Q 01/05

In which town was Johann Sebastian Bach born in 1685?

A) Weimar

B) Halle

C) Eisenach

D) Salzburg

Answer · why

C) Eisenach

Eisenach. The half-timbered house opened there in 1907 as his birthplace, now the Bach museum, proved to be the wrong one, and the house where he was ...

Q 02/05

To which musical period does Bach belong?

A) The late Baroque

B) The early Romantic

C) The Renaissance

D) The Classical

Answer · why

A) The late Baroque

The late Baroque. The era is usually dated from about 1600 to 1750, the year he died, and he held to its dense counterpoint while his own sons turned ...

Q 03/05

What happened in Bach's childhood that sent him to live with his eldest brother in Ohrdruf?

A) His school burned down

B) Both his parents died

C) His father lost his post

D) His family fled a plague

Answer · why

B) Both his parents died

Both his parents died, his mother in 1694 and his father early in 1695. He and his brother Jacob moved in with their eldest brother, an organist who g...

Q 04/05

In a story from his obituary, what did the young Bach secretly do by moonlight while living with his brother?

A) Composed a cantata

B) Played the church organ

C) Copied music

D) Practised the clavichord

Answer · why

C) Copied music

Copied music. The story goes that he spent six months of moonlit nights copying a book of keyboard pieces his brother had refused to lend him, only fo...

Q 05/05

How did the teenage Bach earn free schooling at St Michael's in Lüneburg?

A) Ringing its bells

B) Singing in its choir

C) Pumping its organ bellows

D) Sweeping its floors

Answer · why

B) Singing in its choir

Singing in its choir. The Matins choir was reserved for poor boys with good voices and paid for their schooling and keep; his voice broke soon afterwa...