A Red Hot Musical Quiz / Test | World

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1. The original "Les Miserables" novel and the original musical were both written in the language of the song titled "J'ai fait un reve". Which language is this?

Answer: French

The French language is a Romance language from Indo-European family. It can be traced back to the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Its roots lie in the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul, what is now known as northern France and Southern Belgium. It was also influenced by the Frankish and Celtic languages. The French language is an official language in countries spanning five continents around the world.

Victor Hugo wrote "Les Miserables" in French and released it in 1862. It was a huge success which was quickly translated into English, Italian, Greek, and Portuguese.

The original musical was written in French and debuted in 1980, running for three months in Paris. In 1985, a reworked English version was released on London's West End and became the worldwide phenomenon that is the musical "Les Miserables". It is this version of the musical that was subsequently re-translated back into French and 20 plus other languages.

"J'ai fait un reve" is the French title of the English "I Dreamed a Dream", the solo by Fantine. There are actually two French versions of the song, the one from the original production and the re-translated one from the English version.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

2. It was exciting to read that "Les Miserables" had been translated into over 20 different languages. I asked my friends scattered around the globe to hunt down any recordings in their own language and send them to me. I was delighted to open a package which contained a recording of "La Muerte de Fantine: Ven a M�" ("Fantine's Death: Come to Me"). Based on the language, in which city does the friend who sent me this recording live?

Answer: Madrid

Spanish is a Western Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and is derived from Vulgar Latin which was brought to the area by the Romans. This language has over 450 million people speaking Spanish as their native tongue in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, and 19 other countries in North and South America. It is the second most spoken native language in the world after Mandarin Chinese.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member 1nn1.

3. My favourite song from the musical "Les Miserables" is "Castle on a Cloud" but when I visited my friend in his home country it was listed in the programme as "Slott pa en Sky". In which country does my friend live?

Answer: Norway

The Norwegian language (Norsk) is a North Germanic language and it represents one of the two official languages of Norway. The other is Sami. Norwegian is native to Norway and it is one of the working languages or the Nordic Council. This means that Nordic citizens who speak Norwegian can interact with official bodies in other Nordic countries without having to cover the burden of the cost for a translator. Interestingly, the written form of Norwegian has two official languages in Norway. One is called the "book tongue" (Bokmal) and the other the "new Norwegian" (Nynorsk).

This question was floated by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

4. I've gone to the local bar to watch "Les Miserables" on the television. The barman said to me "Rather appropriately sir, your "rood en zwart" sir". He saw the bemused expression on my face and added "Your red and black cocktail sir, it also happens to be the name of the song that's on the screen" he said. "Danke je" I said to him, in which language?

Answer: Dutch

Dutch is said to be a very close relative to both English and German, with some scholars indicating that it sits somewhere in the middle of both tongues. It is a West Germanic language that is the official language of the Netherlands and the major language for a large percentage of Belgians and the nation of Suriname. There is a variant of Dutch called "Cape Dutch" which has evolved into the language known as Afrikaans.

In case you're interested, a "Red and Black" cocktail is built on a base of blanco (silver) tequila to which is added lime juice, pepper syrup, and strawberries.

No cocktails were harmed during the creation of this question by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

5. In which country was I when I heard the "Les Miserables" song "Do You Hear the People Sing?" but here it was sung as "Kuuletko kansan laulavan?"?

Answer: Finland

Finnish comes from the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family. Uralic is used to designate that it traces its roots to the Ural Mountains region separating Europe and Asia. It is most closely related to Estonian and shares many traits with Hungarian, including grammatical and lexical parallels. It is one of two official languages of Finland and an official minority language of Sweden.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

6. The literal translation of the next song "One Day More" is "Ein Tag Mehr" but in this language's production it is actually titled "Morgen Schon". Which language is this production?

Answer: German

German comes from the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Other members of the West Germanic branch are Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. English is the most widely spoken in this branch with German being second. German is the official or co-official language of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, South Tyrol in Italy, the German speaking community in Belgium, and Lichtenstein.

