140+ Best Classical Music Trivia Questions & Answers

Question: On which instrument is a Nocturne usually played?

Answer: Piano

Question: Legato' is an instruction to play a piece in what style?

Answer: Smoothly

Question: in which century did Dmitri Shostakovich live?

Answer: 20th

Question: La Scala is an Opera House in which Italian city?

Answer: Milan

Question: What nationality was the composer Carl Weber?

Answer: German

Question: Which of these was NOT one of the Three Tenors?

Answer: Andrea Bocelli

Question: Charles Villiers Stanford was born in which country?

Answer: Ireland

Question: Which of the following means unaccompanied singing?

Answer: A Cappella

Question: To what year did Tchaikovsky dedicate a famous overture?

Answer: 1812

Question: The Gamelan is the traditional orchestra in which country?

Answer: Indonesia

Question: Which of these terms describes the slowest style of playing?

Answer: Adante

Question: Swan Lake' was a work by which Russian Composer?

Answer: Tchaikovsky

Question: Peter and the Wolf' was composed by which Russian?

Answer: Prokofiev

Question: Prokofiev produced a work entitled 'The Love For Three…..'?

Answer: Oranges

Question: The Planets' is a famous classical work by which composer?

Answer: Holst

Question: Ludwig Van Kochel made catalogued which composers works?

Answer: Mozart

Question: Which of these periods of classical music came first?

Answer: Renaissance

Question: What is the nickname of Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto?

Answer: Emperor

Question: The Bayreuth Festival celebrates the music of which composer?

Answer: Wagner

Question: Which American Composer wrote 'Nixon in China'?

Answer: Adams

Question: Symphonie Fantastique' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Berlioz

Question: The Halle Orchestra is based in which British City?

Answer: Manchester

Question: Which of the following is NOT a stringed instrument?

Answer: Clarinet

Question: Henry Wood was the founder of which famous classical music event?

Answer: Proms

Question: To which composer did Elizabeth I grant a monopoly of sheet music?

Answer: Tallis

Question: How many operas were written by Rimsky-Korsakov?

Answer: 15

Question: Which of these terms describes the fastest style of playing?

Answer: Allegro

Question: How many players are involved in a string quartet?

Answer: 4

Question: How many Operas were composed by Giacomo Puccini?

Answer: 12

Question: After which planet is Mozart's Symphony No. 41 named?

Answer: Jupiter

Question: How is Beethoven's 3rd Symphony better known?

Answer: Eroica

Question: Who was the founder of Impressionist music?

Answer: Debussy

Question: Who composed 'The Thieving Magpie Overture'?

Answer: Gioachino Rossini

Question: Who created 'The Blue Danube'?

Answer: Johann Strauss II

Question: What nationality is the composer John Adams?

Answer: American

Question: Which of these was NOT an Italian composer?

Answer: Liszt

Question: Sergei Prokofiev composed a ballet based on what Shakespearian play?

Answer: Romeo And Juliet

Question: Who composed the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka?

Answer: Johann Strauss II

Question: What nationality was the composer Sibelius?

Answer: Finnish

Question: Who composed 'Revolutionary' Etude?

Answer: Frederic Chopin

Question: Who composed 'Finlandia'?

Answer: Jean Sibelius

Question: Who composed 'Peter and the Wolf'?

Answer: Sergei Prokofiev

Question: Who composed the 'Grosse Fugue'?

Answer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Question: Which of these was NOT a German composer?

Answer: Chopin

Question: Which one of these was NOT a French composer?

Answer: Liszt

Question: What opera features a quack named Dulcamara?

Answer: The Elixir of Love

Question: Das Rheingold,' 'Die Walküre,' 'Siegfried,' and 'Götterdammerung' make up what Richard Wagner 'cycle'?

Answer: The Ring Cycle

Question: What opera contains the famous 'Casta Diva' aria?

Answer: Norma

Question: Carl Maria von Weber's 'Der Freischütz' translates to what in English?

Answer: The Marksman

Question: In George Frideric Handel's opera 'Xerxes,' Xerxes is the king of what land?

Answer: Persia

Question: Ave Maria' was composed by whom?

Answer: Schubert

Question: Bach's 'Brandenburg Concertos' were composed during what era?

Answer: Baroque

Question: Bolero' was the work of which composer?

Answer: Ravel

Question: Who composed, 'Carmina Burana'?

Answer: Orff

Question: Who composed 'The Planets'?

Answer: Holst

Question: Belshazzar's Feast' was a work by which British composer?

Answer: Walton

Question: Dido and Aeneas' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Purcell

Question: What was the first name of Sibelius?

Answer: Jean

Question: Fur Elise' was a work by which composer?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: Liszt's 'Hungarian Rhapsodies' were composed during what era?

Answer: Middle Romantic

Question: What kind of 'Concerto' did Alban Berg compose during the Atonal era?

Answer: Violin

Question: Mozart's Symphonies No. 40 and 41 were composed during what era?

Answer: Classical

Question: Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 'Pathetique' was composed during what era?

Answer: Late Romantic

Question: Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 'Italian' was composed during what era?

