Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Quiz Questions and Answers
Q1. In which year was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky born?
A. 1835
B. 1840
C. 1845
D. 1850
Answer: B. 1840
Q2. Where was Tchaikovsky born?
A. Moscow
B. St. Petersburg
C. Votkinsk
D. Klin
Answer: C. Votkinsk
Q3. What was Tchaikovsky’s father’s profession?
A. Composer
B. Mining engineer
C. Civil servant
D. Pianist
Answer: B. Mining engineer
Q4. How many surviving siblings did Tchaikovsky have, making him the second of that number?
A. Four
B. Five
C. Six
D. Seven
Answer: C. Six
Q5. At what age did Tchaikovsky compose his first known song?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
Answer: B. 4
Q6. What tragic event affected Tchaikovsky’s family when he was 14 years old?
A. His father’s death
B. A house fire
C. His mother’s death from cholera
D. Financial ruin
Answer: C. His mother’s death from cholera
Q7. Which school did Tchaikovsky attend from 1850 to 1859?
A. Moscow Conservatory
B. Imperial School of Jurisprudence
C. Leipzig Conservatory
D. Vienna Academy
Answer: B. Imperial School of Jurisprudence
Q8. In which city did Tchaikovsky study at the conservatory from 1862 to 1865?
A. Moscow
B. St. Petersburg
C. Berlin
D. Paris
Answer: B. St. Petersburg
Q9. Who was one of Tchaikovsky’s primary composition teachers at the St. Petersburg Conservatory?
A. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
B. Modest Mussorgsky
C. Sergei Rachmaninoff
D. Anton Rubinstein
Answer: D. Anton Rubinstein
Q10. What position did Tchaikovsky take up in Moscow after graduating from the conservatory in 1865?
A. Conductor
B. Professor of music theory
C. Opera director
D. Pianist
Answer: B. Professor of music theory
Q11. Which ballet, premiered in 1877, is one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous works featuring a swan princess?
A. The Sleeping Beauty
B. The Nutcracker
C. Swan Lake
D. Giselle
Answer: C. Swan Lake
Q12. In what year was Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker composed?
A. 1875
B. 1889
C. 1891
D. 1893
Answer: C. 1891
Q13. Which opera by Tchaikovsky, based on Pushkin’s novel, premiered in 1879?
A. The Queen of Spades
B. Eugene Onegin
C. The Voyevoda
D. Iolanta
Answer: B. Eugene Onegin
Q14. What is the subtitle of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, completed in 1868?
A. Winter Daydreams
B. Pathetique
C. Little Russian
D. Polish
Answer: A. Winter Daydreams
Q15. Which overture-fantasia by Tchaikovsky, inspired by Shakespeare, was first composed in 1869 and revised in 1880?
A. 1812 Overture
B. Romeo and Juliet
C. Francesca da Rimini
D. The Tempest
Answer: B. Romeo and Juliet
Q16. In 1877, Tchaikovsky married which woman, leading to a short-lived and unhappy union?
A. Nadezhda von Meck
B. Desiree Artot
C. Antonina Milyukova
D. Alexandra Davydova
Answer: C. Antonina Milyukova
Q17. Who was Tchaikovsky’s wealthy patroness who supported him financially from 1877 to 1890 without ever meeting in person?
A. His sister Alexandra
B. Nadezhda von Meck
C. His brother Modest
D. Fanny Dürbach
Answer: B. Nadezhda von Meck
Q18. Which of Tchaikovsky’s brothers was also homosexual and collaborated with him on librettos?
A. Nikolay
B. Ippolit
C. Anatoly
D. Modest
Answer: D. Modest
Q19. What was the official cause of Tchaikovsky’s death on November 6, 1893?
A. Heart attack
B. Suicide by poison
C. Cholera
D. Tuberculosis
Answer: C. Cholera
Q20. In 1891, Tchaikovsky conducted at the opening of which famous New York concert hall?
A. Lincoln Center
B. Symphony Hall
C. Carnegie Hall
D. Metropolitan Opera
Answer: C. Carnegie Hall
Q21. Which composer profoundly influenced Tchaikovsky’s love for opera during his school years?
A. Ludwig van Beethoven
B. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
C. Richard Wagner
D. Giuseppe Verdi
Answer: B. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Q22. Which group of Russian composers, known as “The Five,” did Tchaikovsky have a complex but ultimately friendly relationship with?
A. The Mighty Handful
B. The Belyayev Circle
C. The Rubinstein Brothers
D. The New Russian School
Answer: A. The Mighty Handful
Q23. What instrument did Tchaikovsky initially study seriously as a child?
A. Violin
B. Piano
C. Cello
D. Flute
Answer: B. Piano
Q24. Which symphony by Tchaikovsky, completed just before his death, is known for its emotional depth and is subtitled “Pathétique”?
A. Symphony No. 4
B. Symphony No. 5
C. Symphony No. 6
D. Symphony No. 3
Answer: C. Symphony No. 6
Q25. In 1875, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 premiered successfully under which conductor in Boston?
A. Anton Rubinstein
B. Hans von Bulow
C. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
D. Gustav Mahler
Answer: B. Hans von Bulow