This Tournament Goes to Eleven 2007
Classical Music (subject packet)
Written by: Willie Chen (UC Irvine)
All tossups are on composers. Bonuses are on all things related to classical music, including
composers, works, music theory, historical periods, and living ―classical‖ musicians.
Tossups
1. His operas include The Fiery Angel, The Story of a Real Man, and The Gambler. He
always claimed to be an operatic composer of lyric melodies, but his real success lay in his
instrumental works. Because his works deviated from the government’s ideal of “socialist
realism,” he became a victim of Zhdanovshchina, which targeted his music score for the
Eisenstein film, Ivan the Terrible. He later was forced to write a letter of self-abasement,
admitting ―artistic errors‖ in his music. FTP, name this musical genius behind such works as The
Love for Three Oranges, Suite from Lieutenant Kijé, and Peter and the Wolf.
ANSWER: Sergey Prokofiev
2. This composer was criticized by the critic Jim Svejda (SVAY-da) as being “the ultimate
yuppie composer”. He wrote most of his music for the orphanage he worked for. Boastful
of his own fame, he was judged to be a better violinist than a composer by his peers. Johann
Quantz accused him of falling under the bad influence of opera, as he wrote dozens of operas
like Griselda, Catone in Utica, and Orlando. FTP, name this Italian baroque composer of
hundreds of concertos, including The Four Seasons.
ANSWER: Antonio Vivaldi
3. In the composition, “Sea Bathing,” he writes the words, “Don’t sit on the bottom. It’s
very damp. Here come some nice old waves. They’re full of water. Oh, Madame! You’re
all wet.” In another composition, “Of the Edriopthalma,” he opens with the description,
―Crustaceans with fixed eyes, that is to say, without stalks and immobile.‖ The composer of
suites such as Sports and Divertissments and Desiccated Embryos, FTP, identify this French
composer of the Gymnopédies.
ANSWER: Erik Satie
4. As a performer and a conductor, he worked under the theory that each piece of music
had a “culminating point,” which must be approached with “absolute calculation” and
“absolute precision.” His orchestral output includes Capriccio on Gypsy Themes and three
symphonies. His works for solo piano include Morceaux de fantaisie and Études-tableaux.
He composed the choral work Kolokola after Edgar Allan Poe’s ―The Bells‖ and the opera
Francesca da Rimini after Dante’s Inferno. FTP, name this Russian composer who wrote
Prelude in C-sharp Minor and Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.
ANSWER: Serge Rachmaninoff
5. His favorite instrument was the clavichord. After making a good fortune from his
compositions, he supported many members of his extended family. His Essay on the True
Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments contains instructions on fingering, improvisation,
continuo playing, and ornamentation. He wrote over a thousand works, including more than fifty
keyboard concertos and nineteen numbered symphonies, and served as court composer to
Frederick the Great for 28 years. FTP, name this composer of Solfeggieto, the second-oldest
surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach.
ANSWER: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (accept ―C.P.E. Bach‖, prompt on ―Bach‖)
6. When he was ten years old, he took a libretto written by the family’s Irish cook and
turned it into an operetta called The Rose Tree. After graduating from the Curtis Institute,
he published the overture to The School for Scandal. He wrote the ballet score Medea and
the related tone poem, Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance. His considerably difficult
piano sonata was premiered by Vladimir Horowitz and has become a staple in the concert
repertory. FTP, name this modern American composer of Souvenirs, Vanessa, and Adagio for
Strings.
ANSWER: Samuel Barber
7. He wrote several works for the clarinet, including the Clarinet Quintet, Grand duo
concertant, and two popular clarinet concertos. His works for piano include four
numbered sonatas, Rondo brilliante, and two piano concertos. Although his public piano
performances got mixed reviews, his work as a conductor received universal acclaim, making
him the prototype for the modern opera conductor. One of his most frequently performed works
is the orchestral version of Invitation to the Dance. FTP, name this Early-Romantic composer of
such operas as Euryanthe, Oberon, and Der Freischütz.
