140+ Best Classical Music Trivia Questions & Answers

Question: Which instrument sings lullabies without words, often at midnight?

Answer: Piano

Question: How do you play a tune when you're trying to glide through like butter on a hot pan?

Answer: Smoothly

Question: Which century did Dmitri Shostakovich turn drama into sound?

Answer: 20th

Question: Where in Italy do divas belt out high notes and drama under chandeliers?

Answer: Milan

Question: Carl Weber composed like a boss. Where did this musical maestro call home?

Answer: German

Question: One of these opera icons didn’t get the group chat invite—who was the outsider?

Answer: Andrea Bocelli

Question: This composer brought Irish charm to classical scores—where was he born?

Answer: Ireland

Question: What do you call it when someone sings with zero backup dancers or instruments—just raw vocals?

Answer: A Cappella

Question: Which explosive year did Tchaikovsky immortalize with musical cannons and drama?

Answer: 1812

Question: Where do bronze gongs and bamboo flutes jam in hypnotic harmony?

Answer: Indonesia

Question: What musical tempo says, “Take your sweet, sweet time”?

Answer: Largo

Question: Who made a tragic swan ballet that made everyone cry in tights?

Answer: Tchaikovsky

Question: Who turned a boy and his animal crew into a musical masterpiece?

Answer: Prokofiev

Question: Prokofiev didn’t write a rom-com, but he did write about loving three… what now?

Answer: Oranges

Question: Which composer turned our solar system into a cosmic concert?

Answer: Holst

Question: Who took the ultimate task of organizing Mozart’s musical mess?

Answer: Mozart

Question: Which era of powdered wigs and lute serenades kicked off classical history?

Answer: Renaissance

Question: Which royal nickname was slapped onto Beethoven’s power-packed piano piece?

Answer: Emperor

Question: Which composer’s fans gather yearly to Wagner out at Bayreuth?

Answer: Wagner

Question: Which bold American turned political drama into opera gold?

Answer: Adams

Question: Who composed a wild musical trip full of witches, dreams, and obsession?

Answer: Berlioz

Question: Which UK city is home to this seriously classy (and loud) orchestra?

Answer: Manchester

Question: One of these instruments doesn’t like strings—who’s the odd one out?

Answer: Clarinet

Question: Which music fest started by Henry Wood lets everyone get their classical groove on?

Answer: Proms

Question: Which lucky composer got Queen Lizzie’s stamp to control the music biz?

Answer: Tallis

Question: How many times did Rimsky-Korsakov say, “Let’s make this dramatic and sing it”?

Answer: 15

Question: Which musical term is basically classical music’s version of “Let’s GO!”?

Answer: Presto

Question: How many musicians do you need to make string magic happen?

Answer: 4

Question: How many tragic, tear-jerking operas did Puccini give the world?

Answer: 12

Question: Which mighty planet lent its name to Mozart’s final (and galactic) symphony?

Answer: Jupiter

Question: Which epic symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon before Beethoven said, “Nah”?

Answer: Eroica

Question: Who painted sound with notes long before lo-fi was a thing?

Answer: Debussy

Question: Which composer made stealing sound classy with The Thieving Magpie Overture?

Answer: Gioachino Rossini

Question: Who made a waltz so famous even cartoon hippos danced to it?

Answer: Johann Strauss II

Question: Which composer is as American as jazz and apple pie?

Answer: John Adams

Question: Who doesn’t belong in the pasta party of Italian composers?

Answer: Liszt

Question: Which ballet turned Shakespeare’s most tragic love story into a graceful tearjerker?

Answer: Romeo And Juliet

Question: Who made polka feel like a party with Tritsch-Tratsch?

Answer: Johann Strauss II

Question: Which chilly genius gave Finland its musical superhero?

Answer: Finnish

Question: Who composed an etude so dramatic, it feels like piano rebellion?

Answer: Frederic Chopin

Question: Who gave Finland its unofficial national anthem, with full-on goosebumps?

Answer: Jean Sibelius

Question: Which composer told a full story with animals and instruments in Peter and the Wolf?

Answer: Sergei Prokofiev

Question: Which Beethoven piece is basically one massive musical mic drop?

Answer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Question: Which of these guys didn’t come from Germany’s classical factory?

Answer: Chopin

Question: Who’s the odd one out in the French composers’ café?

Answer: Liszt

Question: Which opera features a shady doctor selling fake love potions with big flair?

Answer: The Elixir of Love

Question: Which musical saga is basically Middle-earth but in opera form?

