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Classical music is a genre of music that has been enjoyed for centuries. It is characterized by its complexity and sophistication, and is often considered to be the foundation of Western music. From the baroque period to the classical period, and the romantic period to the modern era, classical music has evolved and changed over time. Here is a list of classical music trivia questions to test your knowledge of this timeless genre.
Whether you're a classical music expert or a beginner, these trivia questions are sure to challenge and entertain you. So why not test your knowledge and see how many you can get right?
1. One of the most famous institutions of musical education in the world, the Moscow Conservatory, is officially named after what composer of "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker?"
Answer: Tchaikovsky
2. What 1846 oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn tells the story of the titular Old Testament prophet who brings rain to Israel through his prayers and ascends in a fiery chariot to heaven?
Answer: Elijah
3. What oratorio by George Frideric Handel, whose "Hallelujah Chorus" is one of the most famous choral pieces of all time, premiered in Dublin's New Music Hall on 13 April 1742?
Answer: Messiah
4. Scholars have established that what composer of "The Nutcracker" and "Overture of 1812" was gay, although that fact is often disputed in his native Russia?
Answer: Tchaikovsky
5. Arguably the most famous section of Camille Saint-Saëns's suite "The Carnival of the Animals" is its 13th section, a piece with a prominent cello solo named for what graceful bird?
Answer: Swan
6. Leos Janacek, the 20th-century composer of the dramatic opera “Jenufa”, was of what nationality, presently associated with a Republic that has Prague as its capital?
Answer: Czech
7. A string quartet is traditionally composed for one cello, one viola, and two of which instrument?
Answer: Violin
8. What is the name for a large-scale composition for chorus, orchestra, and solo voices that tells a story without the use of costumes or sets? The most famous example is "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel.
Answer: Oratorio
9. What “F” opera by Beethoven, the only one he ever composed, is about Leonore disguising herself as the titular prison guard in order to rescue her husband Florestan from political prison? It originally premiered in 1805, with libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner.
Answer: Fidelio
10. A song cycle by Gustav Mahler, published in 1897, is “Songs Of A” what? It’s also a word for a person who travels on foot, and the singular of a type of sunglasses made by Ray-Ban.
Answer: Songs Of A Wayfarer
11. The “Four Seasons” might have been Vivaldi’s greatest hit as a composer, but he was also well-known (and highly regarded) as a virtuoso on which stringed instrument?
Answer: Violin
12. Which English composer is best known for “The Planets” suite?
Answer: Gustav Holst
13. What type of composition features multiple melodies in counterpoint, and usually has three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a final entry. The F-word we're looking for comes from the Latin for "flee" or "chase."
Answer: Fugue
14. Bela Bartok and Romantic composer Franz Liszt are typically considered the greatest composers to emerge from what European nation?
Answer: Hungary
15. When classical music fans speak about a string quartet, three of the four instruments traditionally played are two violins and a cello. Name the instrument that completes the foursome.
Answer: Viola
16. Led by Keith Lockhart since 1995, what Beantown institution of light classical music has also had such illustrious music directors as John Williams and Arthur Fiedler?
Answer: Boston Pops
17. In 2015, NYC's Metropolitan Opera decided to stop asking performers to wear blackface makeup to perform the title role of what Shakespeare-based opera by Giuseppe Verdi?
Answer: Otello
18. She must have practiced, practiced, practiced: Chinese pianist Yuja Wang performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra on October 7, 2021, for the post-COVID reopening of what legendary New York City music venue?
Answer: Carnegie Hall
19. Best known for a piece of its music that is used to accompany can-can dancing, an 1858 opera by Jacques Offenbach concerns what Greek mythological character's journey to the underworld?
Answer: Orpheus
20. In 1875, what “G” 19th-century Norwegian composer wrote incidental music to accompany Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt?”
Answer: Edvard Grieg
21. Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" plays while military helicopters fly over Vietnam in a famous scene from what 1979 Francis Ford Coppola film?