ANSWER: Carl Maria von Weber
8. He composed the programmatic work Pohjola’s Daughter, written in a “sonata
deformation” centered on the note of B-flat. Less successful than his first two works in the
genre, his Third Symphony in C exemplified modern classicism by centering on a simple C-
major triad. His Fourth Symphony in A Minor, in contrast, is centered on the dissonant interval
of a tritone. FTP, name this Late-Romantic composer of Valse Triste, the Karelia Suite, and
Finlandia.
ANSWER: Jean Sibelius
9. This composer asked his violinists to tap the music stand with the backs of their bows in
the overture to the comic opera Mr. Bruschino, or Son by Accident. Although he was a
prolific opera composer, only his overtures are frequently performed today. In 1829, at the
height of his career, he suddenly quit composing operas. His only major work after 1829 was
the musical setting of the religious work, Stabat mater. Better known for The Thieving Magpie
and The Italian Girl in Algiers, FTP, name this titan of Italian opera who wrote The Barber of
Seville and William Tell.
ANSWER: Gioachino Rossini
10. His first book of masses was so impressive that he was appointed director of the Julian
Chapel. He completed over 100 masses, 300 motets, and 140 madrigals, while his Missa
sina nomine may have influenced Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Despite the Council of Trent’s
ban on ―lascivious and impure secular elements‖ in church music, he wrote polyphonic music
that preserved textual clarity and intelligibility. Born Giovanni Pierluigi, he is now referred to
by the name of his birth-town. FTP, name this Renaissance composer of Pope Marcellus Mass.
ANSWER: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (accept ―Giovanni Pierluigi‖ before
mentioned)
11. This composer’s life was chronicled by his brother Modest in a 1903 tell-all biography.
After working at the Ministry of Justice, he studied with Anton Rubenstein at the St.
Petersburg Conservatory. His works for solo violin and orchestra include Sérénade
mélancolique, Valse-scherzo, and a violin concerto. His orchestral works include the tone
poems Francesca da Rimini, and Romeo and Juliet, as well as six symphonies that included the
famous Pathetique. FTP, name this Romantic composer who wrote The Queen of Spades, The
Nutcracker, and Swan Lake.
ANSWER: Peter Tchaikovsky
12. He provided the vital link between the classicism of Haydn and Dussek to the rise of
Romanticism in Russia, where he briefly taught Glinka and befriended Pushkin. His Opus
1, a set of three piano sonatas, was published with the aid of Muzio Clementi, his mentor
and early business partner. He eventually settled in Russia and taught piano there, marrying
one of his own students. FTP, name this Irish-born pianist and composer, who established the
era of Romanticism in his sixteen numbered nocturnes.
ANSWER: John Field
13. His earliest compositions include the song Heimkehr, Opus 7 Number 6, and a Scherzo
in E-flat Minor for solo piano, Opus 4. Between 1860 and 1865, he wrote two string sextets,
a piano quintet, two piano quartets, a horn trio, and a cello sonata. He delayed writing his
first symphony for fifteen years due to a fear of being compared with Beethoven – as a result,
he only completed four symphonies. When awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the
University of Breslau, he wrote the Academic Festival Overture. FTP, name this composer of
Hungarian Dances and A German Requiem
ANSWER: Johannes Brahms
14. His fascination with music theory led him to write several tracts, including specific
instructions on the realization of basso continuo and part-writing. As a composer of church
music, he wrote over 20 complete annual cycles, including 1,400 extant cantatas. He
contributed to the French grand motet tradition with Deus judicium tuum. His numerous
oratorios include several settings of the St. Matthew Passion that he wrote every four years.
FTP, name this extremely prolific German composer, best known for his 1733 version of
Tafelmusik.
