918) was born and lived in Russia. A young officer in the Engineering Corps of the Russian Army, he was recruited into being one of the Russian nationalistic (Mighty Handful: moguchaya kuchka) Five composers by Balakirev, who was also his teacher. The other members of this 'group' were Mussorgsky, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov.

8. Handel was born in which West European country?

Answer: Germany

George Frideric (Georg Friedrich) Handel was born in Halle, Germany in 1685, but died in London 1759, after having been naturalized as an English citizen in 1726. His father, a barber-surgeon, was opposed to Handel's career choice of muisc. He studied law at Halle University, turning full-time to music after his father's death.

He settled in London in 1710, after being commisioned to compose "Rinaldo" for that city. All of his operas are in Italian, while most of his oratorios are in English, and some in Italian.

9. Louis Gottschalk was born in which city?

Answer: New Orleans

This American composer (1829-69) was born in New Orleans, even though he died in Rio de Janeiro. He was also a pianist and conductor, having studied with Berlioz in Paris, among others. He lived in the Carribbean Islands from 1857 to 1861, then toured the U.S., leaving suddenly to avoid prosecution for having seduced a young girl.

10. Known for his style of mixing 20th century idioms with a strong exotic flair from the West Indies in his music, especially apparent in "Cinco canciones negras," Xavier Montsalvatge was born in _______.

Answer: Spain

Critic and composer Montsalvatge (b. 1912), was born in Gerona, Spain. He studied at the Barcelona Conservatory, and his early works won the prestigious Pedrell prize. He is unlike his fellow Spanish composers, in that he did not compose with a 'Spanish' style that depended on Spanish folk music.

For example, all of his "Cinco canciones negras" are set to poems that deal with Cuba. One of them, "Canto negro," uses not only Spanish words and Afro-Cuban rhythms, but also words from Yoruba, a Nigerian language.

Source: Author triviasoprano

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The Name Says It All...Or Does It? Quiz

We all know that Gioacchino Rossini was an Italian composer. But sometimes, a composer's name gives you no clue about his/her origin. How well can you match these composers' names with their country of birth?

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