Answer: Apocalypse Now
22. Felix Mendelssohn's famous "Wedding March" comes from the incidental music he wrote for which Shakespeare play, which centers on the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta?
Answer: A Midsummer Night's Dream
23. Rather than being named after animals, two movements within Camille Saint-Saëns' "The Carnival of the Animals" suite are instead named after places where animals are kept. What single word aquatic enclosure is the name of the suite's seventh movement?
Answer: Aquarium
24. In the 1940s, legendary classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz was known for performing a sparkling piano solo arrangement of which John Philip Sousa march frequently heard on the Fourth of July?
Answer: The Stars and Stripes Forever
25. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is also known by what name? In a different context, this word refers to music sung by a choir.
Answer: Choral
26. The "ticking" rhythm of the second movement has led to Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 101 in D Major being referred to by what horological nickname?
Answer: The Clock
27. An arpeggio is when which note combination is played one at a time rather than all at the same time? It’s also referred to as “broken.
Answer: Chord
28. The final movement of Handel's Suite no. 5 in E Major is typically named for a "harmonious" member of what profession?
Answer: Blacksmith
29. Renowned 19th-century pianist and composer Franz Liszt was of what nationality?
Answer: Hungarian
30. Johannes Brahms' composition "Wiegenlied," which begins, "Good evening, good night," is typically known as Brahms' what?
Answer: Lullaby
31. Written in 1950 by American Leroy Anderson, a famous piece of light classical music features what piece of office equipment commonly used at the time? The piece of equipment is hardly used at all now in the office.
Answer: Typewriter
32. One of the "three Bs of classical music," along with Bach and Beethoven, what composer wrote a famous lullaby and "A German Requiem," among many other works?
Answer: Brahms
33. Kinda looking like a droopy marionette, Willem Dafoe's "Platoon" character died to the strains of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for" what group of instruments?
Answer: Strings
34. What six-letter word, in classical music, means German art songs? It is a homophone for someone in a position of power, such as a president, a CEO, or a monarch.
Answer: Lieder
35. Czech composer Antonín Dvořák's most famous work is his Ninth Symphony, which he composed while living in the United States and is commonly known by what nickname?
Answer: New World Symphony
36. “Bagatelle No. 25 in A Minor” is the name of a famous solo piano piece by Ludwig von Beethoven, discovered after his death, better known as the what Elise?
Answer: Fur
37. Featuring cannon fire, the French national anthem, and folk music, one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's most famous compositions is an orchestral overture with what year in its name?
Answer: 1812
38. In the ballet "Coppélia" by Léo Delibes, Franz falls in love with the title character, who is not a human being. What is Coppélia?
Answer: doll
39. Which number Beethoven symphony, the last full symphony he wrote, contains those instantly recognizable grouping of opening notes, four quick notes then repeated, referenced in such pop culture works as Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth Of Beethoven?”
Answer: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
40. Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's most famous work is a suite of 10 piano pieces, including "The Gnome" and "The Old Castle," known as "Pictures at an” what?
Answer: Exhibition
41. What pear-shaped stringed instrument from the lute family typically consists of between eight-12 strings, and has types like bowl backs and bluegrass?
Answer: Mandolin
42. What 18th-century Italian composer is probably best known for his “Four Seasons?”
Answer: Antonio Vivaldi
43. An opera buffa in four acts, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1786, with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, is “The Marriage Of” who?
Answer: The Marriage Of Figaro
44. Johannes Brahms was famous for his Hungarian Dances based on folk music; what is the name of the corresponding orchestral works by Antonín Dvořák, which were inspired by Bohemian tunes?
Answer: Slavonic Dances
45. In 1891, Sergei Rachmaninoff composed a piece for two pianos that he referred to as what “Rhapsody”? The nationality also gave us Marc Chagall and Leo Tolstoy.
Answer: Russian Rhapsody
46. “Cosi Fan Tutte,” an opera buffa in two acts, is written by what famous Austrian composer of “The Marriage of Figaro?”
Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
47. One of the most famous orchestral melodies of all time is Edvard Grieg's "Morning Mood," which is part of the incidental music he wrote for what Henrik Ibsen play?
Answer: Peer Gynt
48. What single word is used for a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night?
Answer: Nocturne
49. Because of a startlingly loud chord played in the second movement, Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major has acquired what "S" nickname?
Answer: Surprise
50. A song for the dead or a mournful tune, a “dirge” is a piece of music that’s specifically written for which occasion?
Answer: Funeral
51. Which 19th-century violinist from Italy was so talented that people thought he must have sold his soul to the Devil to get his mad skills?
Answer: Niccolò Paganini
52. He might have had a wolfy name, but which classical composer was rumored to be a bit of a pool shark and may have composed many of his symphonies at the billiards table?
Answer: Mozart
53. The composer of works such as "Carnaval das Crianças" and "Amazonas," Heitor Villa-Lobos, is one of the best-known classical composers from what South American country?
Answer: Brazil
54. In Prokofiev's "symphonic fairy tale" Peter and the Wolf, the oboe represents what animal, which (spoiler alert!) is eaten by the wolf after jumping out of the pond?
Answer: Duck
55. Franz Schubert's Symphony no. 8 usually has what nickname, thanks to a quality it shares with works like Mahler's Symphony no. 10, Debussy's Symphony in B minor, and Mozart's Requiem?
Answer: Unfinished Symphony
56. "Pavane for a Dead Princess" is one of the most famous works for solo piano by what French composer, also known for "Boléro?"
Answer: Maurice Ravel
57. What was the first name of the (presumably quite humble) composer Mussorgsky?
Answer: Modest
58. Granted the title of "Royal" in its name by Queen Beatrix in 1988, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a renowned ensemble that makes its home in what world capital city?
Answer: Amsterdam
59. With a title that literally translates as "the fallen woman," what opera by Giuseppe Verdi is, memorably, the one that moves Julia Roberts's character to tears in the movie "Pretty Woman?"
Answer: La Traviata
60. Which German composer is known for his “music dramas” and “romantic operas,” most notably the “Ring” cycle of the mid-1800s, which included “The Rhinegold,” “The Valkyrie,” “Siegfried,” and “Twilight of the Gods?”
Answer: Richard Wagner
61. Composer Benjamin Britten wrote a 1945 composition meant to be, according to its title, a "Guide to the Orchestra" for what kind of listener?
Answer: Young Person
62. What is the three-word title of Beethoven’s composition, part of his Ninth Symphony, that is used as the official anthem of the European Union?
Answer: Ode to Joy
63. The 1985 hijacking of the passenger liner the Achille Lauro inspired modern composer John Adams's 1991 opera titled "The Death of" whom?
Answer: Klinghoffer
64. Despite only being published after his death, Für Elise is one of the most well-known and popular pieces of music by which German composer?
Answer: Beethoven
65. Which Italian composer took a break to focus on investing his early earnings in landownership before returning to music with masterpiece operas like “Aida,” “Falstaff,” and “Otello?”
Answer: Giuseppe Verdi
66. The second longest river in Europe inspired Austrian music maker Johann Strauss II to compose what colorful waltz in 1866?
Answer: The Blue Danube
67. What type of classical composition in 3/4 time comes from the Italian for "street song?"
Answer: Passacaglia
68. What composer created the imposing (and somewhat creepy) "Night on Bald Mountain"? This piece, along with "Ave Maria" by Schubert, comprised the last segment of Disney's 1940 film "Fantasia".
Answer: Modest Mussgorsky
69. From the ballet of the same name, the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was adapted into songs, including "Once Upon a Dream," for what classic 1959 Disney film?
Answer: Sleeping Beauty
70. "Komm, süßer Tod" ("Come, sweet death") is a Baroque-era song for solo voice with accompaniment by which of classical music's "Three B's?"
Answer: Bach
71. "The Golden Goose" is a 1926 work by what English classical-music composer, who is better known for his orchestral suite "The Planets?"