ANSWER: Georg Philipp Telemann
15. Tested as having perfect pitch by age seven, three years later he wrote “Echo of
Radegund” after a visit to Austria. His programmatic music includes The Course of the
Danube and Gymnastic Contest in Budapest. Later, he wrote Suite, Opus 14 for solo piano
and two Rhapsodies for violin and orchestra. His third piano concerto, left unfinished at his
death, was his last work. FTP, name this composer of Mikrokosmos and The Miraculous
Mandarin.
ANSWER: Béla Bartòk
16. A successful music publisher, he wrote a series of piano duets, The Pleasures of Youth.
His Seven Sonatinas, Opus 168 and Four Sonatinas, Opus 151 are useful pedagogical pieces.
In 1819, he sent a short waltz to all the notable composers in Austria asking them to write a
variation. By 1824, he received fifty variations, including ones from Schubert, Czerny, and an
11-year-old Franz Liszt. Not to be outdone, Beethoven wrote 33 variations on that same waltz.
FTP, name this Austrian composer who collected the variations and published them as
Vaterländischer Künstlerverein.
ANSWER: Anton Diabelli
17. His choral works include Spanish Serenade, A Soldier’s Song, and Scenes from the
Bavarian Highlands. Written in the wake of World War I, his Cello Concerto in E minor
has been recorded by such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Mstilav Rostropovich, and Jacqueline du
Pré. Two of his best-known works—Salut d’amour and Variations on an Original Theme—
were first published as piano solo. FTP, name this English composer of the program music The
Dream of Gerontius, five military marches called Pomp and Circumstance, and the “Enigma”
Variations.
ANSWER: Sir Edward Elgar
18. He was an amateur astronomer and wrote a play that was performed to some success.
He was also the first established composer to write film score, doing so for the 1908 movie
The Assassination of the Duke of Guise. His works for solo instrument and orchestra
include Romance in F for horn, Allegro appassionato for cello, Introduction and Rondo
Capriccioso for violin, and his third symphony for organ. FTP, identify this French Romantic
composer who wrote Danse macabre, Samson and Delila, and Carnival of the Animals.
ANSWER: Camille Saint-Saëns
19. To earn money for Julliard, he worked for six months as a crane operator at
Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore. While his early musical training was in violin and flute, he
focused on composition, writing tonal works in the American Symphonist School. In Music
for Ensemble and Two Actresses, a recipe for chocolate soufflé is declaimed over a wind sextet.
He also wrote scores for such movies as Hamburger Hill, Kundun, and The Truman Show. FTP,
name this American minimalist composer of Satyagraha, Akhnaten, and Einstein on the Beach.
ANSWER: Philip Glass
20. He studied composition with composer Carl Reinecke. His limited symphonic output
includes In Autumn, Two Nordic Melodies, and an arrangement of his own work, From
Holberg’s Time. His popular Piano Concerto in A minor was published under the blessings
of Franz Liszt. In addition to a Sonata in E minor, his works for solo piano include
Grandmother’s Minuet, and Wedding-Day at Troldhaugen, which are collected in ten volumes of
Lyric Pieces. FTP, name this Norwegian composer of the Peer Gynt Suite.
ANSWER: Edvard Grieg
21. He wrote the theatrical opera Ascanio in Alba for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand,
and his opera Zaide exemplifies the German Singspiel. Although he never wrote music in
French, his opera Bastien and Bastienne is an example of opéra comique and his Idomeneo is
an example of tragédie lyrique. The clarity of his ―Prussian‖ quartets can also be found in his
opera Così fan tutte. FTP, name this Austrian composer whose other operas include The
Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, and Don Giovanni.
ANSWER: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
22. By age 14, he had already written over 100 works with opus numbers. He incorporated
some of these early melodies in his Simple Symphony for string orchestra. Later in his life,
he wrote Gemini Variations, a set of twelve variations and a fugue on a theme by Zoltan
Kodály [KOL-dy-ee]. Commissioned to write music for the 20th anniversary of the UN, he wrote
Voices for Today, an unaccompanied choral work. FTP, name this English composer, partner of
singer Peter Pears, who wrote The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, War Requiem, and
Peter Grimes.
