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Bach to Basics Trivia Quiz

The Bach family included many famous musicians. Some are still well-known today; others have fallen into obscurity. If you know your Bachs, you'll be able to match the descriptions with the names.

A matching quiz by madfilkentist. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
madfilkentist

Time
4 mins

Type
Match Quiz

Quiz #
420,166

Updated
Jun 20 25

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
53

Last 3 plays: Guest 71 (10/10), turaguy (10/10), tom_1 (10/10).

(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.

Questions		Choices
1. This Bach was a master of counterpoint who wrote music in virtually every current genre except opera. Some of his sons were famous composers.		Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
2. For a while his fame exceeded his father's. An advocate of the "sensitive style," he bridged the Baroque and Classical periods. He is often referred to by his initials, since his name is rather long.		P. D. Q. Bach
3. The youngest son of one of the greatest masters of music, he was known as the "London Bach." He shared his father's first name.		Johann Ambrosius Bach
4. The first son of the greatest of the Bachs, he was a respected composer in his time. Today, though, his music is familiar mostly to specialists.		Johann Sebastian Bach
5. This composer's name is associated with works like the Concerto for Horn and Hardart, the Missa Hilarious, and the Stoned Guest. The musical world tried not to be associated with him.		Johann Christian Bach
6. This modern writer of fiction has claimed to be descended from the musical Bachs, though it has never been proven.		Maria Barbara Bach
7. He was the earliest known person in the Bach family tree.		Richard Bach
8. She was the first wife of the great Leipzig composer and his second cousin. Two of her sons became noteworthy composers.		Anna Magdalena Bach
9. This woman was the second wife of the great Bach. A collection of keyboard pieces by her husband bears her name.		Veit Bach
10. The father of the greatest of the Bachs, he died when the son was just ten years old.		Wilhelm Friedmann Bach

Select each answer

1. This Bach was a master of counterpoint who wrote music in virtually every current genre except opera. Some of his sons were famous composers.

2. For a while his fame exceeded his father's. An advocate of the "sensitive style," he bridged the Baroque and Classical periods. He is often referred to by his initials, since his name is rather long.

3. The youngest son of one of the greatest masters of music, he was known as the "London Bach." He shared his father's first name.

4. The first son of the greatest of the Bachs, he was a respected composer in his time. Today, though, his music is familiar mostly to specialists.

5. This composer's name is associated with works like the Concerto for Horn and Hardart, the Missa Hilarious, and the Stoned Guest. The musical world tried not to be associated with him.

6. This modern writer of fiction has claimed to be descended from the musical Bachs, though it has never been proven.

7. He was the earliest known person in the Bach family tree.

8. She was the first wife of the great Leipzig composer and his second cousin. Two of her sons became noteworthy composers.

9. This woman was the second wife of the great Bach. A collection of keyboard pieces by her husband bears her name.

10. The father of the greatest of the Bachs, he died when the son was just ten years old.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This Bach was a master of counterpoint who wrote music in virtually every current genre except opera. Some of his sons were famous composers.

Answer: Johann Sebastian Bach

J. S. Bach (1685-1750) is today considered one of the greatest composers of all time. He was born in Eisenach and lived in several towns before settling down in Leipzig, where he was the head musician at St. Thomas's Church, where he is buried today. His sons included the composers Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Johann Christian Bach.

Many considered his music old-fashioned, and it fell into relative obscurity after his death. Felix Mendelssohn helped to revive his name by presenting his works in concert more than 70 years after Bach died.

Answer: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Known as C. P. E. Bach, he was a major influence on Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. He wrote in a more personal and quirky style than his Baroque predecessors. His treatise on keyboard playing was a highly respected work.

3. The youngest son of one of the greatest masters of music, he was known as the "London Bach." He shared his father's first name.

Answer: Johann Christian Bach

Johann Christian Bach spent time in Italy before he moved to London and became a court composer under George III. He met the eight-year-old Mozart there and was very impressed with him.

4. The first son of the greatest of the Bachs, he was a respected composer in his time. Today, though, his music is familiar mostly to specialists.

Answer: Wilhelm Friedmann Bach

Wilhelm Friedmann Bach was born in Weimar and held posts in several cities, none of them lasting more than a few years. In 1784 he died in poverty.

5. This composer's name is associated with works like the Concerto for Horn and Hardart, the Missa Hilarious, and the Stoned Guest. The musical world tried not to be associated with him.

Answer: P. D. Q. Bach

"P. D. Q. Bach" is a fictitious composer whom Peter Schickele created as the alleged author of his musical spoofs. The more you know about the music of his alleged father J. S. Bach, the funnier P. D. Q.'s music is.

6. This modern writer of fiction has claimed to be descended from the musical Bachs, though it has never been proven.

Answer: Richard Bach

Richard Bach is perhaps best known as the author of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". He never provided details on his claimed descent from Johann Sebastian Bach, and he may never have meant it seriously.

7. He was the earliest known person in the Bach family tree.

Answer: Veit Bach

Veit Bach (ca. 1550-1619) fled religious persecution in the Habsburg-controlled lands and moved to the German state of Thuringia. Little is known about him, but he probably was an amateur musician. He was the great-great-grandfather of Johann Sebastian Bach.

8. She was the first wife of the great Leipzig composer and his second cousin. Two of her sons became noteworthy composers.

Answer: Maria Barbara Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was married twice, and both wives had a lot of children. As was typical of the time, many of them didn't survive past early childhood, and the daughters were only footnotes in the family history. After having seven children, including Wilhelm Friedmann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, she died unexpectedly of unknown causes.

9. This woman was the second wife of the great Bach. A collection of keyboard pieces by her husband bears her name.

Answer: Anna Magdalena Bach

J. S. Bach married Anna Magdalena, a professional singer, seventeen months after the death of his first wife. She outlived him by ten years. Her sons included Johann Christian Bach, the "London Bach." Her husband wrote a collection of keyboard pieces, "The Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach," which are popular with piano teachers.

10. The father of the greatest of the Bachs, he died when the son was just ten years old.

Answer: Johann Ambrosius Bach

J. A. Bach was a professional musician in Erfurt and Eisenach. His son Johann Sebastian was born in the latter town. Three of his other sons also became musicians.

Source: Author madfilkentist

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