Memorize these and you could recognize 30.6% of all Classical Music clues.
| # | Answer | Appearances | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 20 | He signed some compositions "Signor Cavaliere Amadeo", a title given him by the Pope |
| 2 | Ludwig van Beethoven | 14 | This composer's last name means "beet garden" in Dutch |
| 3 | George Frideric Handel | 11 | German-born composer of Italian operas who is buried in Poets Corner at Westminster Abbey |
| 4 | Johannes Brahms | 11 | This great "B" composer was already 50 by the time he completed the 3rd of only 4 symphonies |
| 5 | Felix Mendelssohn | 11 | A "walk down the aisle" just isn't the same w/out the march by this grandson of a Jewish philosopher |
| 6 | Tchaikovsky | 10 | This composer of "The Nutcracker" was addicted to card playing |
| 7 | Franz Schubert | 10 | He completed the "Trout" quintet, even if he didn't finish all his symphonies |
| 8 | Joseph Haydn | 9 | After surprising people with his "Surprise Symphony", he created "The Creation" |
| 9 | Chopin | 9 | Most of this Polish composer is buried in Paris, but his heart is entombed in Poland |
| 10 | Handel's Messiah | 9 | "And he shall purify" & "O thou that tellest good tidings" are choruses in this famous work |
| 11 | Franz Liszt | 9 | For his upcoming 75th birthday in 1886 this Hungarian pianist went on a jubilee tour |
| 12 | Vivaldi | 8 | Composed in the 1700s, "The Four Seasons" concertos by this composer are meant to convey different times of the year |
| 13 | Johann Sebastian Bach | 8 | In "The Well-Tempered Clavier", he wrote pieces in all the major & minor keys |
| 14 | Richard Wagner | 8 | At his funeral, February 18, 1883, an orchestra played the funeral march from his Gotterdammerung |
| 15 | Claude Debussy | 7 | This French composer's 1894 work, "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", illustrated a Mallarme poem |
| 16 | Richard Strauss | 7 | In 1872 this "King of the Waltz" went on tour in the U.S. |
| 17 | Stravinsky | 6 | The ballet "The Rite of Spring" features music by this composer & at its premiere in 1913 had choreography by Nijinsky |
| 18 | the 1812 Overture | 6 | This piece that premiered in Moscow in 1882 includes strains from "God Save the Czar" & "La Marseillaise" |
| 19 | Puccini | 6 | After seeing a performance of "Aida" in Pisa, he turned to composing operas, "Tosca" among them |
| 20 | the violin | 6 | Even in a symphony orchestra, musicians call this a fiddle |
| 21 | Vienna | 5 | Schubertiaden were parties held in homes in this capital city to listen to Schubert's music |
| 22 | Rimsky-Korsakov | 5 | He spent 17 years in the Russian navy & the sea figures prominently in his "Sadko" & "Scheherazade" |
| 23 | Camille Saint-Saens | 5 | Friml gave us the "Donkey Serenade", but he gave us the whole "Carnival of Animals" |
| 24 | Bolero | 5 | Dudley Moore came un"ravel"ed when Bo put on this music |
| 25 | Giuseppe Verdi | 5 | In case anyone asks, the 1st opera sung in Lithuanian was this composer's "La Traviata" |
| 26 | Robert Schumann | 5 | At 18, this composer studied with Friedrich Wieck & met Wieck's 9-year-old daughter Clara, his future wife |
| 27 | Gioachino Rossini | 5 | While living in Paris in 1829, he wrote his last opera, "William Tell" |
| 28 | William Tell | 4 | In 1829 Rossini composed his last opera, this one about a Swiss hero |
| 29 | Van Cliburn | 4 | An international piano competition named for this pianist is held about every 4 years in Ft. Worth, Texas |
| 30 | the New York Philharmonic | 4 | Arturo Toscanini, Pierre Boulez & Zubin Mehta have served as dir. of this symphony orchestra |
| 31 | Pablo Casals | 4 | At age 94 this famous cellist conducted the premiere of one of his compositions at the U.N. |
| 32 | Itzhak Perlman | 4 | After a polio attack at 4, this great Israeli-born violinist lost the use of his legs |
| 33 | The Surprise Symphony | 4 | Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major was named this, from the sudden loud chord which made the lades wake up |
| 34 | Sibelius | 4 | Though he'd live to age 91, this "Finlandia" composer pretty much stopped composing for the last 30 years of his life |
| 35 | harpsichord | 4 | In a contest against Handel, Scarlatti lost in organ playing but held his own on this instrument |
| 36 | the piano | 4 | Canadian Glenn Gould is known primarily for his unique stylings on this instrument |
| 37 | Edvard Grieg | 4 | "Solveig's Song" is part of his "Peer Gynt" |
| 38 | Yo-Yo Ma | 3 | Born in Paris, this noted Chinese cellist is a real "Yo-Yo" |
| 39 | The Planets | 3 | Oddly, the traditional order for this Gustav Holst suite places Mars first |
| 40 | The Nutcracker | 3 | Peter Tchaikovsky wrote 3 ballets: "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty" & this perennial Christmas favorite |
| 41 | Peter and the Wolf | 3 | Title of the symphonic fairy tale by Prokofiev from which the followingis taken: |
| 42 | Operas | 3 | Premiering in 1598, "Dafne" was the first of these musical dramas |
| 43 | Leonard Bernstein | 3 | This American composer first conducted the New York Philharmonic on November 14, 1943 |
| 44 | fantasia | 3 | This 1940 Disney film featured the music of Bach, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Schubert & Mussorgsky |
| 45 | Bizet | 3 | The 1954 Dorothy Dandridge/Harry Belafonte film “Carmen Jones” was based on this composer's opera |
| 46 | an overture | 3 | An instrumental piece played before the curtain rises to introduce an opera or a musical |
| 47 | "Pomp And Circumstance" | 3 | High school & college graduates should know that this march by Elgar is also known as "Land Of Hope And Glory" |
| 48 | Water Music | 3 | This 1717 Handel piece heardherewas composed for King George I |
| 49 | the organ | 3 | E. Power Biggs has performed all of Bach's works for this instrument at Harvard & Columbia |
| 50 | Paganini | 3 | 19th century composer on whose work Rachmaninoff based thefollowing: |