ANSWER: Benjamin Britten
Bonuses
1. For 10 points each, name these notable living women musicians:
[10] Deaf since childhood, this Scottish percussionist of incredible rhythmic precision performs
annually around the world, including a 1994 performance with a gamelan orchestra.
ANSWER: Evelyn Glennie
[10] This Argentine pianist won the 1965 International Chopin Competition. She typically
collaborates often with Nelson Freire and other musicians.
ANSWER: Martha Argerich
[10] Born in 1980 to Korean parents, she entered Julliard at age seven to study the violin and
made her professional debut at age eight, playing Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
ANSWER: Sarah Chang
2. For 10 points each, name these works by minimalist composer John Adams:
[10] This first opera by Adams features such real-life characters as Dr. Henry Kissinger, Premier
Chou En-Lai, and Mao Zedong.
ANSWER: Nixon in China
[10] This second opera by Adams is based on the real-life 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship
Achille Lauro. It is told in narratives and meditations, interspersed with choruses.
ANSWER: The Death of Klinghoffer
[10] This ―nativity oratorio,‖ premiered in 2000, draws from multilingual sources, including the
Bible and works by Mexican poets Rosario Castellanos and Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz.
ANSWER: El Niño
3. Classical music has produced many families in which both the father and the son are famous
musicians. For 10 points each, identify the family surname given clues:
[10] While Alessandro wrote many operas and songs, his son Domenico is primarily
remembered for his keyboard sonatas written while in Spain.
ANSWER: Scarlatti
[10] Composer of the satirical opera The Nose, Dmitri wrote his second piano concerto for his
son Maxim, who premiered it at age nineteen and later became a conductor and concert pianist.
ANSWER: Shostakovitch
[10] This musical French family produced Louis, Gervais, Charles, Marguerite, Nicolas,
Armand, and Pierre-Louis. The most prominent family member is François, who wrote
numerous works for the harpsichord in collections called ordres.
ANSWER: Couperin
4. Identify the Italian opera composers from works for 10 points each:
[10] Manon Lescaut, Tosca, and The Girl of the Golden West
ANSWER: Giacomo Puccini
[10] The 1897 version of La bohème, and I Pagliacci
ANSWER: Ruggero Leoncavallo
[10] Don Carlos, Rigoletto, and The Force of Destiny
ANSWER: Giuseppe Verdi
5. For 10 points each, identify these people who wrote music, but were better remembered for
other stuff they did:
[10] Although he did write musical stage works Le devin du village and Les muses galantes, he
is better known as the philosopher who wrote The Social Contract.
ANSWER: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
[10] Composer of 121 flute sonatas, a few sinfonias, and (doubtfully) the Hohenfriedberger
March that commemorated his military victory, he is better known as the enlightened King of
Prussia.
ANSWER: Frederick II [or Frederick the Great]
[10] He wrote the songs ―Smile,‖ ―Beautiful, Wonderful Eyes,‖ and ―Animal Trainer,‖ as well
as the score for many of his own movies like Modern Times.
ANSWER: Charlie Chaplin
6. For 10 points each, identify these modes used in improvisation and composition:
[10] Also known as the major scale, this is the most common mode, which uses the white keys
of the piano starting on C.
ANSWER: Ionian mode
[10] Also known as the natural minor scale, this is the second most common mode, which uses
the white keys of the piano starting on A.
ANSWER: Aeolian mode
[10] This mode is common in Spanish music. It uses the white keys of the piano starting on E.
ANSWER: Phrygian mode
7. Name these conductors for 10 points each:
[10] This British conductor of Hungarian birth, he was knighted in 1971. A forceful presence at
the podium, he would snarl and stab with his baton. He won 32 Grammy awards.
ANSWER: Sir Georg Solti (SHOL-ti)
[10] This Russian-American composer, the son of a famous author, is the director of the
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. As a pianist, he won the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994.
