Music For A Laugh Trivia Quiz

There remains some doubt as to who actually composed the 1760 "Toy Symphony" which has traditionally been attributed to Joseph Haydn: both his brother Michael and Leopold Mozart (father of Wolfgang) have also been proposed. The piece lasts around ten minutes and is written for a conventional orchestra of the time, but with additional parts for toy instruments such as whistles, rattles, bird calls and a toy trumpet. Several other composers have used the same idea, including the twentieth-century composers Malcolm Arnold and Joseph Horovitz.

The "Duetto buffo di due gatti" ("Humorous Duet for Two Cats") is a duet for two sopranos published in 1825 and was for a long time erroneously attributed to Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868). However, modern research has uncovered that it was in fact produced by the English composer Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795-1856), although closely based in part on themes from Rossini's serious opera "Otello".

The two performers simply sing the word "meow" throughout, imitating a pair of caterwauling cats (in a tongue-in-cheek parody of the high notes and elaborate coloratura composed by Rossini and his contemporaries). It is often sung as a light-hearted encore, and as such remains popular to this day.

"I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" is a "patter song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera, "The Pirates of Penzance". Famous for its rapid-fire lyrics and clever wordplay, the song humorously lists the character's extensive yet irrelevant knowledge, satirising the idea that some contemporary military officers were well-educated but lacking in military experience.

The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are notable for the perfect match between Gilbert's witty lyrics and Sullivan's tuneful music and remain popular to this day.

"Yes! We Have No Bananas" is an American novelty song written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn and published in sheet music form in March 1923. It very quickly became popular, and was recorded several times that year, as well as becoming almost ubiquitous in vaudeville and cabaret shows.

The title, which features in the catchy chorus, was inspired by a real Greek greengrocer in New York who began every sentence (even negatives) with the word "Yes".

The English composer Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) wrote his "A Grand, Grand Overture" in 1956 for the first of Gerard Hoffnung's "Music Festivals" at London's Royal Festival Hall. Hoffnung commissioned several well-known composers to write pieces that were intended to amuse and entertain, and Arnold's piece has remained popular to this day.

It includes parts for such unconventional "instruments" as four vacuum cleaners, a floor polisher, and rifles, and is dedicated to America's President Hoover.

Allan Sherman (1924-73) was an American comedian and television producer who began writing comic songs mostly to entertain his family and friends. Showbiz colleagues who he knew through his work as a TV producer enabled him to obtain a recording contract, and the first LP of his songs was released in 1962.

"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" was released as a single in 1963 and became a novelty hit. It takes the form of a letter from an American schoolboy to his parents, complaining about the appalling summer camp to which he has been sent. It is set to the classical theme "Dance of the Hours" by Amilcare Ponchielli, which had become well known through its use by Walt Disney in his 1940 animation "Fantasia".

The "Monty Python" comedy troupe often included songs in their television shows and films. "The Lumberjack Song" first appeared in the ninth episode of the first season of "Monty Python's Flying Circus", broadcast on BBC1 in December 1969. It subsequently appeared in the film "And Now For Something Completely Different" and was often included in their stage performances. The lyrics were by Terry Jones and Michael Palin, with music by Fred Tomlinson.

The song features a typical lumberjack, played by Michael Palin, who sings about his rugged lumberjack life, accompanied by a chorus of Royal Canadian Mounted Police. However, as the song goes on it turns out he also enjoys various less manly habits, such as pressing flowers and dressing as a woman, much to the horror of his girlfriend and the chorus.

The composer P. D. Q. Bach (1807-1742 (sic)) was the creation and alter-ego of Peter Schickele (1934-2024). Schickele had a classical musical training, and wrote much "serious" music, as well as the score of the 1972 film "Silent Running". But his P.D.Q. Bach character has proved his most enduring legacy, under whose guise he wrote many orchestral and chamber pieces parodying a range of music styles, from Baroque to American Minimalism.

The "1712 Overture" is a typical example. It is formally based on Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture", and quotes extensively from it, but manages to incorporate other tunes such as "Yankee Doodle" and "Pop Goes The Weasel", as well as popping balloons instead of Tchaikovsky's cannons. Much of what we call "comic music" takes the form of songs with amusing lyrics to create the comedy, but the "1712 Overture" manages the trickier task of being music which is funny in itself.

The American comedian Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (born in 1959) is most famous for his comedy songs, which often take the form of parodies of other contemporary popular songs. "White and Nerdy" was released in 2006 as a parody of "Ridin'" by the American rapper Chamillionaire, and became Weird Al's first US Billboard Top Ten single, reaching number nine in the chart.

The song contrasts the stereotypical image of a gangster rapper with that of an awkward, socially inept geek.

Political satire has always been an important strand in the history of comic songs. An English writer and performer who has become well-known through online performances of his own compositions is Dominic Frisby (born 1969). A representative example from 2024 is "We're All Far Right Now". Sung to the tune of "Knees Up, Mother Brown", it pokes fun at the fact that opinions which seemed quite reasonable and middle-of-the-road a few years ago can now get you labelled as "far right" or worse.

Frisby combines his life as a satirist with a parallel career as a financial writer and has published several well-regarded books - an unusual combination. Players may also wish to seek out his song about Brexit, which was a big online hit in 2019.