Classical Composer Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which pair correctly places the earlier composer before the later composer?
Johann Sebastian Bach, then Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Frédéric Chopin, then Joseph Haydn
Claude Debussy, then Ludwig van Beethoven
Igor Stravinsky, then Johannes Brahms
2. An orchestra begins a symphony with the famous four-note motif often described as “short-short-short-long.” Whose music is being performed?
Johannes Brahms
Joseph Haydn
Franz Schubert
Ludwig van Beethoven
3. A concert presents four violin concertos depicting spring, summer, autumn, and winter, each associated with a descriptive sonnet. Who composed them?
Arcangelo Corelli
Johann Sebastian Bach
Antonio Vivaldi
Giuseppe Tartini
4. Which statement correctly compares Mozart and Mahler?
Mozart was a Classical-period composer, while Mahler is associated with the late Romantic era.
Mozart was primarily a Baroque composer, while Mahler belonged to the Classical period.
Mozart was primarily Romantic, while Mahler was a Classical-period composer.
Both composers worked primarily during the Baroque period.
5. A vocal recital includes “Erlkönig” and selections from the song cycle “Winterreise.” Which composer’s music anchors the program?
Gustav Mahler
Robert Schumann
Hugo Wolf
Franz Schubert
6. A holiday ballet program includes the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. Who composed the music?
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sergei Prokofiev
Léo Delibes
Aram Khachaturian
7. Who composed the four-opera cycle commonly called “The Ring Cycle”?
Richard Strauss
Gustav Mahler
Giuseppe Verdi
Richard Wagner
8. A recital focuses on Romantic piano nocturnes, mazurkas, and polonaises by a Polish-born composer. Who is the featured composer?
Frédéric Chopin
Robert Schumann
Franz Liszt
Edvard Grieg
9. Which composer wrote the opera “The Magic Flute,” featuring the Queen of the Night?
Gioachino Rossini
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Giuseppe Verdi
10. A ballet program describes a magical glowing bird, an evil ruler named Kashchei, and music first performed in Paris in 1910. Who composed the score?
Sergei Prokofiev
Igor Stravinsky
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Maurice Ravel
11. Who composed the oratorio “Messiah”?
Henry Purcell
George Frideric Handel
Johann Sebastian Bach
Joseph Haydn
12. A concert pairs “La mer” with “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.” Which composer links these two works?
Hector Berlioz
Gabriel Fauré
Camille Saint-Saëns
Claude Debussy
13. Which composer wrote Symphony No. 9, commonly known as the “New World Symphony”?
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Antonín Dvořák
Modest Mussorgsky
14. Who composed the six Brandenburg Concertos?
Antonio Vivaldi
George Frideric Handel
Johann Sebastian Bach
Georg Philipp Telemann
15. “Vltava,” also known as “The Moldau,” is part of the symphonic cycle “Má vlast.” Who composed it?
Antonín Dvořák
Leoš Janáček
Bedřich Smetana
Jean Sibelius
16. A chamber ensemble is preparing the “Emperor” String Quartet, whose slow movement supplied the melody later used for Germany’s national anthem. Who composed the quartet?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Joseph Haydn
Franz Schubert
Felix Mendelssohn