Q 01/05

Which New York concert hall did violinist Isaac Stern lead the campaign to save from demolition?

A) Carnegie Hall

B) Radio City Music Hall

C) Avery Fisher Hall

D) Town Hall

Answer · why

A) Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall was set to be demolished once its main tenant planned a move to Lincoln Center, until Stern's campaign saved it; its largest auditorium ...

Q 02/05

Which Richard Strauss piece opens Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey?

A) Also sprach Zarathustra

B) Death and Transfiguration

C) An Alpine Symphony

D) Till Eulenspiegel

Answer · why

A) Also sprach Zarathustra

Also sprach Zarathustra was one of Kubrick's temporary tracks; he dropped Alex North's commissioned score, and North only found out at a screening.

Q 03/05

Which is the largest of an orchestra's four main sections?

A) The strings

B) The woodwinds

C) The brass

D) The percussion

Answer · why

A) The strings

The strings; orchestras field so many of them because massed string players give a fuller sound.

Q 04/05

The word 'orchestra' comes from the Greek name for what?

A) A circle of dancing priests

B) A large hall for public feasts

C) The space where the chorus danced

D) A tuned set of bronze bells

Answer · why

C) The space where the chorus danced

The space where the chorus danced sat in front of the skené, a backdrop whose name gave English the word 'scene'.

Q 05/05

What is the leader of the first violins, who sits to the conductor's left, called in the United States?

A) The concertmaster

B) The maestro

C) The Kapellmeister

D) The soloist

Answer · why

A) The concertmaster

The concertmaster also leads the tuning, and the conductor shakes the concertmaster's hand as a greeting to the whole orchestra.