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Musicians and Composers - Classical Composers

If you are fond of classical music, then you will enjoy this picture quiz all about Classical Composers. See how much you know about these ten very talented men. Sit back, put some classical music on and enjoy!

  1. Johann Sebastian Bach's last completed work was a chorale prelude for which instrument?

    Photograph courtesy of empire.k12.ca.us
    • Born: 21 March 1685
    • Place: Eisenach
    • Nationality: German
    • He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the town musicians
    • His uncles were all professional musicians
    • Given his innate musical talent, Bach would have had significant contact with prominent organists of the day in Lüneburg
    • In 1706 Bach was offered a post as organist at St. Blasius's in Mühlhausen
    • On 28 July 1750 Bach died at the age of 65

  2. Water Music by George Frideric Handel premiered on 17 July 1717 after King George I had requested a concert where?

    Photograph courtesy of classical.com
    • Born: 23 February 1685
    • Place: Halle, The Duchy of Magdeburg
    • Nationality: Prussian
    • He was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos
    • His father always intended him for the study of the Civil Law
    • In 1717 Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex
    • In 1749 Handel composed music for the Royal Fireworks
    • In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of King George II

  3. Which of the following operas was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791?

    Photograph courtesy of emersonkent.com
    • Born: 27 January 1756
    • Place: Salzburg
    • Nationality: Austria
    • His real name was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart
    • He was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era
    • He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic and choral music
    • Beethoven wrote his own early compositions in the shadow of Mozart
    • Mozart was buried in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom

  4. Who played Ludwig van Beethoven in the 1994 film entitled Immortal Beloved?

    Photograph courtesy of fanpop.com
    • Born: 17 December 1769
    • Place: Bonn
    • Nationality: German
    • He was a German composer and pianist
    • His hearing began to deteriorate in his late 20s, yet he continued to compose, conduct and perform even after becoming completely deaf
    • It was claimed that Beethoven was six years old on the posters for Beethoven's first public performance in March 1778
    • Beethoven's compositions between 1800 and 1802 were dominated by two works, one being The Moonlight Sonata

  5. In Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, what is Summer often called?

    Photograph courtesy of planetlyrics.co
    • Born: 4 March 1678
    • Place: Venice
    • Nationality: Italian
    • He was a Baroque composer, priest and virtuoso violinist
    • Nicknamed il Prete Rosso ('The Red Priest') because of his red hair
    • His most famous work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons
    • After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna hoping for preferment. The Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival
    • He died a pauper, without a steady source of income

  6. In what key is the 'Unfinished Symphony' by Franz Schubert?

    Photograph courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
    • Born: 31 January 1797
    • Place: Vienna
    • Nationality: Austrian
    • He wrote 600 Lieder, nine symphonies, liturgical music, operas, some incidental music and a large body of chamber and solo piano music
    • He was nicknamed 'Schwämmerl' by his friends, which translates to 'Tubby' or 'Little Mushroom'
    • He died at just 31 years of age

  7. Which PS3 / Xbox 360 role-playing game takes place in the mind of Frederic Chopin?

    Photograph courtesy of friendsofart.net
    • Born: 1810
    • Place: Żelazowa Wola
    • Nationality: Polish
    • At the age of eleven, Chopin performed in the presence of Alexander I, Tsar of Russia, who was in Warsaw to open the Sejm (Polish Parliament)
    • Chopin arrived in Paris in late September 1831, uncertain whether he would settle there for good
    • He would never return to Poland
    • As a pianist Chopin was unique in acquiring a reputation of the highest order on the basis of a minimum of public appearances - few more than 30 in the course of his lifetime

  8. As an engagement present, Edward Elgar dedicated which piece to his future wife?

    Photograph courtesy of bach-cantatas.com
    • Born: 2 June 1857
    • Place: Worcester
    • Nationality: English
    • In musical circles dominated by academics, he was a self-taught composer
    • He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924
    • In Protestant Britain, his Roman Catholicism was regarded with suspicion in some quarters

  9. Sergei Rachmaninoff became a citizen of which country shortly before his death?

    Photograph courtesy of arssacra.wordpress.com
    • Born: 1 April 1873
    • Place: Great Novgorod
    • Nationality: Russian
    • He possessed an uncanny memory - he could hear a piece of music, even a symphony, then play it back the next day, the next year, or a decade after that
    • He said that the opening melody of the Third Piano Concerto "had written itself"
    • He recorded first for Edison Records
    • Thomas Edison, who was quite deaf, did not care for Rachmaninoff's playing and referred to him as a 'pounder' at their initial meeting

  10. Which symphony by Joseph Haydn has a sudden loud chord in the slow movement?

    Photograph courtesy of hoasm.org
    • Born: 31 March 1732
    • Place: Rohrua
    • Nationality: Austrian
    • He spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family on their remote estate
    • He was a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven
    • He visited London twice and both were huge successes, augmenting his fame and making him large profits
    • He was a devout Catholic who often turned to his rosary when he had trouble composing, a practice that he usually found to be effective
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