Q 01/05

In which village, 46 kilometres west of Warsaw, was Chopin born in 1810?

A) Kazimierz Dolny

B) Brochów Wielki

C) Żelazowa Wola

D) Szafarnia Dolna

Answer · why

C) Żelazowa Wola

Żelazowa Wola. His father was a tutor on the estate, but the family left for Warsaw when the baby was only a few months old, so the composer grew up i...

Q 02/05

Which film opens with a live Chopin recital on Polish radio being cut short by German bombs in 1939?

A) The Piano Teacher

B) The Pianist

C) Shine

D) The Piano

Answer · why

B) The Pianist

The Pianist. It tells the true story of Władysław Szpilman, who survived the war in hiding and, when Polish Radio returned to the air in 1945, sat dow...

Q 03/05

Chopin was known for avoiding which staple of a keyboard virtuoso's career?

A) Private teaching

B) Salon recitals

C) Publishing his music

D) Public concerts

Answer · why

D) Public concerts

Public concerts. He told a fellow virtuoso that the crowd intimidated him and its breath stifled him, so he played mostly for small gatherings and ear...

Q 04/05

Who was Chopin's first professional piano teacher, taking him on when he was six?

A) Wojciech Żywny

B) Karol Kurpiński

C) Ignaz Moscheles

D) Wilhelm Würfel

Answer · why

A) Wojciech Żywny

Wojciech Żywny. Within a few years the boy played better than his teacher, who had nothing more to show him and bowed out.

Q 05/05

Seven-year-old Chopin's first published composition was what kind of dance?

A) Minuet

B) Waltz

C) Polonaise

D) Krakowiak

Answer · why

C) Polonaise

A polonaise, printed in 1817. Early the next year he made his debut at a charity evening, and when his mother asked what people had liked best, he is ...