Special Sub-Topic: 20th Century Music Around the World [1] Click Here To Play: 20th Century Music Around the World [1]

We'll start our trip around the world in California, USA. Which young composer wrote the opera "Dead Man Walking", based on the film of the same name?

Jake Heggie. Although harrowing, disturbing, and tragic, this opera has taken off with audiences since its premiere late in the last century and has put Heggie's name on the composition map.

Westward to China! Which of these contemporary composers is noted for his experimentation with multimedia and nonstandard instruments such as water and rocks in his compositions?

Tan Dun. Tan Dun has also transcribed traditional Chinese folk songs for solo piano.

To India, a nation with its own rich history of classical music. With whom has the sitar performer Ravi Shankar collaborated on several works?

Philip Glass. Ravi Shankar is known to pop music fans as the father of Norah Jones and as an occasional collaborator with the Beatles.

Next, we travel to Vienna: the center of European classical music! Of the three key members of the "second Viennese school", which wrote a piece dedicated "to the memory of an angel"?

Alban Berg. The piece is his violin concerto, full of secret numerological relationships and hidden meanings that were shared only between Berg and the dedicatee until after Berg's death.

Northward to Russia. Alfred Schnittke wrote a scathingly harsh opera commenting on the relationship between the Russian people and the Communist regime. What is the opera?

Life With an Idiot. Schnittke is also known for his symphonies, which include stage directions for the performers to leave and return to the stage during the piece.

Germany now: Paul Hindemith's opera "Neues vom Tage" created a scandal among opera-goers in Germany. The controversy revolved around which household item in the opera?

Bathtub. In today's world, an audience wouldn't blink twice at this scene, which caused an uproar.

Which of these French composers made heavy use of numerology and birdsong in his music?

Olivier Messiaen. Messiaen also spent some time imprisoned in a German camp during World War II. While there, he composed his famous "Quartet for the End of Time" for a group of fellow prisoners to perform.

To the Island Kingdom now: Malcolm Arnold, a serious art music composer, dabbled at times in the world of film music. Which of the following World War II films has an Arnold score?

Bridge On the River Kwai. Malcolm Arnold included the famous "Colonel Bogey March" (but not the bawdy lyrics) in his score for the American and British prisoners to whistle.

Back across the pond to America! John Cage, the notorious experimentalist composer, is most famous for his composition, 4'33". How many movements does this all-silence piece have?

3. Although the premiere performance was on piano, the score indicates that it can be played by any number of performers on any group of instruments for any length of time.

Finally we return to our starting point, California. Which of the following films did John Williams NOT score?

Titanic. "Titanic" was scored by James Horner, another of America's great film composers. Welcome to the end of the journey, and happy traveling!