Famous Symphonies
Instructions: Test your knowledge of the greatest symphonies and the composers who created them!
- 1.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 famously opens with how many notes in its iconic 'da-da-da-DUM' motif?
ASixBThreeCFourDFive - 2.
Which Beethoven symphony includes the choral setting of Schiller's 'Ode to Joy'?
ASymphony No. 3 'Eroica'BSymphony No. 9CSymphony No. 7DSymphony No. 6 'Pastoral' - 3.
Which composer wrote the 'Surprise Symphony,' with a sudden loud chord in the slow movement?
AWolfgang Amadeus MozartBJoseph HaydnCLudwig van BeethovenDFranz Schubert - 4.
Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 is subtitled 'From the New World.' Where was he living when he wrote it?
ANew York CityBPragueCLondonDVienna - 5.
Which Russian composer wrote the '1812 Overture,' often performed with real cannons?
AModest MussorgskyBSergei ProkofievCPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyDNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - 6.
Mozart composed how many symphonies during his short lifetime?
A51B31C21D41 - 7.
Which symphony by Schubert is nicknamed 'Unfinished' because it has only two movements?
ASymphony No. 9BSymphony No. 7CSymphony No. 8DSymphony No. 5 - 8.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' was originally dedicated to which historical figure?
ANapoleon BonaparteBThomas JeffersonCKing George IIIDFrederick the Great - 9.
Which composer's Symphony No. 9 is sometimes considered 'cursed' because many composers died after their own ninth?
ABeethovenBAll of the aboveCMahlerDBruckner - 10.
Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, requiring over 1,000 performers, is nicknamed what?
ASymphony of a ThousandBThe Colossal SymphonyCThe Grand SymphonyDSymphony of the Universe - 11.
Which Brahms symphony is sometimes called 'Beethoven's Tenth' because of its similar style?
ASymphony No. 1BSymphony No. 3CSymphony No. 4DSymphony No. 2 - 12.
Haydn is often called the 'Father of the Symphony.' Approximately how many did he compose?
A104B54C74D134 - 13.
Which Tchaikovsky symphony is subtitled 'Pathétique' and was premiered just nine days before his death?
ASymphony No. 6BSymphony No. 7CSymphony No. 5DSymphony No. 4 - 14.
Which 20th-century American composer wrote 'Symphony No. 3,' often called 'the greatest American symphony'?
ALeonard BernsteinBGeorge GershwinCSamuel BarberDAaron Copland - 15.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 is subtitled 'Pastoral.' What does it musically depict?
AScenes from country life and natureBA military battleCA royal coronationDA religious ceremony