ANSWER: Ignat Solzhenitsyn
[10] Born in Bombay, he was the musical director of the LA Philharmonic from 1962 to 1978.
He made his Met Opera debut in 1965 with Aida. He also conducted the ―Three Tenors‖.
ANSWER: Zubin Mehta
8. For 10 points each, name these French baroque composers:
[10] This French opera composer and his librettist Philippe Quinault invented a new genre
called tragédie lyrique. Trivia buffs know that he died after stabbing himself in the foot with a
baton pole.
ANSWER: Jean-Baptiste Lully
[10] In addition to writing operas and tracts on harmonic theory, he wrote many pieces for the
harpsichord, including The Hen, The Cyclops, The Savages, and The Tambourine.
ANSWER: Jean-Philippe Rameau
[10] The majority of his creative output was written for the harpsichord, including three Livre de
clavecin. Much we know about his life we owe to his sister Jeanne-Françoise.
ANSWER: Jean-François Dandrieu
9. For 10 points each, name these composers who wrote rather ―exotic‖ music:
[10] In ―Dance of the Seven Veils,‖ he depicts a stripping Salome.
ANSWER: Richard Strauss
[10] In ―Night on Bald Mountain‖ (1867), he depicts a witches’ Sabbath on St. John’s Eve. His
work was later fully orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov.
ANSWER: Modest Mussorgsky
[10] His Saga Symphony calls a percussion section that includes a collection of stones, an iron
anvil, large wooden hammers, and large shields made of iron, wood, and leather.
ANSWER: Jón Leifs
10. For 10 points each, name these violin virtuosos:
[10] This Italian wrote a large body of work for solo violin, including the extremely difficult
Devil’s Trill sonata. He devised a longer bow to bring out the cantabile capabilities of the violin.
ANSWER: Giuseppe Tartini
[10] Berlioz called this composer’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor ―a magnificent symphony
for orchestra with principal violin.‖ His Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor became a favorite of
Wieniawski.
ANSWER: Henry Vieuxtemps
[10] This Ukrainian-born American violinist recorded the soundtrack for Fiddler on the Roof. A
film documenting his 1970 visit to China—From Mao to Mozart—won an Oscar in 1981.
ANSWER: Isaac Stern
11. For 10 points each, identify the following seventh chords given notes in root position:
[10] The notes A, C, E-flat, G
ANSWER: half-diminished seventh (do not prompt on or accept ―diminished‖)
[10] The notes D, F-sharp, A, C-sharp
ANSWER: major seventh (do not accept ―augmented‖)
[10] The notes G, B, D, F
ANSWER: dominant seventh
12. Some symphonies are given names, either by the composers or by other people. For 10
points each, identify the composers of these symphonies:
[10] ―Tragic‖ and ―Resurrection‖
ANSWER: Gustav Mahler
[10] ―Tempora mutantur‖ and ―Clock‖
ANSWER: Franz Joseph Haydn
[10] ―Indistinguishable‖ and ―Semplice‖
ANSWER: Carl Nielsen
13. For 10 points each, name these Spanish composers of the Late Romantic era:
[10] He used Gypsy tunes in two volumes of Danzas gitanas for piano. He also incorporated
popular Spanish music in his zarzuelas and songs, such as Poema en forma de canciones.
ANSWER: Joaquín Turina
[10] A close friend of Turina, he wrote El amor brujo, which includes the famous ―Ritual Dance
of Fire‖.
ANSWER: Manuel de Falla
[10] This Catalan composer wrote the opera María del Carmen and a set of piano piece entitled
Danzas españolas, but he is most famous for writing the orchestrated version of Goyescas.
ANSWER: Enrique Granados
14. Beethoven, that Titan of Classical Music, deserves a bonus all about him. Answer these
questions about his life for 10 points each:
[10] In response to his deteriorating hearing, Beethoven wrote this set of papers addressed to his
brothers in which he showed fluctuating moods and accepted his inevitable deafness.