Answer: The Ring Cycle

Question: Which opera has an aria so beautiful it practically floats on moonlight?

Answer: Norma

Question: What does Weber’s ghostly German opera Der Freischütz mean in English?

Answer: The Marksman

Question: In Handel’s opera, who ruled with flair and drama over ancient Persia?

Answer: Persia

Question: Which classical piece is played at weddings, funerals, and every tearjerker montage ever?

Answer: Schubert

Question: When did Bach drop his hottest mixtape: the Brandenburg Concertos?

Answer: Baroque

Question: Who composed Bolero, the slow build that took over the world one snare at a time?

Answer: Ravel

Question: Which composer made Carmina Burana, aka the soundtrack of epic trailers and intense memes?

Answer: Orff

Question: Which composer took you on a cosmic ride with The Planets?

Answer: Holst

Question: Who gave a musical shoutout to Babylonian bling with Belshazzar’s Feast?

Answer: Walton

Question: Who turned ancient heartbreak into a baroque banger in Dido and Aeneas?

Answer: Purcell

Question: What was the first name of the Finnish musical legend behind Finlandia?

Answer: Jean

Question: Which composer gave us Fur Elise, the ringtone of pianos everywhere?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: When did Liszt drop his dramatic and spicy Hungarian Rhapsodies?

Answer: Middle Romantic

Question: What kind of concerto did Alban Berg cook up when music stopped following the rules?

Answer: Violin

Question: Mozart’s final symphonies were pure powdered wig brilliance—what era were they from?

Answer: Classical

Question: Which era gave us Tchaikovsky’s heartbreak symphony that punches you right in the feels?

Answer: Late Romantic

Question: Mendelssohn’s sunny Italian getaway in symphonic form came from which musical chapter?

Answer: Middle Romantic

Question: Which era saw Dvořák blend Czech soul with American dreams in his New World Symphony?

Answer: Late Romantic

Question: When Beethoven still had classical vibes but was starting to stir things up—what era was it?

Answer: Early Romantic

Question: Brahms’ fourth and final symphony? As rich and broody as his beard. What era is that?

Answer: Late Romantic

Question: Neo-Classicism tried to bring the past back in style. In what jazzy decade did it hit the scene?

Answer: 1920's

Question: Which musical era brought all the feels, drama, and the ultimate “it’s not a phase, mom” energy?

Answer: Romantic

Question: What was the first name of the guy who made wolves, boys, and ballerinas sing?

Answer: Sergei

Question: What was the first name of the opera genius who made audiences sob in Italian?

Answer: Giacomo

Question: What was the first name of the medieval composer with the coolest nickname in history—“The Hunchback”?

Answer: De La Halle

Question: What was the first name of the symphonic storyteller who turned inner angst into orchestral fire?

Answer: Gustav

Question: What was the first name of the composer who loved Clara, hated lists, and made piano magic?

Answer: Robert

Question: What’s the name of Beethoven’s only opera—a tale of prison breaks and true love with a bold soprano?

Answer: Fidelio

Question: Which composer turned grief into a piano piece so powerful, it practically wears black?

Answer: Frederic Chopin

Question: Who composed the ultimate icy waltz that makes you picture twirling skaters and snowy elegance?

Answer: Émile Waldteufel

Question: What epic choral banger opens with doom and drama, and stars in every intense movie trailer?

Answer: Carmina Burana

Question: Who gave us the Wedding March that’s basically the OG soundtrack of “Here Comes the Bride”?

Answer: Felix Mendelssohn

Question: Who hammered out the Anvil Chorus, proving even blacksmiths can be operatic icons?

Answer: Giuseppe Verdi

Question: Who composed the Lacrimosa—a haunting farewell that Mozart never got to finish himself?

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Question: Which instrument helped James Galway blow his way to classical stardom?

Answer: Flute

Question: Which deep-toned beauty did Pablo Casals make sing like no other?

Answer: Cello

Question: Itzhak Perlman didn’t just play—he slayed on which stringed superstar?

Answer: Violin

Question: Which instrument did Vanessa-Mae fuse with techno, turning classical into club vibes?

Answer: Violin

Question: Which spiky-haired rebel made violin playing feel like rock and roll?

Answer: Violin

Question: What’s the fancy German word for an instrument that turns fingers into thunder?

Answer: Keyboard

Question: Which type of instrument gets the plucky treatment when played pizzicato-style?

Answer: String

Question: Which instrument did Joe Venuti turn into a jazz partner in crime?

