Author: Mauvin Sequeira

Q1. In what year was Alexander Borodin born?
A. 1823
B. 1833
C. 1843
D. 1853
Answer: B. 1833

Q2. What was Borodin’s official registered parentage due to his illegitimate birth?
A. Son of a Russian serf and his wife
B. Son of a Georgian prince and a Russian noblewoman
C. Son of a military officer and a pianist
D. Son of a chemist and a composer
Answer: A. Son of a Russian serf and his wife

Q3. At what age was Borodin emancipated from serfdom by his biological father?
A. 5
B. 7
C. 10
D. 12
Answer: B. 7

Q1. In which year was Ralph Vaughan Williams born?
A. 1862
B. 1872
C. 1882
D. 1892
Answer: B. 1872

Q2. Ralph Vaughan Williams was a great-grandson of which famous naturalist through his mother’s side?
A. Charles Darwin
B. Alfred Russel Wallace
C. Thomas Huxley
D. Joseph Hooker
Answer: A. Charles Darwin

Q3. What was the first instrument Ralph Vaughan Williams learned to play as a child?
A. Violin
B. Piano
C. Organ
D. Cello
Answer: B. Piano

Q1. What was Gustav Holst’s full birth name?
A. Gustav Theodore Holst
B. Gustavus Theodore von Holst
C. Gustav Emil Holst
D. Theodore Gustav von Holst
Answer: B. Gustavus Theodore von Holst

Q2. In which English town was Gustav Holst born on September 21, 1874?
A. London
B. Oxford
C. Cheltenham
D. Liverpool
Answer: C. Cheltenham

Q3. What was the primary cause of Gustav Holst’s death on May 25, 1934?
A. Tuberculosis
B. Heart failure following surgery
C. Pneumonia
D. A fall from stage during a concert
Answer: B. Heart failure following surgery

Q1. In which year was Anton Bruckner born?
A. 1814
B. 1824
C. 1834
D. 1844
Answer: B. 1824

Q2. What was the profession of Anton Bruckner’s father?
A. Composer
B. Organist
C. Schoolmaster
D. Choir director
Answer: C. Schoolmaster

Q3. At what age did Bruckner begin learning to play the organ?
A. Around 5
B. Around 10
C. Around 15
D. Around 20
Answer: A. Around 5

Q1. In which year and location was Bedrich Smetana born?
A. 1820, Prague
B. 1824, Litomysl
C. 1826, Plzes
D. 1822, Jihlava
Answer: B. 1824, Litomysl

Q2. What was the profession of Smetana’s father, Frantisek?
A. Brewer
B. Composer
C. Violinist only
D. Teacher
Answer: A. Brewer

Q3. At what age did Smetana give his first public piano performance, playing an arrangement of an overture?
A. Four
B. Six
C. Eight
D. Ten
Answer: B. Six

Q1. In what year was Tomaso Albinoni born?
A. 1661
B. 1671
C. 1681
D. 1691
Answer: B. 1671

Q2. Where was Tomaso Albinoni born and raised?
A. Florence
B. Milan
C. Venice
D. Rome
Answer: C. Venice

Q3. What was the profession of Albinoni’s father, Antonio?
A. Violin maker
B. Opera impresario
C. Paper merchant
D. Church organist
Answer: C. Paper merchant

Q1. In what year was Carl Maria von Weber born?
A. 1770
B. 1786
C. 1792
D. 1800
Answer: B. 1786

Q2. Where was Carl Maria von Weber baptized, and what additional name was added to his at that time?
A. Salzburg; Friedrich
B. Vienna; Ernst
C. Eutin; Maria
D. Munich; Anton
Answer: C. Eutin; Maria

Q3. What was the profession of Carl Maria von Weber’s father, Franz Anton?
A. Composer
B. Violinist and theater director
C. Opera singer
D. Piano teacher
Answer: B. Violinist and theater director

Q1. In what year was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach born?
A. 1705
B. 1714
C. 1723
D. 1731
Answer: B. 1714

Q2. Where was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach born?
A. Leipzig
B. Berlin
C. Weimar
D. Hamburg
Answer: C. Weimar

Q3. Who was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s father?
A. Georg Philipp Telemann
B. Johann Sebastian Bach
C. Frederick II of Prussia
D. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Answer: B. Johann Sebastian Bach

Q1. In what year was Jacques Offenbach born?
A. 1815
B. 1819
C. 1823
D. 1827
Answer: B. 1819

Q2. What was Jacques Offenbach’s birth name before he adopted the French version?
A. Jacob Offenbach
B. Jean Offenbach
C. Jules Offenbach
D. Isaac Offenbach
Answer: A. Jacob Offenbach

Q3. What instrument did Offenbach begin studying at age nine, which became his primary one?
A. Violin
B. Piano
C. Flute
D. Cello
Answer: D. Cello

Q1. In what year was Domenico Scarlatti born?
A. 1680
B. 1685
C. 1690
D. 1695
Answer: B. 1685

Q2. Where was Domenico Scarlatti born?
A. Rome
B. Venice
C. Naples
D. Madrid
Answer: C. Naples

Q3. Who was Domenico Scarlatti’s father, a renowned composer of the time?
A. Antonio Vivaldi
B. Alessandro Scarlatti
C. Arcangelo Corelli
D. Georg Philipp Telemann
Answer: B. Alessandro Scarlatti