What nickname is commonly given to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6?
Answer
Pastoral Symphony
80 Classical Music Composers Trivia Questions with Answers
80 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
Which composer wrote Symphony No. 3, nicknamed “Eroica,” first performed publicly in Vienna in 1805?
Answer
Ludwig van Beethoven
Which composer wrote the opera Boris Godunov, based on Alexander Pushkin’s historical drama?
Answer
Modest Mussorgsky
Which composer wrote the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16?
Answer
Edvard Grieg
Which composer wrote The Rite of Spring, premiered in Paris in 1913?
Answer
Igor Stravinsky
Which composer wrote the opera Der Freischütz, first performed in Berlin in 1821?
Answer
Carl Maria von Weber
Which composer wrote the orchestral work Night on Bald Mountain?
Answer
Modest Mussorgsky
Which composer wrote the orchestral suite Scheherazade, inspired by One Thousand and One Nights?
Answer
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Which composer wrote the Hungarian Rhapsodies for solo piano?
Answer
Franz Liszt
Which composer wrote the Symphony No. 8 known as the Unfinished Symphony?
Answer
Franz Schubert
Which composer wrote Symphony No. 2, commonly called the Resurrection Symphony?
Answer
Gustav Mahler
Which composer wrote the “Funeral March” in Piano Sonata No. 2?
Answer
Frédéric Chopin
Which composer wrote the orchestral suites known as Water Music?
Answer
George Frideric Handel
Which composer wrote the piano cycle The Well-Tempered Clavier, containing two books of 24 preludes and fugues?
Answer
Johann Sebastian Bach
Which composer wrote the ballet The Nutcracker, first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1892?
Answer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Which composer wrote the oratorio Messiah, first performed in Dublin in 1742?
Answer
George Frideric Handel
Which composer wrote the six Brandenburg Concertos, presented to Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg?
Answer
Johann Sebastian Bach
Which composer wrote the opera Orfeo ed Euridice, first performed in Vienna in 1762?
Answer
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Which composer wrote the opera The Fiery Angel, premiered in 1955 after his death?
Answer
Sergei Prokofiev
Which composer wrote the orchestral waltz The Blue Danube, first performed in Vienna in 1867?
Answer
Johann Strauss II
Which composer wrote the opera Turandot, completed after his death by Franco Alfano?
Answer
Giacomo Puccini
Which composer wrote the suite The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra?
Answer
Benjamin Britten
Which composer wrote the opera Salome, based on Oscar Wilde’s play and premiered in 1905?
Answer
Richard Strauss
Which composer wrote the opera Peter Grimes, premiered in London in 1945?
Answer
Benjamin Britten
Which composer wrote the opera The Barber of Seville, premiered in Rome in 1816?
Answer
Gioachino Rossini
Which composer wrote the ballet Romeo and Juliet, premiered in Brno in 1938?
Answer
Sergei Prokofiev
Which composer wrote the opera Tosca, first performed in Rome in 1900?
Answer
Giacomo Puccini
Which composer wrote the opera The Marriage of Figaro, first performed in Vienna in 1786?
Answer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Which composer wrote the orchestral suite The Firebird, premiered in Paris in 1910?
Answer
Igor Stravinsky
Which composer wrote The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos published in 1725?
Answer
Antonio Vivaldi
Which composer wrote the solo piano piece Clair de lune, included in Suite bergamasque?
Answer
Claude Debussy
Which composer wrote the piano sonata popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata?
Answer
Ludwig van Beethoven
Which composer wrote the opera The Nose, based on Nikolai Gogol’s satirical story?
Answer
Dmitri Shostakovich
Which composer wrote the opera Madama Butterfly, first performed in Milan in 1904?
Answer
Giacomo Puccini
Which composer wrote Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, first performed in Vienna in 1808?
Answer
Ludwig van Beethoven
Which composer wrote the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition after Viktor Hartmann’s death?
Answer
Modest Mussorgsky