ANSWER: Heiligenstadt Testament
[10] There is a cloud of myth surrounding a letter Beethoven wrote addressed to this unnamed
person. This two-word title shows Beethoven to be a true Romantic, which is later butchered by
a terrible Gary Oldman movie sharing the same name.
ANSWER: Immortal Beloved
[10] Beethoven’s massive Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, Opus 106 was given this nickname,
since it uses the extreme registers of the piano, with newly available keys.
ANSWER: Hammerklavier
15. For 10 points each, identify these intervals from the lower note to the upper note. Please do
not give enharmonic equivalents as your answer; for example, augmented fourth is not the same
as diminished fifth. Assume the intervals to be smaller than an octave.
[10] From C to B-flat
ANSWER: minor seventh (prompt on ―seventh‖)
[10] From D to A-sharp
ANSWER: augmented fifth
[10] From A-flat to D-flat
ANSWER: perfect fourth
16. Some composers were also great teachers. Name these for 10 points each:
[10] A student of Beethoven, he wrote volumes of piano exercises and taught twelve piano
students per day, including the young Franz Liszt. Schumann labeled his works as showing
―bankruptcy in imagination.‖
ANSWER: Carl Czerny
[10] He headed the Conservatoire and influenced a generation of French musicians. His own
works include Barcarolles, Cantique de Jean Racine, and Masques and Bergamasques.
ANSWER: Gabriel Fauré
[10] She stopped composing after her sister Lili died. For the next six decades of her life she
taught composition at many schools. She taught Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland.
ANSWER: Nadia Boulanger
17. For 10 points each, name these living American composers:
[10] In addition to setting dramatic music to Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and
Winter’s Tale, he wrote the opera The Great Gatsby and set Indian poetry to music in Mirabai
Songs.
ANSWER: John Harbison
[10] He wrote the two-act opera The Picture of Dorian Gray and numerous songs set to the
poetry of Yeats, Hughes, Tagore, and Longfellow. He also wrote Gargoyles for solo piano.
ANSWER: Lowell Liebermann
[10] Married to mezzo-soprano Joan Morris, he set to music the 46 poems in Blake’s Songs of
Innocence and of Experience. He is noted for his rag music such as his Three Ghost Rags.
ANSWER: William Bolcom
18. For 10 points each, name these composers from the English baroque era:
[10] He studied with Thomas Tallis and served with him as the organist of the Chapel Royal.
He wrote the suite The Battel, which includes ―The Morris‖ and ―Ye Souldiers Dance.‖
ANSWER: William Byrd
[10] He became a court composer to King Charles II, but he is best remembered for the one-act
opera, Dido and Aeneas.
ANSWER: Henry Purcell
[10] Like Purcell a student of John Blow, he wrote Trumpet Voluntary and Trumpet Tune. His
most popular keyboard piece is ―King William’s March.‖ He committed suicide.
ANSWER: Jeremiah Clarke
19. For 10 points each, name these 20th-century composers from Argentina:
[10] In addition to his ballet Estancia, he stayed true to his roots by writing Argentine Dances,
12 American Preludes, and Rondo on Argentine Folk Tunes.
ANSWER: Alberto Ginastera
[10] A child prodigy on the bandoneón, he innovated the tango and based his 1969 work El
tango on the Borges short story El hombre de la Esquina Rosada.
ANSWER: Astor Piazzolla
[10] He wrote many art songs, including La rosa y el sauce and Se equivocó la paloma. His
Flores argentinas are set to the poetry of Argentine poet León Benarós.
ANSWER: Carlos Vincente Guastavino
20. 30-20-10. Identify the composer from works:
[30] Several concert overtures, including Ruy Blas and The Fair Melusine and twelve early string
symphonies
[20] The Bach-influenced oratorios St. Paul and Elijah
[10] Five symphonies for full orchestra, including the Italian and Scottish symphonies
ANSWER: Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy