Alessandro Scarlatti Quiz Questions and Answers
Q1. In what year was Alessandro Scarlatti born?
A. 1659
B. 1660
C. 1661
D. 1662
Answer: B. 1660
Q2. Where is Alessandro Scarlatti believed to have been born?
A. Rome
B. Naples
C. Palermo, Sicily
D. Florence
Answer: C. Palermo, Sicily
Q3. At approximately what age did Alessandro Scarlatti move to Rome?
A. 8
B. 12
C. 13
D. 14
Answer: B. 12
Q4. Which composer is generally said to have been Alessandro Scarlatti’s teacher in Rome?
A. Claudio Monteverdi
B. Bernardo Pasquini
C. Giacomo Carissimi
D. Arcangelo Corelli
Answer: C. Giacomo Carissimi
Q5. What was the title of Alessandro Scarlatti’s first opera, premiered in Rome?
A. L’honestà negli amori
B. Il Pompeo
C. Gli equivoci nel sembiante
D. Mitridate Eupatore
Answer: C. Gli equivoci nel sembiante
Q6. Which royal figure provided early patronage to Alessandro Scarlatti after his first opera?
A. King Louis XIV of France
B. Queen Christina of Sweden
C. Emperor Leopold I
D. Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici
Answer: B. Queen Christina of Sweden
Q7. In what year did Alessandro Scarlatti become maestro di cappella to the viceroy of Naples?
A. 1684
B. 1689
C. 1690
D. 1702
Answer: A. 1684
Q8. Approximately how many operas did Alessandro Scarlatti compose?
A. 50
B. 75
C. 115
D. 150
Answer: C. 115
Q9. Who was Alessandro Scarlatti’s most famous son, also a composer?
A. Pietro Filippo Scarlatti
B. Domenico Scarlatti
C. Giuseppe Scarlatti
D. Francesco Scarlatti
Answer: B. Domenico Scarlatti
Q10. In which city did Alessandro Scarlatti spend much of his later career and eventually die?
A. Rome
B. Venice
C. Florence
D. Naples
Answer: D. Naples
Q11. What nickname was given to Alessandro Scarlatti by his contemporaries?
A. The Roman Master
B. The Sicilian Innovator
C. The Italian Orpheus
D. The Neapolitan Poet
Answer: C. The Italian Orpheus
Q12. Which work is considered Alessandro Scarlatti’s masterpiece opera, composed for Venice?
A. La Griselda
B. Mitridate Eupatore
C. Tigrane
D. Telemaco
Answer: B. Mitridate Eupatore
Q13. In what year was Alessandro Scarlatti’s opera La Griselda premiered?
A. 1707
B. 1714
C. 1718
D. 1721
Answer: D. 1721
Q14. Approximately how many chamber cantatas did Alessandro Scarlatti compose?
A. 100
B. 200
C. 400
D. 600
Answer: D. 600
Q15. What form of aria did Alessandro Scarlatti help establish as a standard in opera?
A. Rondo aria
B. Strophic aria
C. Da capo aria
D. Binary aria
Answer: C. Da capo aria
Q16. In which opera did Alessandro Scarlatti first introduce the orchestral ritornello?
A. Olimpia vendicata
B. Teodora
C. Dal male il bene
D. Il Pompeo
Answer: B. Teodora
Q17. What structural form did Alessandro Scarlatti invent for the Italian overture?
A. Slow-fast-slow
B. Fast-slow-fast
C. Fast-fast-slow
D. Slow-slow-fast
Answer: B. Fast-slow-fast
Q18. Which instrument did Alessandro Scarlatti introduce for striking effects in his later operas?
A. Flute
B. Oboe
C. Horn
D. Trumpet
Answer: C. Horn
Q19. In what year did Alessandro Scarlatti first use accompanied recitative?
A. 1686
B. 1685
C. 1679
D. 1697
Answer: A. 1686
Q20. Which mass by Alessandro Scarlatti was composed in 1721 for Saint Cecilia?
A. Messa di Santa Cecilia
B. Mass for Pope Clement XI
C. Great Passion Mass
D. Neapolitan Requiem
Answer: A. Messa di Santa Cecilia
Q21. To which musical school is Alessandro Scarlatti considered the founder?
A. Venetian school
B. Roman school
C. Florentine school
D. Neapolitan school of opera
Answer: D. Neapolitan school of opera
Q22. Which composer’s Italian operas were deeply influenced by Alessandro Scarlatti’s theatrical style?
A. Johann Sebastian Bach
B. George Frideric Handel
C. Antonio Vivaldi
D. Henry Purcell
Answer: B. George Frideric Handel
Q23. In which opera does the famous aria “O cessate di piagarmi” appear?
A. L’honestà negli amori
B. Gli equivoci nel sembiante
C. Il Pompeo
D. Pirro e Demetrio
Answer: C. Il Pompeo
Q24. What was Alessandro Scarlatti’s role at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome?
A. Organist
B. Maestro di cappella
C. Court composer
D. Choir director
Answer: B. Maestro di cappella
Q25. Which prince’s private theater in Florence commissioned operas from Alessandro Scarlatti around 1702-1704?
A. Prince of Stigliano
B. Prince Ottoboni
C. Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici
D. Prince Gaetano d’Aragona
Answer: C. Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici