Major Musicians and Composers

Question 1

Johann Sebastian Bach

Answer 1

(1685-1750) Well-known German Baroque composer of ‘The Brandenberg Concertos’ and many pieces for organ.

Question 2

Ludwig von Beethoven

Answer 2

(1770-1827) Late 18th-, early 19th-century composer is widely considered among the greatest ever. He composed nine symphonies and scores of concertos.

Question 3

Hector Berlioz

Answer 3

(1803-1869) French composer of innovative pieces, including ‘Symphonie Fantastique’.

Question 4

Leonard Bernstein

Answer 4

(1918-1990) Contemporary American composer and conductor who wrote the musical ‘West Side Story’.

Question 5

Johannes Brahms

Answer 5

(1833-1897) German composer and pianist well known for his chamber music.

Question 6

Enrico Caruso

Answer 6

(1873-1921) Popular Italian tenor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Question 7

Pablo Casals

Answer 7

(1876-1973) Popular 20th-century Spanish cellist.

Question 8

Frederic Chopin

Answer 8

(1810-1849) Polish music composer of the 19th century known for his piano compositions.

Question 9

John Coltrane

Answer 9

(1926-1967) American jazz innovator and saxophonist who composed experimental and far-reaching pieces of “bop” jazz.

Question 10

Aaron Copland

Answer 10

(1900-1990) 20th-century American composer who utilized folk and jazz in his compositions, which include ‘Rodeo’ and ‘Appalachian Spring’.

Question 11

Miles Davis

Answer 11

(1926-1992) American trumpet player whose free form and experimental style changed jazz music forever.

Question 12

Claude Debussy

Answer 12

(1862-1918) French Impressionist composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Question 13

Antonin Dvorak

Answer 13

(1841-1904) 19th-century Czech composer of symphonies, including ‘New World Symphony’.

Question 14

George Gershwin

Answer 14

(1898-1937) Prominent American composer of symphony and jazz music, as well as musicals. Among his most famous compositions are ‘Porgy ad Bess’, ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, and ‘An American in Paris’.

Question 15

George Frideric Handel

Answer 15

(1685-1759) German Baroque composer of oratorio and other music in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is frequently performed.

Question 16

Franz Liszt

Answer 16

(1811-1886) 19th-century Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist.

Question 17

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Answer 17

(1756-1791) Important Austrian composer of the 18th century whose operas (‘The Marriage of Figaro’ and ‘The Magic Flute’) and concertos are amongst the most famous in history.

Question 18

Charlie Parker

Answer 18

(1920-1955) American saxophonist nicknamed “Bird.” One of jazz’s true innovators.

Question 19

Sergei Prokofiev

Answer 19

(1891-1953) 20th-century composer who wrote ‘Peter and the Wolf’.

Question 20

Giacomo Puccini

Answer 20

(1858-1924) Italian composer of operas, including ‘La Bohème’ and ‘Madame Butterfly’.

Question 21

Henry Purcell

Answer 21

(1659-1695) English composer of opera and church music, known for his ‘Dido and Aeneas’.

Question 22

Maurice Ravel

Answer 22

(1857-1937) French composer known for nationalistic symphonies. Major work is ‘Bolero’.

Question 23

Richard Rodgers

Answer 23

(1902-1979) American composer who worked first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and later with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein on some of 20th-century’s best-loved musicals, including ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘Oklahoma!’

Question 24

Gioacchino Rossini

Answer 24

(1792-1868) Italian composer of operas, including ‘The Barber of Seville’.

Question 25

Franz Schubert

Answer 25

(1797-1828) 19th-century Austrian composer primarily of piano and vocal pieces.

Question 26

Dmitri Shostakovich

Answer 26

(1906-1974) Russian composer of the 20th-century, known for his political motivations.

Question 27

John Phillip Sousa

Answer 27

(1854-1932) Early 20th-century American band conductor and composer of marches such as the classic ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’.

Question 28

Johann Strauss

Answer 28

(1825-1899) Austrian composer known for waltzes such as ‘The Blue Danube’.

Question 29

Richard Strauss

Answer 29

(1864-1949) German composer known for his tone poems, operas, and songs (‘Lieder’).

Question 30

Igor Stravinsky

Answer 30

(1882-1971) Russian-born composer is best known for his conducting and for his compositions for ballets.

Question 31

Shin’ichi Suzuki

Answer 31

(1898-1998) Japanese music educator who promoted learning by repetition as well as by instruction.

Question 32

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Answer 32

(1840-1893) Prominent 19th-century Russian composer who wrote the ballets ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘The Nutcracker’, among others.

Question 33

Giuseppe Verdi

Answer 33

(1813-1901) Italian composer of operas, including ‘Rigoletto’, ‘La Traviata’, and ‘Aïda’.

Question 34

Antonio Vivaldi

Answer 34

(1678-1741) Late 17th- early 18th-century composer and violinist who wrote the well-known ‘The Four Seasons’.

Question 35

Richard Wagner

Answer 35

(1813-1883) 19th-century German composer whose use of leitmotif revolutionized opera. Among his contributions are ‘Tristan and Isolde’ and ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’.