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Question Archive > Classical Music > Flashcards

Classical Music Flashcards

1
Q

The Three Tenors consisted of Placido Domingo Jose Carreras and which Italian singer who was known as the “King of the High Cs”?

A

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI

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2
Q

Which section of an orchestra typically includes flutes oboes clarinets and bassoons?

A

WOODWIND

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3
Q

Who left his position of principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic to become Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra in September 2017?

A

SIMON RATTLE

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4
Q

Which Spanish operatic soprano recorded Barcelona in a duet with Freddie Mercury in 1987?

A

MONTSERRAT CABALLE

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5
Q

In Western musical notation the staff or stave is a set of how many horizontal lines?

A

FIVE

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6
Q

In 2013 who became the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms? She also conducted the Last Night in 2015.

A

MARIN ALSOP

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7
Q

Which is the lowest female singing voice?

A

CONTRALTO

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8
Q

Formed by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1946 which orchestra is based at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea?

A

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC

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9
Q

Which Italian tenor recorded Sacred Arias the biggest selling classical album by any solo artist in history in 1999?

A

ANDREA BOCELLI

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10
Q

Known as “Flash Harry” who was chief conductor of the Proms from 1948 until his death in 1967?

A

MALCOLM SARGENT

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11
Q

Which musical direction indicates that a passage is to be played in a moderately slow tempo; faster than adagio but slower than allegretto?

A

ANDANTE

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12
Q

Which violinist born in New York to a Jewish family had a recording contract with EMI that lasted 70 years and is the longest in the history of the music industry?

A

YEHUDI MENUHIN

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13
Q

Italian for ‘The Phoenix’ which opera house in Venice has lost the use of three theatres to fire the first in 1774?

A

LA FENICE

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14
Q

Which English cellist whose career was cut short by multiple sclerosis is most famous for her iconic recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor and was married to Daniel Barenboim?

A

JACQUELINE DU PRE

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15
Q

Claudio Abbado served as music director of which opera house in Milan from 1968 to 1986?

A

LA SCALA

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16
Q

Which Venezuelan conductor and violinist is the music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar and the Los Angeles Philharmonic?

A

GUSTAVO DUDAMEL

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17
Q

Born in Caernarvonshire which bass-baritone was initially associated with the roles of Mozart particularly Figaro and Don Giovanni in the 1990s?

A

BRYN TERFEL

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18
Q

Which instrument which looks similar to an upright piano but sounds like a glockenspiel features prominently in Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker?

A

CELESTA

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19
Q

Italian for ‘in the manner of the chapel’ what name is given to vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment or a piece intended to be performed in this way?

A

A CAPPELLA

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20
Q

Born in China in 1982 who was motivated to learn the piano after watching the Tom and Jerry episode The Cat Concerto which features the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt?

A

LANG LANG

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21
Q

Which English conductor and cellist was particularly associated with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 and conducted for the rest of his life?

A

JOHN BARBIROLLI

22
Q

Found mainly in Bali and Java what is the name of the Indonesian orchestra composed mainly of percussion instruments?

A

GAMELAN

23
Q

Which musical direction means that a piece is played by plucking the strings with the finger instead of using the bow as on a violin?

A

PIZZICATO

24
Q

Notably associated with the operas of Richard Wagner which musical term refers to a recurring theme associated with a particular person place or idea?

A

LEITMOTIF

25
Q

Which style of Western art music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750 followed the Renaissance era and was followed in turn by the Classical era?

A

BAROQUE

26
Q

Who succeeded Peter Maxwell Davies as Master of the Queen’s Music in 2014?

A

JUDITH WEIR

27
Q

What term is used for a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing leaving the soloist to play alone in free time?

A

CADENZA

28
Q

Handel’s Messiah is an example of which large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices typically a narrative on a religious theme performed without the use of costumes scenery or action?

A

ORATORIO

29
Q

Which large conical-bore brass instrument derives its name from an Ancient Greek word meaning ‘well-sounding’ or ‘sweet-voiced’?

A

EUPHONIUM

30
Q

Which 2000-seat opera house was the primary home of the Paris Opera and its associated Paris Opera Ballet until 1989 when the Opera Bastille opened?

A

PALAIS GARNIER (OR OPERA GARNIER)

31
Q

Which ancient wind instrument typically has an oval body with finger holes and a projecting mouthpiece and is traditionally made of ceramic?

A

OCARINA

32
Q

Opera North is an English opera company based in which city?

A

LEEDS

33
Q

First held in 1963 an international piano competition (which was won by Murray Perahia in 1972) has been held every three years in which English city?

A

LEEDS

34
Q

Who was the first conductor of BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1930 to 1950?

A

ADRIAN BOULT

35
Q

Which instrument is known as a telenn in Breton cláirseach in Irish clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic and telyn in Welsh?

A

CELTIC HARP

36
Q

What was the stage name of Carlo Broschi an Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera?

A

FARINELLI

37
Q

The sackbut is the predecessor of which modern musical instrument?

A

TROMBONE

38
Q

Which youth orchestra based in Seville consists of musicians from countries in the Middle East and was founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said in 1999?

A

WEST-EASTERN DIVAN

39
Q

In America it is known as a ‘whole note’. What is it known as in Britain?

A

SEMIBREVE

40
Q

Which Scottish classical violinist won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2004 at the age of 16?

A

NICOLA BENEDETTI

41
Q

Who succeeded Colin Davis as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2007 and in 2015 became principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic?

A

VALERY GERGIEV

42
Q

Orchestras normally tune to a concert A played by which instrument?

A

OBOE

43
Q

In 1988 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the ‘Royal’ title upon which orchestra?

A

CONCERTGEBOUW

44
Q

From the Italian for ‘joke’ what name is given to a lively humorous musical composition or movement commonly in quick triple time?

A

SCHERZO

45
Q

Which instrument was first produced by converting one of the keys of a chalumeau into a register key probably by German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner?

A

CLARINET

46
Q

On a modern grand piano with three pedals what name is given to the middle pedal?

A

SOSTENUTO

47
Q

Who founded the Glyndebourne Opera House and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera at his home in Sussex in 1934?

A

JOHN CHRISTIE

48
Q

Which composer and musician was the first person to hold the title of Master of the King’s Music from 1625 to 1666?

A

NICHOLAS LANIER

49
Q

Giving its name to a large lake in Japan which short-necked fretted lute is often used in narrative storytelling?

A

BIWA

50
Q

Which chord made up of the notes F B D♯ and G♯ is so named as it is heard in the opening phrase of a Wagner opera which premiered in 1865?

A

TRISTAN CHORD

Question Archive (50 decks)

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