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| This man created a three-movement piano sonata while studying under Rubin Goldmark, and later wrote the film scores to Of Mice and Men and Our Town. This composer of a Short Symphony wrote a piece which incorporates folk songs like “Camptown Races” as well as the title figure’s (*) speeches and letters, while another of his works for percussion and brass was intended to foster patriotism during World War II and is now often played at presidential inaugurations. This man also composed a ballet score commissioned by Martha Graham that depicts a celebration of Pennsylvanian pioneers. For ten points, name this American composer of A Lincoln Portrait, Appalachian Spring, and Fanfare for the Common Man. | Aaron Copland |
| Name this opera in which Tamino uses the title instrument to rescue Pamina, the daughter of the Queen of the Night. | The Magic Flute |
| Ludwig von Köchel [KERR - kul] catalogued the works of this Austrian composer of The Magic Flute, whose Symphony No. 41 is nicknamed “Jupiter.” His other works include Don Giovanni and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| One of this man’s operas sees the Pharaoh’s son Amenophis in love with Anaïs, while Musafà plans to marry off his wife to Lindoro in another. Another work by this composer of Moses in Egypt and The Italian Girl in Algiers sees the music teacher bribed to fake illness; that work chronicles Count (*) Almaviva’s quest for Rosina’s love in an operatic “prequel” to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. He also depicted Leuthold’s murder of one of Gessler’s soldiers in an opera that sees the title figure forced to shoot an apple off of his son’s head. For ten points, name this Italian composer of The Barber of Seville and William Tell. | Gioachino Rossini |
| This man’s first substantial composition was a cantata titled Das klagende Lied, and the adagietto movement of his fifth symphony is scored for string orchestra and harp. He also created a song cycle based on poems of Friedrich Rückert called Songs on the Death of Children. This man incorporated an earlier funeral march, Totenfeier, into his second symphony, (*) Resurrection. One performance of this composer’s eighth symphony involved 1068 musicians, and his first symphony features a solo bass playing a minor version of Frère Jacques. For ten points, name this German composer of the Symphony of a Thousand and the Titan Symphony. | Gustav Mahler |
| Name this German composer who wrote the Academic Festival Overture as a symbol of gratitude to the University of Breslau. His first symphony is sometimes called “Beethoven’s Tenth,” and he wrote a namesake lullaby. | Johannes Brahms |
| Bonus: It features lengthy violin solos representing the title Arabian princess. For ten points each: | Scheherazade (prompt on The Arabian Nights) |
| This Russian composer, a member of the “Mighty Handful,” composed The Tale of Tsar Sultan and Capriccio Espagnol in addition to Scheherazade. | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov |
| This orchestral interlude in The Tale of Tsar Sultan features fast, chromatic sixteenth notes played by a solo violin to depict Prince Gvidon as the title stinging insect. | “Flight of the Bumblebee” |
| One opera by this man chronicles the plight of the Jews under the title Babylonian king, and includes the chorus Va, pensiero, also known as the “Hebrew Slave Chorus.” Another work by this composer of (*) Nabucco which is based on a play by Alexandre Dumas includes the duet “Un di, Felice, eterea” and depicts the rivalry between Baron Douphol and Alfredo Germont for the love of Violetta Valéry. This man also included a “Grand March” and the aria O patra mia in an opera about an enslaved Ethiopian princess, while his opera about a hunchbacked court jester features the tenor aria “La donna è mobile.” For ten points, name this Italian composer of La traviata, Aida, and Rigoletto. | Giuseppi Verdi |
| This man composed a comic opera for Johann Joseph Felix Kurz titled The Lame Devil, and included the “How do you Do?” and “Joke” quartets in his “Russian” quartets. His “Quinten” quartet is one of his “Erdödy” quartets, and this composer of the “Sun” quartets also wrote an oratorio based on Paradise Lost and the Book of Genesis which depicts the beginning of the world, titled (*) The Creation. His Symphony No. 45 was premiered by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s orchestra, and ends with only two muted violinists on stage, while his Symphony No. 94, the symphony “with the kettledrum stroke,” features an unexpected fortissimo chord. For ten points, name this Austrian composer whose London Symphonies include ones nicknamed Farewell and Surprise. | Franz Joseph Haydn |
| In one of this man’s works, the aria Heute noch, lieber Vater is sung by Lieschen, who is addicted to the title drink. In addition to the Coffee Cantata, this man also created a collection of “puzzle canons” based on the “King’s theme” called The Musical Offering. The second movement of this composer’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 was adapted by August Wilhelmj into the “Air on the G String,” while one of his works for (*) harpsichord that includes an aria and 30 variations is named after its first performer. This man also wrote three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin, as well as six suites for solo cello, and six Brandenburg concertos. For ten points, name this German composer of the Goldberg Variations and Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. | Johann Sebastian Bach (prompt on Bach) |
| This man composed a ten-part cantata following the death of his daughter Josefa, while his eighth symphony, originally published as his fourth, begins with a G major arpeggio in the cellos and features a “bird call” flute melody. This composer of Stabat Mater was inspired by a trip to Spillville, Iowa to write the “American” string quartet, while a work by Brahms led to the composition of his 16 (*) Slavonic Dances. This man wrote a famous English horn solo in the second movement of his ninth symphony, a work inspired by The Song of Hiawatha which also quotes “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” For ten points, name this Czech composer of the New World Symphony. | Antonín Leopold Dvořák (DVOR-jahk) |
| Piano works of this composer include Sarcasms, as well as Visions fugitives and five concertos. He also wrote a Classical Symphony and Peter and the Wolf, neither of which include piano parts. | Sergei Prokofiev |
| This composer included a famous Prelude in C sharp minor in his Morceaux de fantasie and also composed a Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. His third piano concerto is famous for its difficult chords. | Sergei Rachmaninoff |
| This German composer wrote Italian and Reformation symphonies, as well as the Hebrides Overture. | Felix Mendelssohn |
| Mendelssohn also composed the incidental music for this Shakespeare play, which includes a famous Wedding March and characters such as Lysander and Hermia. | A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| This German composer of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg also composed Rienzi and Tristan und Isolde. His four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, includes the Ride of the Valkyries | Richard Wagner |
| The title character of this other opera by Wagner is cursed to sail forever until he finds a wife who will be true to him. That curse is broken when Daland’s daughter Senta sacrifices herself while pledging her true love. | The Flying Dutchmann |
| The composer of this work used material from his abandoned opera The Voyevada for its Grand adage and Valse des fiancées, and he regretted writing it after listening to Léo Delibes’s ballet, Sylvia. The title location of this work was formed by the tears of the female lead’s parents after she was abducted, and is visited by the protagonist on a hunting trip with his best friend, Benno. That character, Prince (*) Siegfried, is later tricked by the bird-sorcerer Von Rothbart into mistakenly swearing his love for his daughter Odile. For ten points, name this ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in which Odette is turned into the title white bird. | Swan Lake |
| Its fourth movement uses pizzicato to depict a severed head, while col legno strings represent dancing skeletons in its final movement. For ten points each: | Symphonie Fantastique: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts (prompt on Op. 14) |
| This French composer of Symphonie Fantastique included the “Rakoczi March” in his The Damnation of Faust. | Hector Berlioz |
| The protagonist of this opera asks when robins make their nests “C’e. Entrate,” and she names her son Dolore, meaning “sorrow.” That character was earlier condemned by her uncle, Bonze, for converting to Christianity. The main tenor in this work purchases a house for 999 years, with the right to cancel the agreement every month; that character is introduced to the title character by the (*) marriage broker Goro, but deserts her to marry an American woman, Kate. The American Consul Sharpless talks with title character at the end of this opera, before she commits seppuku. Lieutenant Pinkerton abandons his Japanese wife Cio-Cio San in, for ten points, what opera, a work of Giocomo Puccini? | Madame Butterfly or Madama Butterfly |
| The composer of this work intended for a minor setting of its opening theme to depict pale light radiating from skulls, and its penultimate movement includes continuous 16th note triplet tremolos in its andante section as well as series of rising octaves in its allegro sections, which depict a witch’s flight. Staccato grace notes represent unhatched chickens in this work’s fifth movement, and its “Promenade” theme features alternating bars of 5/4 and 6/4 time. This work was notably orchestrated by (*) Maurice Ravel, and includes movements such as “The Hut on Fowl’s Legs” and “The Great Gates of Kiev.” Viktor Hartmann’s paintings inspired, for ten points, which piano suite composed by Modest Mussorgsky? | Pictures at an Exhibition |
| This cellist’s instrument is nicknamed Petunia, and he made a video appearance at the debut of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. He also played at Obama’s 2009 inauguration ceremony, along with Itzhak Perlman and others. | Yo-Yo Ma |
| This Chinese pianist, the first YouTube Symphony Orchestra Global Ambassador, is featured on the score of The Painted Veil. He famously played at the opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. | Lang Lang |
| Bonus: His Suite No. 5 for harpsichord ends with a movement titled “The Harmonious Blacksmith,” and his Water Music premiered on a royal barge on the river Thames. For ten points each: | George Frideric Handel |
| Handel is perhaps best known for this work, which includes the aria “I know that my redeemer liveth.” Its “Hallelujah Chorus” apocryphally inspired King George II to stand. | Messiah |
| Handel’s Messiah is a work of this type, which often deal with sacred topics. Mendelssohn’s Elijah is a work of this type, as is Haydn’s The Seasons. | oratorio |
| This man’s Muzik zu einem Ritterballet was passed off as the work of his patron, and he also wrote a set of piano variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli. One of this composer’s students, Carl Czerny, gave the Vienna premiere of his “Emperor” piano concerto, and he renamed his third symphony, which was originally dedicated to (*) Napoleon, Sinfonia Eroica. This composer’s piano sonata subtitled “quasi una fantasia” is commonly known as the Moonlight Sonata, and he quoted a Friedrich Schiller poem in his final symphony. For ten points, name this German composer who included the fate motif in his Symphony No. 5 and “Ode to Joy” in his Symphony No. 9. | Ludwig van Beethoven |
| Bonus: Don José kills the title gypsy after she falls for the bullfighter Escamillo. For ten points each: | Carmen |
| This French composer of Carmen also wrote two L’Arlésienne suites in addition to Children’s Games and The Fair Maid of Perth. | Georges Bizet |
| This Bizet opera includes the duet “Au fond du temple saint” and ends with the death of Zurga, the leader of the title group. | The Pearl Fishers |
| This composer’s one-act opera, Blue Monday, was renamed 135th Street, and he included part of his “Novelette in Fourths” in his Short Story for violin and piano. Another of his works, which includes parts for maracas, gourd, and bongo, was originally titled Rumba and was inspired by a trip to Havana. This composer used (*) taxi horns in his orchestration of a ballet portraying the French capital in the 1920s, and was also inspired by a train journey to Boston to compose the penultimate piece of a concert titled “An Experiment in Modern Music.” That work by this composer of Cuban Overture and An American in Paris begins with a famous clarinet trill and glissando. For ten points, name this American composer of Rhapsody in Blue. | George Gershwin |
| Bonus: Its composer described it as “a piece for orchestra without music.” For ten points each: | Boléro |
| Boléro is a work by this French composer of Mirrors, Gaspard de la nuit, and Pavane for a Dead Princess. He also composed a piano suite commemorating his friends who died in World War I, Le tombeau de Couperin. | Maurice Ravel |
