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Quiz about More Composers Behaving Badly
Quiz about More Composers Behaving Badly

More Composers Behaving Badly Trivia Quiz

Some comical, often anecdotal, moments from great composers' lives. Such stories help make these often mythic giants seem more ordinary and human. See if you can spot their more human side too!

A multiple-choice quiz by ingilby. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
ingilby
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
70,723
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
1701
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. Who wished to be buried in white with six white horses pulling his hearse ? Hint


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Question 2 of 10
2. At a performance of perhaps his most famous composition an old lady in the audience screamed repeatedly 'Rubbish ! Rubbish !'. Which composer was this ? Hint


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Question 3 of 10
3. Which composer said 'There are only two things I regret in life, my dear lady. One is not hearing you sing, the other is accidentally dropping a piece of truffled chicken into Lake Cuomo' ? Hint


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Question 4 of 10
4. Which composer said of Oliver Messiaen: 'all you need to write like him is a large bottle of ink' ? Hint


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Question 5 of 10
5. Richard Wagner once took a fellow composer to hear one of his operas. During the overture he leaned over to his friend and said: 'I'm terribly sorry, but I am afraid I stole this bit from you'. His friend replied 'Don't worry, at least now someone will hear it'. Who was Wagner's stoical friend ? Hint


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Question 6 of 10
6. Which northern composer had to be dragged out of the inn, usually by his wife, and forced to compose ? Hint


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Question 7 of 10
7. Erik Satie was at the premiere of a rival composer. The piece was divided into particular times of the day, and the composer was famous for taking his work perhaps a little too seriously. Afterwards he asked Satie his opinion. 'Oh marvellous' he replied 'I particularly enjoyed the bit at about a quarter past eleven'. Who was the outraged composer ? Hint


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Question 8 of 10
8. Which English composer reputedly nearly blew himself up with his chemistry set ? Hint


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Question 9 of 10
9. This composer was very poor. His publisher tried to slip him extra payments which were returned with an angry letter. He died whilst being evicted from his house and did not want his body to be taken to his native Hungary due to his hatred of Communism. Who was he ? Hint


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Question 10 of 10
10. This composer's wife ran off with an American architect whilst they were both recovering from alcoholism at a sanitorium. The distraught composer sought help from no less than Sigmund Freud, whose advice (to possibly the world's most neurotic composer) was 'Relax ! Relax!'. His name ? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Who wished to be buried in white with six white horses pulling his hearse ?

Answer: Erik Satie
2. At a performance of perhaps his most famous composition an old lady in the audience screamed repeatedly 'Rubbish ! Rubbish !'. Which composer was this ?

Answer: Maurice Ravel

 The piece was 'Bolero'. Ravel, on hearing about the lady, commented 'At least someone has the right idea'. He called it 'orchestration without a tune'.
3. Which composer said 'There are only two things I regret in life, my dear lady. One is not hearing you sing, the other is accidentally dropping a piece of truffled chicken into Lake Cuomo' ?

Answer: Gioacchino Rossini

 A young singer once performed one of his arias and decided to improvise her own version of the song. Afterwards she asked Rossini what he thought of her performance. 'It was wonderful' he replied. ' By the way, who wrote it ?' He also used to wear wigs in cold weather. The colder it got, the more he stacked on top of his head.
4. Which composer said of Oliver Messiaen: 'all you need to write like him is a large bottle of ink' ?

Answer: Igor Stravinsky
5. Richard Wagner once took a fellow composer to hear one of his operas. During the overture he leaned over to his friend and said: 'I'm terribly sorry, but I am afraid I stole this bit from you'. His friend replied 'Don't worry, at least now someone will hear it'. Who was Wagner's stoical friend ?

Answer: Franz Liszt
6. Which northern composer had to be dragged out of the inn, usually by his wife, and forced to compose ?

Answer: Jean Sibelius

 Sibelius once referred to the end of his thrilling 5th Symphony as 'pure inspiration'.... Guinness or Schnapps, maybe ?
7. Erik Satie was at the premiere of a rival composer. The piece was divided into particular times of the day, and the composer was famous for taking his work perhaps a little too seriously. Afterwards he asked Satie his opinion. 'Oh marvellous' he replied 'I particularly enjoyed the bit at about a quarter past eleven'. Who was the outraged composer ?

Answer: Claude Debussy

 The piece was 'La Mer'. In rehearsal Debussy stopped the conductor, saying it was too fast. The conductor protested that it was exactly the same speed as the day before. 'But I don't feel it the same way every day' retorted the composer.
8. Which English composer reputedly nearly blew himself up with his chemistry set ?

Answer: Edward Elgar

 He was an adult at the time.
9. This composer was very poor. His publisher tried to slip him extra payments which were returned with an angry letter. He died whilst being evicted from his house and did not want his body to be taken to his native Hungary due to his hatred of Communism. Who was he ?

Answer: Bela Bartok

 The great conductor Toscanini was once rehearsing Bartok's 'Concerto for Orchestra' with the great composer sitting in. Bartok kept on interfering so the conductor patiently asked him just to write down any corrections and see him afterwards. Bartok presented him later with a great sheaf of paper, the conductor graciously accepted it...and binned the lot after the composer left. Toscanini was once rehearsing another piece with his orchestra and, exasperated,stopped them playing. 'Gentleman, please, 'he cried ' It says 'with passion' ! You are playing like married men !'
10. This composer's wife ran off with an American architect whilst they were both recovering from alcoholism at a sanitorium. The distraught composer sought help from no less than Sigmund Freud, whose advice (to possibly the world's most neurotic composer) was 'Relax ! Relax!'. His name ?

Answer: Gustav Mahler

 His 8th Symphony followed this traumatic event, and he delayed writng his 9th - so many composers died after or during composing that particular opus, including himself...
Source: Author ingilby

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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Referenced Topics
Music   World   English   Chemistry   Classical Music   Horse   Opera   Names   Composers Mixture   Weather   Composers   Lakes   Richard Wagner   Architects   White   Hungary  

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