Trivia questions about music, musicians, instruments and more with the answers.
What style of composition are Haydn's The creation and Handel's
Messiah?
A: Oratorios.
By what name is Robert Zimmerman better known?
A: Bob Dylan.
Which Russian composer wrote Peter and the Wolf?
A: Prokofiev.
What was used to conduct the orchestra before the baton was
introduced in the early 19th century?
A: A violin bow.
Who composed the opera Idomeneo?
A: Mozart.
What nationality was Adolph Sax, inventor of the saxophone?
A: Belgian.
What technique was used by guitarist Les Paul, and also describes the
sound made by overloading circuits between guitar and amplifier?
A: Feedback.
To which family of instruments does the double bass belong?
A: Viol.
What was the nationality of Bartok, Kodaly and Liszt?
A: Hungarian.
Why didn't Gustav Holst include Pluto in his 1918 orchestral suite
The Planets?
A: It wasn't discovered yet.
What nationality was Dvorak?
A: Czech.
Who wrote Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un Faune?
A: Debussy.
Who wrote the Moonlight and Appassionata among his 32 piano sonatas?
A: Beethoven.
Which teacher of Mozart and Beethoven wrote more than 100 symphonies?
A: Haydn.
Who became conductor of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the age
of 25 in 1980?
A: Simon Rattle.
What is the title of Beethoven's only opera?
A: Fidelio.
Which American composer wrote the march 'Stars an Stripes Forever!'
and invented a bass tuba?
A: John Philip Sousa.
Which instrument did the theologian Albert Schweitzer play?
A: Organ.
Which composer held the office of prime minister in Poland in 1919?
A: Paderewski.
Who was Richard Rodgers's collaborator on Oklahoma!?
A: Oscar Hammerstein.
Which instrument did Bartolommeo Cristofori invent in 1704?
A: Piano.
Which Borodin opera was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov
after he composer's death?
A: Prince Igor.
Who composed Danse macabre and Carnival of the Animals?
A: Camille Saint-Saens.
In which year did Elvis Presley have hits with 'Heartbreak Hotel',
'Hound Dog', and 'Love Me Tender'?
A: 1956.
Who wrote the song 'Beautiful Dreamer'?
A: Stephen Foster.
Whose albums include "Beggars' Banquet" and 'Exit on Main Street'?
A: The Rolling Stones.
Who wrote the opera Cunning Little Vixen?
A: Janacek.
Who turned his score for the film Scott of the Antarctic into his
Sinfonia Antarctica?
A: Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Which Irish flautist was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic
1969-75 before pursuing a solo career?
A: James Galway.
Which modern composer composed the operas Punch and Judy, The Mask of
Orpheus, and Gawain?
A: Harrison Birtwistle.
Who developed the 12-tone system of composition?
A: Arnold Schoenberg.
What was the name of the Italian village renowned for its
violin-making families of Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari?
A: Cremona.
For which British king did Handel compose the Water Music in 1717?
A: George I.
What are Peter Grimes and Billy Budd?
A: Operas by Benjamin Britten.
Where was Handel's Messiah first performed?
A: Dublin.
Which modern composer's works include the operas Einstein on the
Beach and Akhnaten?
A: Philip Glass.
Which legendary magician was the inspiration for musical works by
Busoni, Berlioz, Gounod and Schumann?
A: Faust.
Whose first album was titled Are You Experienced?
A: Jimi Hendrix.
Which composer transcribed birdsong and incorporated it into much of
his work?
A: Messiaen.
Whose first solo hit was 'Got to Be There'?
A: Michael Jackson.
The German composer of Almira later became a British subject. Who was
he?
A: Handel.
What nationality is the pianist Alfred Brendel?
A: Austrian.
