Q 01/05

Despite its feline title, the Kitty-valse in Gabriel Fauré's Dolly Suite portrays which family pet?

A) A parrot

B) A dog

C) A rabbit

D) A pony

Answer · why

B) A dog

A dog called Ketty belonged to the Bardac family, and Fauré's manuscript titles the piece Ketty-Valse. His publisher changed the spelling to Kitty.

Q 02/05

Emma Bardac, the soprano who inspired Gabriel Fauré's La bonne chanson, later married which other French composer?

A) Erik Satie

B) Vincent d'Indy

C) Claude Debussy

D) Jules Massenet

Answer · why

C) Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy married her in 1908, after a scandal in which both of them left their spouses. He wrote his Children's Corner suite for their daughter,...

Q 03/05

After which figure from French history did angry professors nickname Gabriel Fauré during his Conservatoire reforms?

A) Robespierre

B) Richelieu

C) Napoleon

D) Charlemagne

Answer · why

A) Robespierre

Robespierre was the old guard's name for him after he brought in outside judges for exams, ending the edge professors gave their own private pupils. M...

Q 04/05

Why was the young Gabriel Fauré asked to resign his church post in Rennes one Sunday in 1870?

A) Refused to play at weddings

B) Quarrelled with the choirmaster

C) Missed the Easter services

D) Played Mass in evening dress

Answer · why

D) Played Mass in evening dress

He played Mass in evening dress, having come straight from an all-night ball. The parish priest already doubted his piety: Fauré was often seen slippi...

Q 05/05

Which piano virtuoso said he had run out of fingers when he first tried Gabriel Fauré's music?

A) Franz Liszt

B) Anton Rubinstein

C) Clara Schumann

D) Ignacy Paderewski

Answer · why

A) Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt made the remark to Fauré at his first attempt at the music. Its rippling figures share the melody between both hands, which still makes it...