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Quiz about The Curse of the Ninth Symphony
Quiz about The Curse of the Ninth Symphony

The Curse of the Ninth Symphony Quiz


Beethoven completed nine symphonies before his death. Since then, some composers have been superstitious about reaching this total, and a surprising number have in fact failed to make it to number ten. This quiz tests your knowledge of some of them.

A multiple-choice quiz by stedman. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
stedman
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
168,464
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
2233
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 24 (10/10), twlmy (9/10), bananapeel39 (2/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. The numbering of this composer's symphonies is a bit confusing. His Seventh doesn't exist, and his Eighth is "Unfinished". His Ninth is nicknamed the "Great C Major", to distinguish it from his Sixth, in the same key. He died in 1828, the year after Beethoven. Who is he? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. This English composer gave his first three symphonies names rather than numbers: "A Sea Symphony", "A London Symphony" and "A Pastoral Symphony" respectively. He completed his Ninth at the age of 85, in the year of his death. What is his name? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The numbering of this Czech composer's symphonies is not straightforward, to say the least. His Sixth was originally published as his First, and the piece we now know as his Ninth was originally published as his Fifth. To make matters worse, it was subsequently known for a while as his Eighth. Fortunately, it has always been best known by the name given to it by the composer: "From the New World". What is his name? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. This nineteenth-century Austrian composer's Ninth Symphony is unfinished, although the three completed movements form a convincing whole, and are frequently performed as such. In fact, he also wrote two early symphonies that pre-date his official First, and which are numbered as "00" and "0". Can you name him? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The music of this nineteenth-century Scottish composer, born in 1813, is now almost entirely forgotten, although as well as nine symphonies he wrote eighteen operas (including "King Charles II" and "Robin Hood") and thirteen oratorios and cantatas. He does, however, appear in books of quotations as the author of the couplet "Let's dance and sing and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year." Who is he?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Although much of the work of this English composer is light-hearted and tuneful (such as his sets of regional dances and some delightful overtures), his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1986, concludes with an awesomely bleak and despairing "lento" finale. He is also known as a composer of film music, and for his music for brass band. What is his name?
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This Russian composer was definitely one of those with a superstition about the number nine: in 1910, aged 45, he deliberately broke off work on his Ninth symphony in the belief that its completion would signal his death. Future events would seem to support this belief, since he lived on for 26 more years! What is his name? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. This American composer's nine symphonies spanned the whole of his long composing career: the first appearing in 1927, the last in 1978. His sixth, seventh and eighth symphonies form a trilogy cataloguing his response to the Vietnam War. Who is he?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Like Beethoven's, the Ninth Symphony of this twentieth-century Scandinavian composer is choral. Known as the "Sinfonia Visionaria", it uses texts from the thirteenth-century Icelandic epic, the "Poetic Edda", describing the creation and destruction of the world. Can you name him?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. This composer followed a massive Eighth symphony with another large work for orchestra, chorus and soloists. However, for superstitious reasons he chose to describe it as a "song cycle" rather than a symphony, and gave it a name - "Das Lied von der Erde" - rather than a number. Subsequently, he did in fact complete an official Ninth, but his Tenth was incomplete at his death - only the first movement and part of the second being fully orchestrated. What is his name?
Hint



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Score Distribution

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The numbering of this composer's symphonies is a bit confusing. His Seventh doesn't exist, and his Eighth is "Unfinished". His Ninth is nicknamed the "Great C Major", to distinguish it from his Sixth, in the same key. He died in 1828, the year after Beethoven. Who is he?

Answer: Franz Schubert

Nikolaus Harnoncourt's recent recording of Schubert's symphonies attempted to set a precedent by re-numbering the "Unfinished" as his Seventh, thus making the "Great C Major" number Eight. Only time will tell whether this catches on or not!
2. This English composer gave his first three symphonies names rather than numbers: "A Sea Symphony", "A London Symphony" and "A Pastoral Symphony" respectively. He completed his Ninth at the age of 85, in the year of his death. What is his name?

Answer: Ralph Vaughan Williams

Elgar completed only two symphonies (although Anthony Payne's "elaboration" of the surviving sketches of a Third has been much acclaimed and recorded several times). Britten wrote a "Spring Symphony", a "Simple Symphony", a "Sinfonia da Requiem" and a "Cello Symphony", none of which received a number.

The prolific Peter Maxwell Davies has completed eight symphonies, and has gone on record as saying that he does not intend to write any more - although whether this is for superstitious reasons remains unclear!
3. The numbering of this Czech composer's symphonies is not straightforward, to say the least. His Sixth was originally published as his First, and the piece we now know as his Ninth was originally published as his Fifth. To make matters worse, it was subsequently known for a while as his Eighth. Fortunately, it has always been best known by the name given to it by the composer: "From the New World". What is his name?