Answer: Gustav Holst
72. What Austrian-born composer, known as the "father of modern music" for his pioneering use of twelve-tone technique, emigrated in 1933 to Boston and then to Los Angeles to escape Nazi persecution?
Answer: Arnold Schoenberg
73. One of the most famous moments in the clarinet repertoire is the trill and glissando that opens what classic 1924 orchestral work by George Gershwin?
Answer: Rhapsody in Blue
74. Which Austrian composer born in 1732 served as a tutor to Beethoven and has been called “Father of the String Quartet” and “Father of the Symphony?”
Answer: Joseph Haydn
75. "O Death, Where Is Thy Sting" is a duet for alto (or countertenor) and tenor that comes near the end of what 1741 oratorio by George Frideric Handel?
Answer: Messiah
76. What Austrian composer was the subject of a 1985 song, which gives his biographical information in detail, by Austrian rock musician Falco? The song's title is the composer's middle name, and the title of the 1984 film which inspired Falco's song.
Answer: Mozart
77. Adrien Brody won a Best Actor Oscar playing the titular classical musician and Holocaust survivor in what 2002 biographical drama film?
Answer: The Pianist
78. Which Austrian composer of the Romantic period is best known for “Ave Maria,” “Symphony No. 9,” and his piano sonatas?
Answer: Franz Schubert
79. Which B-word describes a “short and sweet,” light-hearted piece usually composed for solo piano? Hint: Beethoven had three sets of them, among them “Für Elise.”
Answer: Bagatelle
80. Cleveland's Thyagaraja Festival is dedicated to the classical music of what country, and is the largest such festival outside that country?
Answer: India
81. Both Chopin and Debussy are known for what type of short musical composition for the piano, originally meant to provide practice material for students?
Answer: Etude
82. What 1851 opera by Giuseppe Verdi is named for its protagonist, a hunch-backed court jester in the service of the Duke of Mantua?
Answer: Rigoletto
83. What Italian word refers to an instrumental piece meant to be played "between" two other musical or dramatic entities, though they can sometimes be played independently?
Answer: Intermezzo
84. What word, literally meaning "sung" in Italian, refers to a composition for voice with instrumental accompaniment?
Answer: Cantata
85. Although it predates codebreaking at Bletchley Park, Edward Elgar's late-19th-century work, Variations on a Theme Op. 36, is popularly known by what puzzling nickname?
Answer: Enigma Variations
86. Dedicated to the King of Prussia, The Prussian Quartets are a set of three string quartets composed by which man between 1789 and 1790?
Answer: Mozart
87. Which musical expression that basically means “let’s take it down a notch” is written as “dim.”?
Answer: Diminuendo
88. Which infamous Stravinsky ballet is said to have caused riots at its premiere in 1913? Telling the story of a young woman who dances herself to death, the seasonal work was highly experimental and described by many as "cacophonic."
Answer: The Rite of Spring
89. What opera by Giuseppe Verdi had its premiere on Christmas Eve, 1871, in the Khedivial Opera House of Cairo, Egypt?
Answer: Aida
90. To a violinist, "pizzicato" means to play by plucking the strings of the instrument. What is the corresponding "A" word that means to play the strings with the bow?
Answer: Arco
91. Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal is based on 13th-century German poem about the title Knight of the Round Table and his search for what sacred object?
Answer: The Holy Grail
92. Composer Richard Wagner coined the term what kind of “music," which refers to music that is not explicitly "about" any subject or story, and is in contrast to "program music." What word fills in the blank in this term?
Answer: Absolute
93. The classical music piece “Also Sprach Zarathustra” is commonly associated with which science-fiction movie? This piece is also associated with the professional wrestler Ric Flair.
Answer: 2001: A Space Odyssey
94. Based on a tale from Russian folklore, "The Firebird" is a 1910 ballet with music by what Russian composer, also known for "The Rite of Spring?"
Answer: Igor Stravinsky
95. Although Mozart was famously Austrian, not Czech, what opera of his about a noted seducer had its 1787 premiere in Prague's Estates Theatre?
Answer: Don Giovanni
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