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PSO Trivia
100
In Peter and the Wolf, the hunters arrive as this member of the orchestra plays?
Who is the Timpanist (Timpani)?
100
"All creatures drink of joy at nature's breast" is from a verse used in an 1824 symphony by this composer
Who is Ludwig van Beethoven?
100
During the seventeenth century, women were not allowed to sing onstage, not even in a chorus. These modified men sang the soprano/mezzo/alto parts
Who are Castrati? (Castrated Males)
100
This American musician played a pivotal role in the revival of Gustav Mahler's music in the 20th century
Who is Leonard Bernstein?
100
This composer wrote the most viola quintets
Who is Mozart?
100
A sudden loud chord in an otherwise slow movement gives this nickname to Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major
What is "Surprise"?
100
This Russian work is the most performed symphony in PSO history
What is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5?
200
This work calls for the use of cannons in the score
What is Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture?
200
At age 15, in 1825, he played for the Russian czar who was visiting Warsaw
Who is Frederic Chopin?
200
First performed in Cairo, this Verdi opera was commissioned by the Khedive of Egypt
What is Aida?
200
The orchestra that performs here is the oldest surviving professional symphony in the United States
What is David Geffen Hall (or Avery Fisher Hall)?
(Or Lincoln Center)
200
This work that premiered in Moscow in 1882 includes strains from "God Save The Czar" and "La Marseillaise"
What is Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture?
200
The theme of this piece is a true mystery of these Variations by Edward Elgar
What is Enigma Variations?
200
This work in A Major is the second most performed symphony in PSO history
What is Beethoven's Symphony No. 7?
300
One of Bartok's last works was a concerto for this instrument that often plays second fiddle to the fiddle
What is the Viola?
300
In September 1907, this Norwegian's ashes were buried in a cliff near his country home Troldhaugen
Who is Edvard Grieg?
300
This American opera premiered in Boston in 1935
What is Porgy and Bess?
300
Kirill Petrenko succeeded this conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic after a 16-year tenure
Who is Simon Rattle?
300
Some doubt that Bach wrote variations for this man to play; he was 14 when the Bach work was published
Who is Johann Gottlieb Goldberg?
300
Beethoven originally dedicated his 1804 symphony to this world leader
Who is Napoleon Bonaparte?
300
The start of the Peninsula Symphony in 1949 was "confluence of [these] three streams"
What are The Sequoia Symphony, The Peninsula Symphony, and Aaron Sten?
400
The score of the symphony in the video originally called for this number of hammer blows
What is 5? (or 3)
400
Shortly after this Gretchen am Spinnrade composer met Beethoven, he was a torchbearer at his funeral
Who is Franz Schubert?
400
In a Beethoven opera, Leonora disguises herself as this title man
Who is Fidelio?
400
“The Three Tenors” was an operatic singing group from the 1990s and early 2000s, comprised of these three Europeans
Who are Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and Luciano Pavarotti?
400
Arthur Rubinstein asked that this piece be played at his funeral
What is the Adagio movement of Schubert's Cello Quintet?
400
Hokusai's painting "The Great Wave" graced the cover of the first edition of this Debussy work's sheet music
What is La Mer?
400
Aaron Sten also founded this Bay Area youth orchestra
What is the California Youth Symphony?
500
Death plays a merry dance on this instrument in Saint-Saen's Danse Macabre
What is the violin?
500
Stalin's death the next day pushed this composer's obituary off the front page
Who is Sergei Prokofiev?
500
Richard Wagner was known for creating this term, referring to a musical theme associated with a main character.
What is Leitmotif? (Leading theme)
500
This is the technique used by the trumpets in the video shown here
What is Flutter-Tonguing?
500
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Neil Armstrong took a tape recording of this orchestral work with him on the Apollo 11 mission
What is Dvorak's New World Symphony?
500
This composer/pianist (pictured) earned most of the money in her household
Who is Clara Schumann (Wieck)?
500
These two piano concerti (by a German and a Russian) are the most performed pieces in PSO history
What are Beethoven Emperor Concerto and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2?
600
In this work, the oboe & bassoon help depict a celebration on the treeless mount Triglav
What is Night on Bald Mountain?
600
This minimalistic American composer is known for his use of phasing techniques
Who is Steve Reich?
