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Quiz about Dead Composers Writing About Death

Dead Composers Writing About Death Quiz

Next to love, death is one of the most popular topics in classical music. Match these pieces about death with their composers.

A matching quiz by madfilkentist. Estimated time: 3 mins.

Author
madfilkentist

Time
3 mins

Type
Match Quiz

Quiz #
420,339

Updated
Jul 09 25

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Easy

Avg Score
9 / 10

Plays
36

Last 3 plays: canadie (6/10), james1947 (10/10), Guest 135 (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. "Death and the Maiden," a song in which Death tries to comfort a dying girl.		Gustav Mahler
2. "When I Am Laid in Earth," sung by the queen of Carthage as she prepares to die.		Henry Purcell
3. "Funeral March" from the piano sonata in B-flat minor. The most famous of all funeral marches.		Franz Liszt
4. "Danse Macabre." The skeletons in a graveyard go dancing at night.		Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
5. "Resurrection" Symphony. A massive orchestral and choral work about the resurrection of the dead.		Johannes Brahms
6. "Ein Deutsches Requiem" (a German Requiem). A large work for chorus and orchestra in the German language.		Richard Wagner
7. "St. Matthew Passion." A huge work for solo singers, chorus, and orchestra about Jesus's crucifixion and the events" leading up to it.		Franz Schubert
8. "Masonic Funeral Music." A short orchestral piece by a Freemason for the funerals of fellow Freemasons.		Fr�d�ric Chopin
9. "Fun�railles." A piano piece written in memory of those who died in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.		Camille Saint-Sa�ns
10. "Liebestod." In the concluding aria of a music drama, the singer rhapsodizes about dying for love.		J. S. Bach

Select each answer

1. "Death and the Maiden," a song in which Death tries to comfort a dying girl.

2. "When I Am Laid in Earth," sung by the queen of Carthage as she prepares to die.

3. "Funeral March" from the piano sonata in B-flat minor. The most famous of all funeral marches.

4. "Danse Macabre." The skeletons in a graveyard go dancing at night.

5. "Resurrection" Symphony. A massive orchestral and choral work about the resurrection of the dead.

6. "Ein Deutsches Requiem" (a German Requiem). A large work for chorus and orchestra in the German language.

7. "St. Matthew Passion." A huge work for solo singers, chorus, and orchestra about Jesus's crucifixion and the events" leading up to it.

8. "Masonic Funeral Music." A short orchestral piece by a Freemason for the funerals of fellow Freemasons.

9. "Fun�railles." A piano piece written in memory of those who died in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

10. "Liebestod." In the concluding aria of a music drama, the singer rhapsodizes about dying for love.

Most Recent Scores

Today : canadie: 6/10
Today : james1947: 10/10
Today : Guest 135: 10/10
Today : martin_cube: 10/10
Today : lesley153: 10/10
Today : Guest 73: 8/10
Today : Synerco: 1/10
Today : FlicksBuff: 4/10
Today : xchasbox: 10/10

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Death and the Maiden," a song in which Death tries to comfort a dying girl.

Answer: Franz Schubert

Schubert reused Death's tune from this song in one of his string quartets, appropriately known as the "Death and the Maiden" Quartet.

2. "When I Am Laid in Earth," sung by the queen of Carthage as she prepares to die.

Answer: Henry Purcell

In Purcell's opera "Dido and Aeneas," the gods insist (or so he thinks) that Aeneas run out on Queen Dido so that he can found the city of Rome. She decides, in the concluding aria, that there's nothing left for her to do but die.

3. "Funeral March" from the piano sonata in B-flat minor. The most famous of all funeral marches.

Answer: Fr�d�ric Chopin

Everyone knows this funeral march from movies, cartoons, and parodies. Its chord pattern is very similar to the "Imperial March" from "Star Wars".

4. "Danse Macabre." The skeletons in a graveyard go dancing at night.

Answer: Camille Saint-Sa�ns

This oddly light orchestral piece is one of Saint-Sa�ns' best known compositions. Death is represented by a solo violin.

5. "Resurrection" Symphony. A massive orchestral and choral work about the resurrection of the dead.

Answer: Gustav Mahler

Mahler's Symphony No. 2 is huge, lasting well over an hour in performance. It starts with a funeral march and ends with a chorus singing about the resurrection to come, together with a large orchestra.

6. "Ein Deutsches Requiem" (a German Requiem). A large work for chorus and orchestra in the German language.

Answer: Johannes Brahms

The traditional Catholic Mass for the dead is in Latin and has lots of hellfire and judgment. Brahms decided to write something more comforting in his native language. The work focuses on death as rest and promises a future resurrection.

7. "St. Matthew Passion." A huge work for solo singers, chorus, and orchestra about Jesus's crucifixion and the events" leading up to it.

Answer: J. S. Bach

The St. Matthew Passion" is based on the account in the Gospel of Matthew. It was nearly forgotten until Mendelssohn staged a revival of it nearly a century after Bach's death. Bach also wrote a "St. John Passion".

8. "Masonic Funeral Music." A short orchestral piece by a Freemason for the funerals of fellow Freemasons.

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart was a dedicated Freemason. His opera "The Magic Flute" is full of Masonic symbolism. This piece was performed in 1785 for the memorial service for two Viennese Masons.

9. "Fun�railles." A piano piece written in memory of those who died in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

Answer: Franz Liszt

Liszt sympathized with the failed uprising against Hungary's Austrian rulers. Like almost everything he wrote for the piano, this piece is fiendishly difficult to play.

10. "Liebestod." In the concluding aria of a music drama, the singer rhapsodizes about dying for love.

Answer: Richard Wagner

Wagner's music drama "Tristan und Isolde" concludes with Tristan dying and Isolde preparing to join him in death, but only after singing about it for a long time.

Source: Author madfilkentist

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