Various Vacancies: Violin Virtuosi Quiz

Answer: Polish Capriccio

Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) was born in Lodz, Poland. Her father was Lithuanian, her mother Polish. Grazyna had to choose between the two nationalities, and chose the Polish nationality. Her brother Witold chose the Lithuanian nationality.
The Bacewicz family was very interested in classical music. Witold and Grazyna became composers, and their brother Kiejstut was a pianist.
Grazyna's first composition was a quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet , bassoon and horn published in 1932. Most of her works are for piano and violin, the two instruments she studied from her fifth year.
Her solo works for the violin include "Sonata" (1941), "Polish Capriccio" (1949), "Capriccio nr. 2" (1952), "Sonata Nr. 2" (1958), and "Four Capriccio's" (1968).
"Capriccio Espagnol" is a composition by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) based upon Spanish folk tunes. It was originally composed for violin and orchestra, but later rearranged as a pure orchestral work.
"Rondo alla Turca" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)is a piano sonata.
"Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is a symphonic poem originally for orchestra, later arranged for piano solo.

Answer: Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was the most famous composer in a very gifted musical family. His grandfather Christoph Bach and father Johann Ambrosius Bach, as well as his cousins Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Michael Bach, Johann Nicolaus Bach, Johann Bernhard Bach and Johann Ludwig Bach were talented musicians, and also Johann Sebastian's sons Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Christian Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach pursued a musical career.
Johann Sebastian Bach left us more than one thousand compositions. He himself thought "Das Wohltemperierte Klavier" the pinnacle of his musical career. This work contains 48 preludes and fugues for keyboard (especially harpsichord), two in each major and minor key. Nowadays the most played compositions by J.S. Bach include the Matthäuspassion (BWV 244), the Toccata and Fuga in D Minor (BWV 565), the Brandenburg Concerti (BWV 1046-1051) and the Orchestral Suite number 3 (BWV 1068).
Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001-1006) were composed between 1703 and 1720. The most famous part is the Ciaccona, the final movement in Partita number 2 in D minor (BWV 1004).
Cesarina Ricci de Tingoli (1573-1594?) was an Early Baroque composer. Only fourteen of her madrigals and one dialogue are extant.
Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676) was a Venetian opera composer.
César Franck (1822-1890) was a pianist, organist and composer of the Romantic Era.

Answer: Bela Bartok

Bela Bartok (1881-1945) is the one we're looking for. He started playing the piano when he was only five years old, and gave his first recital when he was eleven.
Bartok's best known works are "Kossuth", a symphonic poem composed in 1903, his opera "Bluebeard's Castle" (1911), his "Concerto for Orchestra" (1944), his "Sonata for Solo Violin" (1944) and his "Piano Concerto Number 3" (1945).
The "Sonata for Solo Violin" was composed especially for Yehudi Menuhin, who premiered the work in 1944.
Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer best known for his nine Symphonies.
Grieg (1843-1907) was a Norwegian composer. His most famous work is the music to Henrik Ibsen's theatre play "Peer Gynt".
Moroder (born 1940) is an Italian composer who frequently works for movie scores (for example "Midnight Express", "Flashdance" and "Top Gun").

Answer: Manon Gropius

Alban Berg (1885-1935) was a Viennese composer, best known for his operas "Lulu" and "Wozzeck". He was a good friend of Alma Schindler (1879-1964).
Alma Schindler was married to several notorious artists. When she was married to the architect Walter Gropius, she gave birth to Manon (1915-1933), who died of tuberculosis. This tragic event inspired Alban Berg for his last violin concerto.
Anna Mahler (1904-1988) is Alma Schindler's daughter with the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). She made fame as a sculptor.
Margaux (1954-1996) was a granddaughter of the author Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). She was a model and actress.
Geraldine Chaplin (born 1944) took up acting, as did her father Charlie (1889-1977).
Neither Margaux Hemingway nor Geraldine Chaplin are descendants of Alma Schindler.

Answer: Nicolo Paganini

Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840) was a prolific violinist and composer. He started playing the violin at age seven, and soon outsmarted several of his teachers. His compositions include at least 24 capricci for violin solo.
Paganini's long slender fingers allowed him to play three octaves in one hand span, something very few violinists have been able to.
One of Paganini's pastimes was collecting famous violins, nowadays priceless instruments. He owned at least three Stradivari, two Amati violins and two Guarneri violins.
Paganini soon was a very desirable guest at many parties. His music was a delight to the ears of the ladies, who also enjoyed (according to the rumour) other activities by Paganini - activities that can't be mentioned on a family quiz site as this one. There is no conclusive evidence for this rumour, but it is a fact that Paganini suffered from syphilis, a disease that can't be incurred by playing music...
Abbado (born 1933) is an Italian conductor.
Da Ponte (born Emanuele Conegliano, 1749-1838) was an Italian librettist famous for his work with Mozart and Salieri.
Bocelli (born 1958) is an Italian tenor. His first masterpiece is the pop song "Con te partiro", on a tune inspired by classical music.