600
This opera house (inaugurated in 1778) is famous for having the hardest-to-please audience. The audience has been known to make a performer keep singing until he or she “gets it right"
What is La Scala?
600
This flautist left the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2014 to join the Berlin Philharmonic as principal flute
Who is Mathieu Dufour?
600
Rachmaninoff's 1913 symphony The Bells was based on a Russian translation of this American's poet's work
Who is Edgar Allan Poe?
600
Tchaikovsky simultaneously composed early sketches for the Pathetique symphony & this ballet suite
What is The Nutcracker?
600
Maestro Mitchell Sardou Klein took over as music director for PSO in this year
What is 1985?
700
This instrument used in Amériques, an orchestral composition by Edgard Varèse, is performed with a wet towel
What is the Lion's Roar? (String drum, Friction drum)
700
He died in Bayreuth Germany on July 31, 1886 during the festival honoring his son-in-law
Who is Franz Liszt?
700
One of the most photographed buildings in the world, it sits on Port Jackson's Bennelong Point
What is the Sydney Opera House?
700
Gustavo Dudamel began his tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at this age
What is 24?
700
This tone poem was played as a wake up call for the Apollo 15 crew.
What is Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra?
700
At the age of 17, Hector Berlioz went to the University of Paris to study this subject
What is Medicine?
700
In 1951, under this symphony clarinetist and business manager, the organization was incorporated as a non-profit association, and a formal board was chosen
Who is Vincent Guida?
800
This piece was the first orchestral work to be performed with electronics
What is Respighi's Pines of Rome?
800
He was working on his 3rd symphony when he died in England in 1934; it premiered in 1998 amid much pomp
Who is Edward Elgar?
800
The first performance of this now beloved Puccini opera was one of opera’s all-time worst flops. The audience made bird, cow, and goat calls, and booed.
What is Madama Butterfly?
800
The music director of the Berlin Philharmonic declined the Nazis' invitation for him to replace this Jewish conductor on an international tour with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Who is Bruno Walter?
800
During the Baroque period the Amatis & others advanced violin-making in this Italian city
What is Cremona?
800
This is the name given to the lower register of the clarinet's range.
What is Chalumeau?
800
In 1956, this Board President was the driving force behind the creation of the Peninsula Symphony Auxiliary, which was instrumental to the development of an audience base.
Who is Robert L. Clark?
900
Sergei Rachmaninoff's last major orchestral work calls for this rarely used instrument to play a solo in the first movement, accompanied by clarinet and oboe.
What is the Alto Saxophone?
900
This Finnish composer of serialism/spectralism is known for characteristically rich, polyphonic textures, often created by combining live music and electronics.
Who is Kaija Saariaho?
900
This Puccini opera was left unfinished at his death
What is Turandot?
900
Although the Vienna Philharmonic did not allow women to formally audition or join the orchestra until 1997, this harpist had performed with them regularly since 1974.
Who is Agnes Lelkes?
900
In order to avoid Russian censorship, this nationalistic tone poem was performed under different names during the early 20th century.
What is Finlandia?
900
This Mallarmé poem about a day in myth-land inspired a Debussy prelude to it
What is The Afternoon of a Faun?
900
The number of times that Beethoven's music has been performed by the PSO, also the same opus number for his 5th Symphony
What is 67?
1000
Benjamin Britten used these to simulate raindrops in his opera for amateur musicians, Noye's Fludd
What are "slung mugs"? (teacups on string)
1000
Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna, Luigi Nono, and Karlheinz Stockhausen were the initial members of a group of composers known by this name, originally intended to be an insult.
What is the Darmstadt School?
1000
This Strauss opera features a pants role for the part of Octavian
What is Der Rosenkavalier?
1000
At the age of 18, Carlos Kleiber told his father that he wanted to study music instead of chemistry. Erich said this in response
What is "Eine Kleiber ist genug" (One Kleiber is enough)
1000
The controversial symphony in the video was premiered in 1937 with this orchestra
What is the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra?
1000
Stravinsky's 1913 premier of The Rite of Spring was met with tumult and riot now known to be attributed to audience reaction to the choreography and performance by this troupe.
What is Sergei Diaghalev's Ballet Russe?
1000
The number of times that Tchaikovsky's music has been performed by the PSO
What is 82?