Classical Music Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 29
Which folk tune mentioned by Shakespeare in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' is attributed to Henry VIII?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
greensleeves
In the 1890s, Richard Strauss composed a tone poem inspired by which Cervantes novel?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
don quixote
Which composer, known for his lullabies, passed away in Vienna on April 3, 1897?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
johannes brahms
What is the title of Georges Bizet's last and most famous opera?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
carmen
What is the final word sung in Handel's oratorio 'Messiah'?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
amen
In the opera by Mozart, what title object was owned by the character Tamino?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
magic flute
For which opera did Verdi receive 150,000 francs from the khedive of Egypt to compose?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
aida
In which 1875 opera is the central female character fatally stabbed outside a bullring?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
carmen
Which Verdi opera was commissioned by Ismail Pasha, khedive of Egypt, and premiered in Cairo in 1871?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
aida
Which famous composer was the father of Wilhelm Friedemann and Johann Christian, who were born 25 years apart?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
johann sebastian bach
Which 1742 oratorio includes the choruses 'And he shall purify' and 'He hath borne our griefs'?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
messiah
Who is the Spanish guitarist known for arranging works by Bach and Haydn, and gave his first concert in Granada in 1909?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
segovia
Which 1791 Mozart opera is considered the greatest example of Zauberoper, or 'Magic Opera'?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
magic flute
In 'The Tales of Hoffman,' what type of mechanical being does Hoffman fall in love with?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
doll
In which Handel work is the Hallelujah Chorus found at the end of Part II?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
messiah
Who is the Indian-born music director of the Israel Philharmonic who also conducts the New York Philharmonic?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
zubin mehta
Which composer wrote the rhapsodies for the 1930 ballet 'Carnival at Pest' that is set in Hungary?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
franz liszt
In which Verdi opera did Placido Domingo play Radames in a 1987 production staged at the Temple of Luxor?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
aida
Who is the composer known for creating 'The Four Seasons' and composing 46 operas, of which only 21 scores have survived?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
antonio vivaldi
In the operetta 'A Waltz Dream', which city does a waltz symbolize a nostalgic yearning for?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
vienna
What breakfast drink is the subject of a comic cantata written by Bach about a girl who can't give it up?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
coffee
Who was the leading Russian composer of the late 19th century known for his masterful ballets?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky
Who is the composer known for his first and last full-length operas, 'The Pearl Fishers' and 'Carmen'?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
georges bizet
Which composer taught Ralph Vaughn Williams in Paris and is known for composing 'Bolero'?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
maurice ravel
What is the title of the Stravinsky ballet, his first, that is based on the legend of the Zhar-Ptitsa, a creature with wings of flame?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
firebird
Which composer's opera 'Rigoletto' is based on Victor Hugo's play 'Le Roi S'Amuse' ('The King Amuses Himself')?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
giuseppe verdi
Which classical composer went to live and study with his brother, Johann Christoph, after the death of his father in 1695?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
johann sebastian bach
What is the name of the violin maker associated with 'The Swan', labeled 'D' Anni 93' and dated 1737, believed to be his last violin?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
stradivarius
Who composed the piece 'Bolero' which was originally written as a ballet in 1928?
Easy
Click to reveal answer
maurice ravel
Page 1 of 1