Composition Quiz

[gprengel]

Oops, Italian opera - my great weakness....

25 is Haydn's Symphony no.31 "Mit dem Hornsignal"

24 could be Verdi, becaus of that little figure at 2.05-2.10 of the recording, but as usual in this type of music I not really have got a clue.....

Yes, it is Haydn's 31 symphony. This was very easy because of the dominance of the Horns, wasn't it?

But no one recognises the composer of the wonderful opera chorus?
This kind of opera style can only be from Bellini or Donizetti, maybe also the early Verdi, but the early Verdi isn't that wonderful. His greatness for me starts with the opera Troubadour from his middle phase (apart from a few parts from Macbeth and Rigoletto). Well, in this case it is Donizetti with a scene from "Maria Stuart" which beside "Lucia di Lammamour" is his best opera with at least 12 marvellous arias/scenes! What do you think of this piece?

[Peter]

Yes, it is Haydn's 31 symphony. This was very easy because of the dominance of the Horns, wasn't it?

But no one recognises the composer of the wonderful opera chorus?
This kind of opera style can only be from Bellini or Donizetti, maybe also the early Verdi, but the early Verdi isn't that wonderful. His greatness for me starts with the opera Troubadour from his middle phase (apart from a few parts from Macbeth and Rigoletto). Well, in this case it is Donizetti with a scene from "Maria Stuart" which beside "Lucia di Lammamour" is his best opera with at least 12 marvellous arias/scenes! What do you think of this piece?

Like Roehre Italian opera is not my forte! I do like it very much but it is a gap in my musical education that hopefully I will fill over time. The chorus is excellent and the influence on Verdi is extremely evident.

[gprengel]

Who knows this great orchestral work

www.gerdprengel.de/piece26.mp3

and this wonderful song

www.gerdprengel.de/piece27.mp3 ?

It should not be too hard to guess.

Roehre, please wait this time with your quick answers. Give the others also a chance ... ;-)

Enjoy!

[Hofrat]

26 is Robert Schumann's "Manfred Overture" opus 115.

[Roehre]

26 is Robert Schumann's "Manfred Overture" opus 115.

I second that.
the song is somehow more difficult to find, I'm afraid....

[Peter]

Who knows this great orchestral work

www.gerdprengel.de/piece26.mp3

and this wonderful song

www.gerdprengel.de/piece27.mp3 ?

It should not be too hard to guess.

Roehre, please wait this time with your quick answers. Give the others also a chance ... ;-)

Enjoy!

Is the song Schubert? Not sure of the title.

[gprengel]

Is the song Schubert? Not sure of the title.

Roehre wrote me a message:
Hofrat is right with his Schumann Manfred(-ouvertüre) op.115, and I think the song is Schubert's Im Walde D.834/op.93nr.1.

Right you are! 2 great works from the German Romantic. Schubert's song belongs to a number of appassionate songs which he wrote in 1825.

[gprengel]

Here 3 new pieces. Can you guess the composers (and the work)?
One piece is very tricky to guess - but very beautiful!

www.gerdprengel.de/piece29.mp3

www.gerdprengel.de/piece30.mp3

www.gerdprengel.de/piece31.mp3

Gerd

[Bonn1827]

No. 29 is from an opera by Bizet, possibly Carmen.

[Bonn1827]

No. 30 is a little piano piece by Tchaikovsky. Title unknown. It sounds very Russian.

[Roehre]

No. 30 is a little piano piece by Tchaikovsky. Title unknown. It sounds very Russian.

Piece 29 is without any doubt Bizet.
I haven't a clue regarding 31, and you might be right Bonn with Tchaikovsky for 30, though around 3 and 5 mins in the recording I seem to recall Grieg. The piece has undeniably an Eastern-europaean/Russian and a bit of a Scandinavian flavour.

[Peter]

Piece 29 is the Intermezzo from Carmen.
I don't think Piece 30 is Tchaikovsky because of the technical display, but possibly Rachmaninov or even remotely Sibelius, but not really typical of either.
Piece 31 is 20th century possibly Korngold?

[Preston]

I know I am wrong, though in piece 30, some, well more than some, of the patterns remind of Chopin somewhat? You people know your stuff!

[Preston]

Gerd, I think you might have given away piece 31. It says Knopfler in WMP. So Mark?

Also, in piece 29 you left the title in the properties so it showed the title in WMP, !

[gprengel]

Ok thank you for your responses!
Most of you recognized the intermezzo from Bizet's Carmen. Somewhere I read that Carmen is the most performed opera. But I don't really love this opera - besides this beautiful intermezzo and also another intermezzo.

The piano piece is Tschaikowski as recognized from Bonn1827 - the "Dumka" op. 59. For me it is by far the best piece Tschaikowski wrote for solo piano. How I love these slavic harmonies in the slow beginning part!!

The 3rd piece is not really a "classical" piece but is from a movie soundtrack from Mark Knopfler (who is the greatest guitarist ever!!). But if I listen to this piece I find it indeed very classical. It could be also a wonderful intermezzo.
Isn't this just an awesome beauty, especially when the violins come in??
Mark Knopfler is one of my favourite contempory composer. The piece is from a whole album of film music ("Screenplaying") - one piece more beautiful than the other!!