Aram Khachaturian Quiz Questions and Answers
Q1. In which present-day country was Aram Khachaturian born?
A. Russia
B. Armenia
C. Georgia
D. Azerbaijan
Answer: C. Georgia
Q2. What was Khachaturian’s birth year?
A. 1898
B. 1903
C. 1904
D. 1905
Answer: B. 1903
Q3. At what age did Khachaturian first travel to Moscow to pursue formal music studies?
A. 15
B. 19
C. 22
D. 25
Answer: B. 19
Q4. Which instrument did Khachaturian originally study at the Gnessin Musical Institute?
A. Piano
B. Violin
C. Cello
D. Trumpet
Answer: C. Cello
Q5. Khachaturian entered which famous Moscow conservatory in 1930?
A. Saint Petersburg Conservatory
B. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory
C. Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
D. Gnessin Russian Academy of Music
Answer: B. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory
Q6. Under whose composition tutelage did Khachaturian study at the Moscow Conservatory?
A. Sergei Prokofiev
B. Dmitri Shostakovich
C. Nikolai Myaskovsky
D. Reinhold Gliere
Answer: C. Nikolai Myaskovsky
Q7. Which of these is Khachaturian’s first major orchestral work, completed in 1934?
A. Piano Concerto
B. Symphony No. 1
C. Violin Concerto
D. Gayane
Answer: B. Symphony No. 1
Q8. Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto in D-flat major was premiered in 1936 by which pianist?
A. Lev Oborin
B. Emil Gilels
C. Sviatoslav Richter
D. Vladimir Sofronitsky
Answer: A. Lev Oborin
Q9. Which ballet, premiered in 1942, contains the famous “Sabre Dance”?
A. Spartacus
B. Gayane
C. Masquerade
D. The Widow from Valencia
Answer: B. Gayane
Q10. The “Sabre Dance” from Gayane was originally choreographed to depict what?
A. A sword duel
B. A wedding celebration
C. A harvest festival
D. A funeral rite
Answer: A. A sword duel
Q11. Which 1941 incidental music suite by Khachaturian is based on a play by Mikhail Lermontov?
A. Spartacus
B. Masquerade
C. The Battle of Stalingrad
D. Othello
Answer: B. Masquerade
Q12. Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, composed in 1940, was dedicated to and premiered by which violinist?
A. Jascha Heifetz
B. Isaac Stern
C. David Oistrakh
D. Yehudi Menuhin
Answer: C. David Oistrakh
Q13. In which year was Khachaturian officially denounced in the Zhdanov Decree alongside Prokofiev and Shostakovich?
A. 1946
B. 1948
C. 1950
D. 1952
Answer: B. 1948
Q14. Which symphony, completed in 1943, is subtitled “With Bell” and commemorates the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution?
A. Symphony No. 1
B. Symphony No. 2
C. Symphony No. 3
D. Symphony-Poem
Answer: B. Symphony No. 2
Q15. Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus premiered in which city in 1956?
A. Moscow
B. Yerevan
C. Leningrad
D. Tbilisi
Answer: C. Leningrad
Q16. Which movement of Spartacus contains the famous “Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia”?
A. Act I
B. Act II
C. Act III
D. Act IV
Answer: B. Act II
Q17. Khachaturian served as the secretary of which Soviet organization from 1957 until his death?
A. Union of Soviet Composers
B. Moscow Philharmonic Society
C. Bolshoi Theatre Board
D. State Committee for Arts
Answer: A. Union of Soviet Composers
Q18. Which 1952 film score by Khachaturian won a Stalin Prize?
A. Othello
B. The Battle of Stalingrad
C. Secret Mission
D. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Answer: B. The Battle of Stalingrad
Q19. Khachaturian’s Cello Concerto was composed in 1946 for which cellist?
A. Mstislav Rostropovich
B. Daniil Shafran
C. Sviatoslav Knushevitsky
D. Gregor Piatigorsky
Answer: C. Sviatoslav Knushevitsky
Q20. In which year did Khachaturian conduct the premiere of his own Symphony No. 3?
A. 1947
B. 1948
C. 1949
D. 1953
Answer: A. 1947
Q21. Which of these works is a concert-rhapsody for violin and orchestra composed in 1961?
A. Concert-Rhapsody for Cello
B. Concert-Rhapsody for Piano
C. Concert-Rhapsody for Violin
D. Concert-Rhapsody for Trumpet
Answer: C. Concert-Rhapsody for Violin
Q22. Khachaturian’s Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano was written in 1932 while he was still a student at which institution?
A. Gnessin Institute
B. Moscow Conservatory
C. Leningrad Conservatory
D. Yerevan Conservatory
Answer: B. Moscow Conservatory
Q23. Which award did Khachaturian receive four times from the Soviet government?
A. Order of Lenin
B. Stalin Prize
C. People’s Artist of the USSR
D. Hero of Socialist Labor
Answer: B. Stalin Prize
Q24. In which city is the Aram Khachaturian House-Museum located?
A. Tbilisi
B. Moscow
C. Yerevan
D. Saint Petersburg
Answer: C. Yerevan
Q25. Khachaturian’s only opera, completed in the 1950s but never staged in his lifetime, is titled what?
A. Almast
B. The Widow from Valencia
C. Spartacus
D. Gayane
Answer: C. Spartacus