Answer: Antonin Dvorak

A lot of the confusion was due to the fact that Dvorak's first four symphonies at first remained unperformed and unpublished. Indeed, his First was not given its premiere until thirty years after his death, and even then not immediately admitted to the canon of numbered works.
4. This nineteenth-century Austrian composer's Ninth Symphony is unfinished, although the three completed movements form a convincing whole, and are frequently performed as such. In fact, he also wrote two early symphonies that pre-date his official First, and which are numbered as "00" and "0". Can you name him?

Answer: Anton Bruckner

Bruckner also spent much of his later years revising his earlier symphonies - time that would have been better spent in writing new works, since most critics agree that the revisions did not significantly improve the originals.
5. The music of this nineteenth-century Scottish composer, born in 1813, is now almost entirely forgotten, although as well as nine symphonies he wrote eighteen operas (including "King Charles II" and "Robin Hood") and thirteen oratorios and cantatas. He does, however, appear in books of quotations as the author of the couplet "Let's dance and sing and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year." Who is he?

Answer: Sir George Alexander Macfarren

Macfarren was a prolific and talented composer, despite being struck blind in 1860. In 1875 he was elected principal of the Royal Academy of Music, and was also Professor of Music at Cambridge University. While two of his symphonies (numbers 4 and 7) have been recorded, the rest of his music is almost entirely neglected.
6. Although much of the work of this English composer is light-hearted and tuneful (such as his sets of regional dances and some delightful overtures), his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1986, concludes with an awesomely bleak and despairing "lento" finale. He is also known as a composer of film music, and for his music for brass band. What is his name?

Answer: Malcolm Arnold

Malcolm Arnold has made no secret of the fact that he regards his Ninth Symphony as his "swansong" and has no intention of composing another. Of the other composers mentioned here, Searle wrote five symphonies, and Tippett four. Brian produced an impressive 32, 20 of
them written after he reached the age of 80 (he died in 1972, aged 96).
7. This Russian composer was definitely one of those with a superstition about the number nine: in 1910, aged 45, he deliberately broke off work on his Ninth symphony in the belief that its completion would signal his death. Future events would seem to support this belief, since he lived on for 26 more years! What is his name?

Answer: Alexander Glazunov

Tchaikovsky wrote six numbered symphonies, plus the "Manfred" symphony. Rachmaninov wrote only three, but Shostakovich resoundingly broke the jinx, by completing fifteen - a sixteenth remaining incomplete at his death.
8. This American composer's nine symphonies spanned the whole of his long composing career: the first appearing in 1927, the last in 1978. His sixth, seventh and eighth symphonies form a trilogy cataloguing his response to the Vietnam War. Who is he?

Answer: Roger Sessions

Sessions never achieved the relative popularity of the other composers listed here, preferring to plough his own stylistic furrow. Of these others, Bernstein and Copland each wrote three symphonies, while Barber wrote two.
9. Like Beethoven's, the Ninth Symphony of this twentieth-century Scandinavian composer is choral. Known as the "Sinfonia Visionaria", it uses texts from the thirteenth-century Icelandic epic, the "Poetic Edda", describing the creation and destruction of the world. Can you name him?

Answer: Kurt Atterberg

The music of the Swedish Atterberg (1887-1974) deserves to be better known than it is. His symphonies in particular are written in a lush, romantic, tuneful style that recalls Richard Strauss. All of them have recently been recorded by the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, conducted by Ari Rasilainen.
10. This composer followed a massive Eighth symphony with another large work for orchestra, chorus and soloists. However, for superstitious reasons he chose to describe it as a "song cycle" rather than a symphony, and gave it a name - "Das Lied von der Erde" - rather than a number. Subsequently, he did in fact complete an official Ninth, but his Tenth was incomplete at his death - only the first movement and part of the second being fully orchestrated. What is his name?

Answer: Gustav Mahler

The first movement of Mahler's Tenth Symphony is often performed as a stand-alone concert item. However, it has subsequently been "completed" by a number of other people, most famously Deryck Cooke.

In case you think I had to scrape around to get as many as ten composers for this quiz, the following have also completed exactly nine symphonies: Franz Krommer (1759-1831); Louis Spohr (1784-1859); Felix Nowowiejski (1877-1946); Egon Wellesz (1885-1974); Harald Saeverud (1897-1992); Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987); David Diamond (1915-2005); and Irwin Bazelon (1922-95). There may well be others! In addition, Alfred Schnittke completed eight, with a ninth remaining unfinished at his death. Of recent composers to beat the "curse", Hans-Werner Henze's Tenth was premiered in 2002.
Source: Author stedman

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Related Quizzes
This quiz is part of series Stedman's Classical Music Quizzes (3):

A third selection from my classical music quizzes for you to enjoy

  1. The World's Greatest Conductors Average
  2. The Curse of the Ninth Symphony Average
  3. Welcome to The Proms Average
  4. Symphonies and their Nicknames Average
  5. Ten Yorkshire Composers Average
  6. Have a very Classical Christmas! Average

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