Answer: Violin

Question: Which composer sprinkled Baroque fairy dust into The Fairy Queen?

Answer: Purcell

Question: Which opera gave us March of the Toreadors, the most dramatic strut in musical history?

Answer: Bizet

Question: Which musical rebel added a choir to a symphony and made everyone shout “Ode to Joy!”?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: What does Richard Strauss’ fancy-sounding Der Rosenkavalier mean in plain ol’ English?

Answer: The Knight Of The Rose

Question: Which composer turned the Passion of Christ into a musical masterpiece that still gives chills?

Answer: Bach

Question: Which spooky-sounding piece proves skeletons know how to throw a violin rave at midnight?

Answer: Saint Saens

Question: Which composer gave us Carmina Burana—basically the anthem for epic battles and viral memes?

Answer: Orff

Question: How many strings does a harp have when it’s fully geared up for a heavenly solo?

Answer: 46

Question: Who composed Air on a G String, which sounds elegant even though it has “string” in the title?

Answer: Bach

Question: Which composer turned a Scottish sea cave into an epic orchestral mood board?

Answer: Mendelssohn

Question: Which composer made symphonies so surprising they got literal names like Clock and Surprise?

Answer: Haydn

Question: How many keys does a piano have when it’s ready to go from lullaby to rock ballad?

Answer: 88

Question: What’s the name of the feathered flirt who steals scenes (and hearts) in The Magic Flute?

Answer: Papageno

Question: How many instruments take the stage when it’s time for a Cadenza solo spotlight?

Answer: 1

Question: What does Rallentando mean when the music says, “Whoa there, slow your roll”?

Answer: Decrease in Speed

Question: Which river is home to the Manaus Opera House—a stage literally in the middle of the jungle?

Answer: Nile

Question: Which country gave us Vivaldi, the red-haired priest with a violin and a flair for seasons?

Answer: Italy

Question: Which country saw Mahler born before he started composing symphonies full of cosmic drama?

Answer: Austria

Question: In which country was Isaac Albéniz born, where flamenco and classical music collide?

Answer: Spain

Question: In which century did Henry Purcell compose like a Baroque boss?

Answer: 17th

Question: What’s the highest male voice—the one that practically sings in the clouds?

Answer: Alto

Question: How many thick strings power the beast that is the double bass?

Answer: 4

Question: Which classical legend stars in a rock ’n’ roll hit by Chuck Berry?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: What’s the lowest voice type in the soprano family—still high, but with a bit of sass?

Answer: Mezzo

Question: What changes in music when modulation takes the wheel and drives the tune somewhere new?

Answer: Key

Question: Which composer had Queen Anne backing him up like a royal hype woman?

Answer: Handel

Question: In what year did Sergei Rachmaninov say his final goodbye to the piano world?

Answer: 1943

Question: What delicate name does La Campanella translate to—hint: it’s not a dinner bell.

Answer: Little Bell

Question: Which female voice hits the deepest notes while still keeping it elegant?

Answer: Contralto

Question: In what century did Thomas Tallis do his sacred music thing with major Tudor vibes?

Answer: 16th

Question: Which dreamy composer from France gave us music to nap, daydream, and vibe to?

Answer: France

Question: In what year was Ralph Vaughan Williams born, ready to turn English countryside into symphonies?

Answer: 1872

Question: Who gave graduates their anthem with Pomp and Circumstance?

Answer: Edward Elgar

Question: Which composer’s name is practically musical royalty: Wolfgang Amadeus?

Answer: Mozart

Question: Which composer said “go big or go sacred” with Missa Solemnis?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: What nationality was Bartók, the composer who made folk music sound like magic?

Answer: Hungarian

Question: George Philipp Telemann came from which country known for composers and pretzels?

Answer: Germany

Question: Which composer turned Scheherazade into a musical fairy tale from 1001 notes?

Answer: Rimsky-Korsakov

Question: Which composer is basically the poster boy for the Salzburg Festival?

Answer: Mozart

Question: Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 gave a shoutout to which European city?

Answer: Prague

Question: Stradivarius wasn’t just good—he was legendary at crafting what instrument?

Answer: Violin

Question: Who composed the Brandenburg Concertos, aka the playlist of Baroque royalty?

Answer: Bach

Question: What pace does Adagio suggest—perfect for dramatic slow-motion scenes?

Answer: Slow

Question: Who’s the odd one out in a lineup of Russian composers? (Sorry, not sorry!)

Answer: Chopin