Answer: Peter

"Peter and the Wolf" was composed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. This musical narration for children uses various instruments for the different characters. For instance, the duck (named Sonia in the Disney adaptation) is accompanied by an oboe, while the clarinet plays typically when the cat (called Ivan in the Disney adaptation) produces some lines.
Violins and other string instruments accompany Peter's part in the play.
Prokofiev (1891-1953) has left us the opera "Love for Three Oranges", the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" and the aforesaid children's story "Peter and the Wolf". More to the theme of this quiz, we'll mention his two violin concerti , two string quartets, a sonata for two violins and a sonata for violin solo.
"Puss in Boots" is an intermezzo in the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty" by Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). It also refers to a children's opera by the Russian composer Cesar Cui (1835-1918).
"The Flight of the Bumblebee" is a intermezzo for violin and orchestra in the opera "Czar Saltan" by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908).
"The Firebird" is a ballet by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971).

Answer: The Trout

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was a prolific Austrian composer. Highlights of his oeuvre include nine symphonies and over 600 "Lieder" (songs in classical style). Furthermore, Schubert created at least 15 string quartets and one string trio.
The "Piano Quintet in A Major" (nicknamed "The Trout Quintet") was scored for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The nickname derives from the fourth movement (Andantino - Allegretto in D Major), a rework of the Lied "Die Forelle" ("The Trout").
I've chosen to include this quintet in the present quiz for the following reason: the fourth and best known movement starts with the four string instruments, and only after a while the piano takes up the leitmotif.
My pet cats like the music from "The Trout Quintet", but they are even more fond of smoked trout.
"The Golden Cockerel" is an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908).
"Harvey Milk" is an opera by Stewart Wallace (born 1960). My pet cats do like milk, but not Harvey Milk.
"The Blue Bird" ("L'oiseau bleu") is an opera by Claude Debussy (1862-1918).

Answer: Georg Philipp Telemann

Telemann (1681-1767) created very divers compositions for a multitude of instruments. He mastered string instruments as the violin, the viola da gamba, the double bass and the zither, as well as woodwinds (flute, oboe, chalumeau) and brass instruments (bass trombone).
The "Tafelmusik" ("Table Music") composed in 1733 is a collection of various melodies to accompany a meal. There exist many different instrumentations for this "Table Music", and some of the best known parts include the violin.
Telemann has composed 12 fantasias for violin solo (published in 1736).
Bach (1685-1750) and Handel (1685-1759) were personal friends of Telemann's. Bach created more than 1,000 compositions, and Handel left us more than 600 works.
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was a violinist and composer. His oeuvre includes about 60 sonatas and 12 concerti grossi.

Answer: Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was born in Venice. His father, a former barber, taught him to play the violin. At age 15, Antonio decided to study for priest. After his ordination, he soon was given the moniker "The Red Priest", for he had reddish hair.
Vivaldi had respiration problems (maybe some kind of asthma). This ailment impeded him to study woodwind instruments. As a priest, Vivaldi was ordered not to consecrate mass because of his respiratory disease.
In 1703 Vivaldi was appointed as master of violin at the Ospedale della Pieta (Devout Hospital of Mercy), an orphanage in Venice.
Here he started composing masterpieces in great numbers: at least 50 operas (still extant today - according to Vivaldi's letters, we may assume that forty-odd operas were lost), more than 400 concerti (all with string orchestration), twenty-odd symphonies, more than 100 sonatas (mostly for violin), and sixty-odd works of sacred music.
His most popular masterpiece is "The Four Seasons", a set of four violin concerti composed in 1723. These four concerti accompany a sonnet each, dedicated to each of the seasons. The sonnets were published anonymously, and several music historians are convinced Vivaldi wrote the sonnets himself.
Vivaldi was not the only classic composer inspired by the seasons. Colleagues of his who shared this inspiration, include Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936), Pjotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), and Astor Piazzola (1921-1992).

Answer: Eugene Ysaye

The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition is an annual competition for young classical musicians. In 1937 it crowned the young violinist David Oistrakh, and in 1938 the pianist Emil Gilels. The third edition came in 1951, again for violin. Since 1953 there is also a competition for young composers, and since 1988 young classical singers can enter the competition.
Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931) was a famous violinist and composer. He created six sonatas for solo violin, ten preludes for violin, several pieces of chamber music and one opera. His ambition was to install a competition for young violinists from all over the world, an idea that posthumously was realised by his pupil Queen Elisabeth.
All the incorrect answers are winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Vladimir Ashkenazy (born 1937) won the piano competition in 1956. Vadim Repin (born 1971) won the violin edition in 1989. Marie-Nicole Lemieux (born 1975) won the singing contest in 2000.