The Major and Minor Composers Quiz

Too bad! This was an excerpt from one of the Slavic dances by:

Antonín Dvořák

Nelahozeves, 1841 - Prague, 1904  

Dvořák was a Czech composer who managed to be popular with a wide audience in Europe and the US during his lifetime.  
 
Not many people know that... When Dvořák was young, a new railway line was built near his home. This could explain his life-long passion for trains, especially the steam locomotive. Even later in life, Dvořák could frequently be seen trainspotting at the Prague station, and writing down type numbers and departure times. There is even speculation that you can sometimes hear the cadence of the train in his music… 

That was a tricky one! This was a fragment from Humoreske from Symphony no. 7, 'Zuiderzee' by: 

Cornelis Dopper

Stadskanaal, 1870 - Amsterdam 1939

Herman Rieken on the role of ‘second conductor’:

Wrong! This was a fragment from the ‘Symphony no. 0’ by: 

Anton Bruckner 

Ansfelden, 1824 – Vienna, 1896 

Why Helma loves playing Bruckner, even if her bassoon part isn’t ‘terribly interesting’:

Oops, better luck next time! This was a fragment from Mariä Wiegenlied (Mary’s Lullaby) by:

Max Reger

Brand, 1873 - Leipzig, 1916


Max Reger was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor and teacher. Even though he was only 43 when he died – he left behind an astonishing number of compositions, in very diverse genres. He saw himself as part of the tradition of Beethoven and Brahms. Reger came to Amsterdam for the first time in 1916, to perform with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as both a conductor and piano soloist. Unfortunately, this was also the last time; Reger struggled with serious depression and alcoholism, and he died six weeks later in a Leipzig hotel.

During his life, Reger was primarily appreciated by his colleagues. Only after his death did his multi-layered and colourful music gradually start to attract a wider audience.

Ouch, that wasn’t right! This was a fragment from Danse Profane for string orchestra and harp by:

Claude Debussy

Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1862 – Paris, 1918

 
Claude Debussy was the embodiment of a turning point in the development of music. Although his expressiveness may have lacked the dramatic extremes of Stravinsky, Bartók or Schoenberg, underneath the sensual harmonies, emphasis on timbre and melodic flair of Debussy's music lies a strong drive for innovation. The Dutch composer Rudolf Escher aptly called Debussy ‘the surreptitious revolutionary’. 
  

His music may have been called impressionistic, but Debussy himself wrote, ‘I am trying to write “something different” – “realities” as it were – which imbeciles call “impressionism”’.

One of France’s greatest composers, Debussy appears on the country’s last 20-franc banknote before the introduction of the Euro. 

No, that’s not the right answer! This was a fragment from the Prologue to the second act of the incidental music to Gijsbrecht van Aemstel by:

Bernard Zweers

Amsterdam, 1854 - 1924

Everyone knows music by this composer! Herman will play it:

Wrong! You heard a fragment from Blumine by:

Gustav Mahler

Kaliště, 1860 – Vienna, 1911

Helma tells us why Mahler’s name is so prominent under the king’s and queen's chairs:

Sorry, wrong guess! This was a fragment from Les jardins d'Eros from ‘Psyché' by: 

César Franck

Liege, 1822 – Paris, 1890 

César Franck was an influential composer, organist and composition instructor who spent most of his life in Paris. 

Not many people know that… In 1858 Franck was appointed titular organist of the Church of Sainte Clotilde in Paris. The photo taken of him at the Sainte Clotilde organ shows that he had enormous hands – from thumb to little finger, he could cover an octave plus a fourth (eleven white keys). While composing, he must have occasionally forgotten that not all pianists have such large hands. This can make some of his music extremely difficult to play, for example the piano part of his Violin Sonata, with its many ‘large’ chords.

Sorry, that’s not the right answer! This was a fragment from La flûte enchantée from ‘Shéhérazade' by: 

 Maurice Ravel

Ciboure, 1875 - Paris, 1937

Like Debussy, he was famed for his artistry with sound colour. Because of the precision with which he composed, Igor Stravinsky called him a ‘Swiss watchmaker’.

Not many people know that...  Ravel must have been quite a sight in his time: a real Parisian dandy, he was always dressed in the latest fashions. His luggage for a tour in the US contained: sixty shirts, twenty pairs of shoes, twenty-five pairs of pyjamas and seventy-five neckties– Ravel boasted of having ‘the best collection of neckties in Paris’ – plus an entire suitcase stuffed with Gauloises. 

Sorry, wrong answer! This was a fragment from ‘Six symphonic epigrams’ by:

Willem Pijper

Zeist, 1894 – Leidschendam, 1947

Herman tells us what Willem Pijper liked to do in his spare time:

Not quite! This was a fragment from Scherzo à la russe by:

Igor Stravinsky

Oranienbaum, 1882 - New York,  1971 

Helma marvels at how the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring started a riot:

Oh no, wrong answer! This was a fragment from Trépak, a Russian dance from The Nutcracker by: 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 

Kamsko-Votkinsk, 1840 – St. Petersburg, 1893

Tchaikovsky’s pain… Helma can feel it when she plays:

Not quite! This was a fragment from Symphonietta humoristica by:

Julius Röntgen

Leipzig, 1855 – Utrecht, 1932  

Herman talks about Röntgen and his important connections:

Incorrect! This was a fragment from Ich wollt ein Sträusslein binden by:

Richard Strauss 

Munich, 1864 — Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1949

Richard Strauss finally found an orchestra that could play all the passages he wrote…

Wrong, but that was a tough one! This was a fragment form Allegro Marciale from ‘Sinfonietta’ by:

Johan Wagenaar

Utrecht, 1862 - The Hague, 1941

Johan Wagenaar played a prominent role in both Utrecht and The Hague’s music scenes as a composer, conductor, organist and pedagogue. His lively overtures have a style very much their own, characterised by humour and colourful orchestrations, and the orchestra regularly takes them along when they tour outside the Netherlands.

Wagenaar is honoured in The Concertgebouw not only with a cartouche (name plaque), but also with a portrait of him in the corridor on the first floor.

Wrong! You heard Clair de Lune from ‘Cinq mélodies' by:

Alphons Diepenbrock

Amsterdam, 1862 - Amsterdam, 1921

Herman talks about Diepenbrock in the ‘bubble’ with Mengelberg and Mahler:

Sorry, wrong guess! This was a fragment from 'Concerto for Orchestra' by:  

Béla Bartók 

Sânnicolau Mare, 1881 – New York, 1945  

Not many people may know that...  Folk music was a major source of inspiration for Béla Bartók.   

The Hungarian composer was also a skilled ethnographer who studied traditional music from eastern Europe and other parts of the world. He was happy to hear about Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877, as there was finally a machine that could record and play back sound. Bartók took the phonograph along on his travels all over the Hungarian countryside in search of authentic folk music. He collected melodies, songs and dances that he would later study as a scholar, and ultimately integrate in his compositional style.