The song "One More Day" demonstrates the challenges faced by translators as they translate the musical from its English version into other languages. As noted in the question, the literal translation of "One More Day" would be "Ein Tag Mehr" but in the German version of the musical the song is titled "Morgen Schon", which literally translates as "Tomorrow Already". The point of any translation is to communicate the ideas and not be a literal translation of the words hence the discrepancy.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

7. Given that "na hollo" means "I'm alone", which of the following Les Miserables songs is "Na Hollo" the Korean title for?

Answer: On My Own

The Korean title for the song "On My Own" sung by the character Eponine is "Na Hollo". "Na" means "I", while "hollo" means "alone".

The Korean alphabet is called Hangul. It was developed by King Sejong in the 15th century to supplement the Chinese characters (Hanja) that had been adapted for Korean. To form syllables, the letters of Hangul are arranged in blocks similar to Chinese characters. Whole words are formed by successive blocks of syllables.

In "On My Own", Eponine expresses her love for Marius, who in turn is in love with Cosette. The song did not exist in the original 1980 French version. It was created for the English production and later on, was included in the 1991 Parisian show as "Mon Histoire" (My Story). "On My Own" went on to become one of the most famous and popular songs of Les Miserables.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

8. I was in this bar in Lodz when suddenly the patrons broke out into "Les Miserables" karaoke in their native tongue. We were merrily singing "Napij Sie ze Mna" ("Drink With Me") in which language?

Answer: Polish

Closely related to the Czech and Slovak languages as well as the tongues from Upper and Lower Sorbian, Kashubian, and Silesian, Polish is a Western Slavic language that has historical importance in both Central and Eastern Europe. Despite this there was a strong push by the Austrians, Germans, and Russians to suppress the language during the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. Today it remains strong and is the first language for over 38 million people in Poland.

The city of Lodz is the third largest city in Poland with a population of approximately 700,000 people.

No beers were spilt as this question was put together by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

9. I saw my fellow Phoenix Rising Team member, pollucci19, rolling out of the bar after too many Red and Black drinks. He was singing in Japanese at the top of his voice the words from a Les Miserable song: "Kare wo kaeshi te." Rather appropriate, I thought to myself, as that's where he really should be, tucked up safe and sound. "Okay, mate, let's go," I said. Of what song was Poll doing an extravagant rendition?

Answer: Bring Him Home

Spoken by over 120 million people in Japan and another 1.5 million abroad, Japanese, the national language of Japan, is one of the world's primary languages. Early trade with China (around the 1st century A.D.) prompted a formalised text to be adapted, making considerable use of kanji (Chinese characters). It also leans heavily upon the Chinese language for its vocabulary, while its number system makes use of a strong mix of Arabic and Chinese numerals.

In this moving song, Jean Valjean prays for Marius, the son he never had, who is spending the night on the barricade in defiance of the army. Valjean asks God to protect Marius, even if he (Valjean) has to die. He is asking God for the happiness of Marius and Cosette. The treatment of the music in this piece, with its interaction around the vocal elements, make it one of the most loved, emotional and moving pieces in the whole play.

This question was offered by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.

10. The barman in his Uppsala bar reflected; "That Poll, he goes out of the bar to watch 'Les Miserable' and everybody goes out with him. Look at this... "Tomma stolar pa tomma tabeller". In which language is the barman reflecting upon the "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables"?

Answer: Swedish

Swedish is a North Germanic language that descended from the Old Norse languages of the Viking Age. The standard Swedish, that is well established today, began to evolve in the nineteenth century from Central Swedish dialects. It is mutually intelligible with both the Danish and Norwegian languages, which is to say that if you understand those languages you should be able to get by with the Swedish language without having heard it before. The issue you may have with the Swedish will be the accents and tones of the locals, which tend to come across as being somewhat harsher than the other two.

Uppsala is a city in Sweden with a population of approximately 150,000.

This question was brewed by Phoenix Rising's dancing bear, pollucci19.

Source: Author tazman6619

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

A Red Hot Musical Trivia Quiz

The musical "Les Miserables" has become an international phenomenon. The 1985 English version has been translated into dozens of languages from around the world. Join us as we tour the world's languages through the songs in this musical.

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