Answer: Middle Romantic

Question: Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 'From the New World' was composed during what era?

Answer: Late Romantic

Question: Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and 7 were composed during what era?

Answer: Early Romantic

Question: Brahms' Symphony No. 4 was written during what era?

Answer: Late Romantic

Question: Neo-Classicism emerged in which decade?

Answer: 1920's

Question: Which of these periods of classical music came latest?

Answer: Romantic

Question: What was the first name of the Russian composer Prokofiev?

Answer: Sergei

Question: What was the first name of prolific Opera composer Puccini?

Answer: Giacomo

Question: What was the first name of the composer known as Adam the Hunchback?

Answer: De La Halle

Question: What was the first name of the composer Mahler?

Answer: Gustav

Question: What was the first name of German composer Schumann?

Answer: Robert

Question: What was the name of Beethoven's only Opera?

Answer: Fidelio

Question: Who composed the Funeral March?

Answer: Frederic Chopin

Question: Who composed the Skater's Waltz?

Answer: Émile Waldteufel

Question: The song 'O Fortuna' is from what opera?

Answer: Carmina Burana

Question: Who composed the Wedding March for the opera 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?

Answer: Felix Mendelssohn

Question: Who composed the Anvil Chorus of 'Il Trovatore'?

Answer: Giuseppe Verdi

Question: Who composed the Lacrimosa movement in The Requiem Mass in D minor?

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Question: James Galway found fame playing which instrument?

Answer: Flute

Question: Pablo Casals is famed for playing which instrument?

Answer: Cello

Question: Itzhak Perlman was a virtuoso on which instrument?

Answer: Violin

Question: Vannesa-Mae found fame playing which musical instrument?

Answer: Violin

Question: Nigel Kennedy is famed for playing which instrument?

Answer: Violin

Question: Klavier is the German word for what instrument?

Answer: Keyboard

Question: Pizzicato is associated with which type of instrument?

Answer: String

Question: Joe Ventui is famous for playing which instrument?

Answer: Violin

Question: The Fairy Queen' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Purcell

Question: The March of the Toreadors' comes from an Opera by which composer?

Answer: Bizet

Question: The Fairy Queen' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Purcell

Question: Who composed the first Symphony that included singers?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: Richard Strauss' 'Der Rosenkavalier' translates to what in English?

Answer: The Knight Of The Rose

Question: St Matthews Passion' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Bach

Question: Danse Macabre' is a famous work by which composer?

Answer: Saint Saens

Question: Carmina Burana' is a famous work by which composer?

Answer: Orff

Question: How many strings does a Harp have?

Answer: 46

Question: Air on a G String' is by which composer?

Answer: Bach

Question: Fingal's Cave' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Mendelssohn

Question: Clock2 and 'Surprise' are common names for symphonies by which composer?

Answer: Haydn

Question: How many keys does a piano have?

Answer: 88

Question: What is the name of the birdcatcher in the opera 'The Magic Flute'?

Answer: Papageno

Question: How many instruments will be involved in a 'Cadenza'?

Answer: 1

Question: Rallentando refers to what?

Answer: Decrease in Speed

Question: The Manaus Opera House lies on which river?

Answer: Nile

Question: In which country was Antonio Vivaldi born?

Answer: Italy

Question: In what country was Gustav Mahler born?

Answer: Austria

Question: Issac Albeniz was born in which country?

Answer: Spain

Question: In what century did Henry Purcell live?

Answer: 17th

Question: What is the highest of all the male voices?

Answer: Alto

Question: How many strings are there on a double bass?

Answer: 4

Question: What classic musician is in the title of a famous Chuck Berry song?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: What is the lowest of the Soprano voices?

Answer: Mezzo

Question: Modulation involves the movement of what?

Answer: Key

Question: Queen Anne was the patron of which composer?

Answer: Handel

Question: In which year did Sergei Rachmaninov die?

Answer: 1943

Question: What does the title of Franz Liszt's 'La Campanella' mean in English?

Answer: Little Bell

Question: What is the lowest of the female voices?

Answer: Contralto

Question: In which century did Thomas Tallis live?

Answer: 16th

Question: Erik Satie was a composer from which country?

Answer: France

Question: In what year was Ralph Vaughn Williams born?

Answer: 1872

Question: Who composed 'Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1'?

Answer: Edward Elgar

Question: Which composer had the first names Wolfgang Amadeus?

Answer: Mozart

Question: Missa Solemnis' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Beethoven

Question: What nationality was the composer Bela Bartok?

Answer: Hungarian

Question: George Phillipe Telemann was born in which country?

Answer: Germany

Question: Scheherazade' is a work by which composer?

Answer: Rimsky-Korsakov

Question: The Salzburg Festival is associated with which composer?

Answer: Mozart

Question: After which European city is Symphony No. 38 by Mozart named?

Answer: Prague

Question: Stradivarius is famous for making what type of instrument?

Answer: Violin

Question: Which composer wrote the famous Brandenburg Concertos?

Answer: Bach

Question: Adagio refers to what kind of pace within a piece of music?

Answer: Slow

Question: Which of the following was NOT a Russian Composer?

Answer: Chopin