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Claude Debussy Trivia

Claude Debussy Trivia Quizzes

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2 Claude Debussy quizzes and 25 Claude Debussy trivia questions.
1.
  Debussy    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
Composer Claude Debussy was in the forefront of early 20th Century composers who took music into the modern age.
Average, 15 Qns, tjoebigham, Nov 15 21
Average
tjoebigham
Nov 15 21
1244 plays
2.
  Claude Debussy - Life and Works   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a quiz on the life and works of Claude Debussy (1862-1918), one of the greatest of French composers.
Average, 10 Qns, askpau, Nov 15 21
Average
askpau
Nov 15 21
842 plays
trivia question Quick Question
One of his last works for orchestra, Debussy wrote this ballet for Sergei Diaghilev:

From Quiz "Debussy"




Related Topics
  Classical Music [Music] (180 quizzes)


Claude Debussy Trivia Questions
1. Debussy was born on August 22, 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, on the outskirts of which French city?

From Quiz Claude Debussy - Life and Works

Answer: Paris

St-Germain-en-Laye is west of Paris. Debussy's parents owned a china shop.

2. When was Debussy born?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: 1862

Debussy's benchmark efforts actually began in the 1890s.

3. One of Debussy's earliest piano teachers was Madame Antoinette Maute. What famous French poet, who wrote "Fetes Galantes", was Madame Maute's son-in-law?

From Quiz Claude Debussy - Life and Works

Answer: Paul Verlaine

Verlaine married Mathilde Maute in 1870. Their marriage broke up when Verlaine commenced a turbulent affair with Arthur Rimbaud.

4. What was the instrument he played and wrote for primarily?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: piano

Though best known for his orchestral music, Debussy first made his name with his piano scores.

5. From 1880-1882, Debussy was employed by Madame Nadezhda von Meck. Madame von Meck was the patroness of which famous Russian composer?

From Quiz Claude Debussy - Life and Works

Answer: Tchaikovsky

Debussy taught piano to Madame von Meck's children and accompanied the family on trips to Italy, Austria, and Russia. Although Madame von Meck was a great admirer of Tchaikovsky, they never met in person!

6. What piano piece was inspired by an old Breton legend?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: 'The Engulfed Cathedral'

Lalo wrote an opera on the legend, but Debussy's piece, one of the most beautiful ever written, is the one best known today.

7. In 1893, Debussy completed his orchestral work "Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un Faune". Who wrote the poem on which this work was based?

From Quiz Claude Debussy - Life and Works

Answer: Stephane Mallarme

Mallarme was a leader of the Symbolist movement in literature.

8. What piano suite of Debussy's includes a piece inspired by American minstrel shows and the 'golliwog' doll?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: 'Children's Corner'

It was 'Golliwog's Cake Walk', and the doll belonged to Debussy's daughter. He also wrote another piece on the subject, 'Minstrels'.

9. Who wrote the poem that inspired Debussy's best known work, 'Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun'?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: Stephane Mallarme

The poem has been overshadowed by the music, as Bizet's opera has overshadowed Merimee's original 'Carmen'.

10. The premiere of Debussy's only completed opera took place in 1902. What is the name of the opera?

From Quiz Claude Debussy - Life and Works

Answer: Pelleas et Melisande

"Pelleas et Melisande" was Debussy's only opera. "Lulu" is by Alban Berg, "Samson et Dalila" by Camille Saint-Saens, and "Faust" by Charles Gounod.

11. What famed dancer choreographed Debussy's work?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: Vaclav Nijinsky

The great Nijinsky created a ballet for 'Prelude' before his shocking 'Rite Of Spring' (set to Stravinsky's earth-shaking score). Jerome Robbins of 'West Side Story' fame also did a ballet to 'Prelude'.

12. Who wrote the play on which Debussy's opera was based?

From Quiz Claude Debussy - Life and Works

Answer: Maurice Maeterlinck

While Maeterlinck readily gave Debussy permission to convert "Pelleas" into an opera, their relationship deteriorated to the point where Maeterlinck wrote an open letter denouncing Debussy and hoping for the opera's failure!

13. What German composer was an early influence on Debussy?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: Wagner

Wagner's 'Tristan and Isolde' also experimented with atonality; Debussy, though, shook off the influence. He did quote a bit from 'Tristan' in 'Golliwog'.

14. Name Debussy's only opera. (Please type the English name, and use no accents.)

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: Pelleas et Melisande & Pelleas and Melisande& The Fisher King

The Greek myth has inspired many a composer, including Debussy's fellow composer Faure.

15. What Christian martyr inspired Debussy to write a Cantata?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: Sebastian

It was 'The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian', recorded by Leonard Bernstein in its' debut on disc.

16. What orchestral piece utilized women's wordless voices?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: Sirens

Based on the Greek myth of the Sirens, it was the third piece of Debussy's 'Nocturnes', and inspired Gustav Holst's 'Neptune' from his 'Planets' suite.

17. Besides 'Prelude', name the other well known large-scale orchestral work by Debussy.

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: 'La Mer'

The other three are by Ravel!

18. Another Greek myth inspired this work for solo flute. Name it.

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: Syrinx & 'Syrinx'

From the myth of the nymph Syrinx whose sisters turned her into a reed to escape Pan's pursuit.

19. One of his last works for orchestra, Debussy wrote this ballet for Sergei Diaghilev:

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: 'Jeux'

'Jeux' took the form of a tennis game (the others were composed by Stravinsky, De Falla and Satie).

20. What piano works by another French composer did Debussy orchestrate?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: 'Gymnopédies'

Debussy orchestrated Erik Satie's first and third Gymnopédies (not the Ravel, Chabrier and Faure works).

21. When did Debussy die?

From Quiz Debussy

Answer: 1918

He died when World War One was raging, but his work would leave a mark on music for years to come.

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