Richard Strauss Quiz Questions and Answers
Q1. When was Richard Strauss born?
A. June 11, 1860
B. June 11, 1864
C. June 11, 1870
D. June 11, 1854
Answer: B. June 11, 1864
Q2. In which city was Richard Strauss born?
A. Berlin
B. Vienna
C. Munich
D. Weimar
Answer: C. Munich
Q3. What was the profession of Richard Strauss’s father, Franz Strauss?
A. Conductor
B. Composer
C. Principal horn player
D. Violinist
Answer: C. Principal horn player
Q4. At what age did Richard Strauss compose his first musical piece?
A. 4 years
B. 6 years
C. 10 years
D. 12 years
Answer: B. 6 years old
Q5. What subjects did Richard Strauss study at the University of Munich?
A. Music and composition
B. Philosophy and art history
C. Law and literature
D. Mathematics and physics
Answer: B. Philosophy and art history
Q6. Whom did Richard Strauss marry in 1894?
A. Pauline de Ahna
B. Cosima Wagner
C. Clara Schumann
D. Jenny Lind
Answer: A. Pauline de Ahna
Q7. In what year was Richard Strauss’s only son, Franz, born?
A. 1894
B. 1897
C. 1900
D. 1905
Answer: B. 1897
Q8. In what year did Richard Strauss compose his Symphony No. 1?
A. 1880
B. 1884
C. 1890
D. 1896
Answer: A. 1880
Q9. When was Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1 composed?
A. 1870
B. 1883
C. 1942
D. 1945
Answer: B. 1883
Q10. In 1883, Richard Strauss became assistant conductor to whom at the Meiningen Court Orchestra?
A. Hans von Bulow
B. Gustav Mahler
C. Felix Mottl
D. Richard Wagner
Answer: A. Hans von Bulow
Q11. During which years was Richard Strauss the principal conductor of the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar?
A. 1885–1889
B. 1889–1894
C. 1894–1898
D. 1898–1903
Answer: B. 1889–1894
Q12. With which opera did Richard Strauss make his conducting debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 1894?
A. Der Ring des Nibelungen
B. Parsifal
C. Tannhauser
D. Lohengrin
Answer: C. Tannhauser
Q13. From which year did Richard Strauss serve as principal conductor of the Berlin State Opera?
A. 1889
B. 1898
C. 1919
D. 1933
Answer: B. 1898
Q14. What was Richard Strauss’s first major tone poem?
A. Don Juan
B. Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
C. Also sprach Zarathustra
D. Death and Transfiguration
Answer: A. Don Juan
Q15. In what year was Richard Strauss’s tone poem Death and Transfiguration composed?
A. 1889
B. 1895
C. 1896
D. 1897
Answer: A. 1889
Q16. When was the tone poem Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks composed?
A. 1890
B. 1895
C. 1900
D. 1903
Answer: B. 1895
Q17. What genre is Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra?
A. Opera
B. Symphony
C. Tone poem
D. Concerto
Answer: C. Tone poem
Q18. Which instrument features prominently as a soloist in Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote?
A. Violin
B. Cello
C. Piano
D. Flute
Answer: B. Cello
Q19. In what year was the tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) composed?
A. 1898
B. 1903
C. 1915
D. 1945
Answer: A. 1898
Q20. What does Richard Strauss’s Symphonia Domestica depict?
A. A hero’s life
B. Domestic family life
C. Scenes from the Alps
D. Mythical adventures
Answer: B. Domestic family life
Q21. What was Richard Strauss’s first opera?
A. Salome
B. Elektra
C. Guntram
D. Der Rosenkavalier
Answer: C. Guntram
Q22. On whose play is Richard Strauss’s opera Salome based?
A. Hugo von Hofmannsthal
B. Oscar Wilde
C. Stefan Zweig
D. Joseph Gregor
Answer: B. Oscar Wilde
Q23. In what year did Richard Strauss’s opera Elektra premiere?
A. 1909
B. 1910
C. 1911
D. 1919
Answer: A. 1909
Q24. For what musical element is Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier particularly known?
A. Atonal dissonance
B. Waltzes
C. Minimalist motifs
D. Jazz rhythms
Answer: B. Waltzes
Q25. What theatrical style does Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos incorporate alongside opera seria?
A. Opera buffa
B. Grand ballet
C. Commedia dell’arte
D. Symphonic interlude
Answer: C. Commedia dell’arte