# Chamber quiz (for experts?)



## oisfetz

OK. This one would be a little complicated, but you're experts, don't you?

1) What work is "Les Vendredis" (Fridays). 
2) A certain guy wrote some dissonant and dodecaphonic pieces, including a terribly
difficult solo violin sonata. He is very famous an admired by many...but not as a 
composer. Who is he?
3) A belgian composer, died young, wrote one of the most beautiful violin and piano sonatas (IMHO) .Ferras,Menuhin and others recorded it. But it's seldom played live.
4) Who transcribed the 2 Brahm's string sextets for piano trio? (and extraordinary
transcriptions there are IMO).
5) A very early LvB SQ was never published in his time. He rewrote it chanding many parts. It was published in his definitive version as Op.? No? The Amadeus SQ recorded the 
first version.
6) Name the SQ in which Hindemith played the viola and his brother the cello. I've one
of the recordings they made.
7) Name the most important russian chamber composer of the 19th.century. Every time
the "amateurs" Borodin,Mussorsky etc.had a technical problem, they came to him for
advice.
8) What work is name "B-La-F" ?, Who wrote it and as an hommage to ?
9) One of the most important viola sonatas was written by a very famous 19th.
century german composer. Almost never plays it now. It's rather dark and somber,
very rare for this composer who was..?
10) An all stars string quartet ensamble. They made a handful or recordings, but
the member follow his own careers. The name was that of the founder who play...
Oskar Shumsky was first violin. Name the ensamble.

There you are!. Hope will take a time (that's is, if you don't google)


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## opus67

As usual, a naive guess from me...10. Grumiaux&Co
Edit: Just _Wiki_ed it, and that's not the correct answer.


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## ChamberNut

oisfetz said:


> 2) A certain guy wrote some dissonant and dodecaphonic pieces, including a terribly
> difficult solo violin sonata. He is very famous an admired by many...but not as a
> composer. Who is he?
> 
> 7) Name the most important russian chamber composer of the 19th.century. Every time
> the "amateurs" Borodin,Mussorsky etc.had a technical problem, they came to him for
> advice.
> 
> 9) One of the most important viola sonatas was written by a very famous 19th.
> century german composer. Almost never plays it now. It's rather dark and somber,
> very rare for this composer who was..?


ChamberNut wishes he were ChamberExpert, but alas. 

My answers for # 2, 7 and 9

2) Fritz Kreisler

7) Balakirev

9) Brahms


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## oisfetz

ChamberNut said:


> ChamberNut wishes he were ChamberExpert, but alas.
> 
> My answers for # 2, 7 and 9
> 
> 2) Fritz Kreisler
> 
> 7) Balakirev
> 
> 9) Brahms


Niet, Niet and Niet. Sorry.


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## Manuel

I don't really think number three is Cesar Franck.


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## oisfetz

Of course not. Franck v.s.is one of the most well known and famous. I wouldn't choose
him for this game. Anybody has Franck. This is for experts like you all.


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## oisfetz

OK, you'll need some help:

1) It's a collective work
2) He wasn't a violinist
4) Manuel (and I) know the name of the composer. We hear it many times every day.
6) That quartet should be loved
7) He was a professor, a virtuoso pianist, an eximian contra-puntist, friend and mentor
of the five and of Thaikovsky. His chamber corpus is extraordinary
9) Everybody-and I mean everybody- knows the composer, but few know this viola
sonata. A splendid work, almost nobody plays live.
10) The founder of the quartet made a very successful career for many years. He was
a scott.


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## Manuel

A tough quiz. Can I purchase some answers offering you some string quartets by Lukas Foss?


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## Manuel

7. Glinka? If someone deserves to be named as the father of the russian music, that must be him. I don't know if he composed so many chamber works, though. I have his string quartets, a sextet and a divertimento over Bellini...

I hereby confess I am, if you forgive the rustic semantics from this southwestern hemisphere expression, _en bolas_.


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## ChamberNut

Manuel said:


> 7. *Glinka*? If someone deserves to be named as the father of the russian music, that must be him. I don't know if he composed so many chamber works, though. I have his string quartets, a sextet and a divertimento over Bellini...
> 
> I hereby confess I am, if you forgive the rustic semantics from this southwestern hemisphere expression, _en bolas_.


Manuel, my first instinct was to say Glinka, and then I changed my mind and chose Balakirev because Glinka died when Borodin and Mussorgsky were only toddlers.


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## oisfetz

That's right. The guy I ment was borne at half 18s. and died in the first
decade of the 19s.
Decisive help: He gave first Tchaik.p.c. for the first time in public.


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## Manuel

oisfetz said:


> That's right. The guy I ment was borne at half 18s. and died in the first
> decade of the 19s.
> Decisive help: He gave first Tchaik.p.c. for the first time in public.


Taneyev? (It could not have been one of the Rubinstein brothers, I think)


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## opus67

9. Oooh...ooh...Mendelssohn...Mendelssohn!


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## oisfetz

YES! Sergei Taneyev and Felix. I advice you to try to get any Taneyev you find, in particular
his chamber works. And or course his Suite for violin and orch,by Oistrakh-Malko.
And the Felix's viola sonata is just great!
There's also an Alexander Taneyev (distant relative) who wrote 3 beautiful SQ.


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## Manuel

oisfetz said:


> YES! Sergei Taneyev and Felix. I advice you to try to get any Taneyev you find, in particular
> his chamber works.


I have some of them. His and Vainberg's were my top chamber discoveries last year. The latter's piano quintet being now one of my favorite works



oisfetz said:


> And or course his Suite for violin and orch,by Oistrakh-Malko.


Also available for cello and orchestra.


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## oisfetz

So? No more answers? It's not so difficult!
OK, go to the web and get some. Or if you prefer, I'll end the game.


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## opus67

I think getting answers off the web will be too easy, at least for seemingly straightforward questions as these, and no fun at all. (Now, if you had asked us to identify some obscure violinist with a so-so 19thC photo, then that would have been something different! ) Maybe you could conduct each quiz for a certain period, say a week, and then give the answers out for any unanswered questions at the end of that period.

That's just my 0.02 units of <insert favourite currency>.


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## oisfetz

OK, let's give this week. But you can begin remembering who was Mr.Mitrofan Belaieff, and the surname of the present Argentine's President.


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## Beethoven

DUH! The answer is obviously 50 cent


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## oisfetz

Yes, of course you'r right. But that answer applies to 4 of the questions.
Be specific please.


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## oisfetz

OK, Time is out. It seems that my little game was too much for you.Sorry.

Les Vendredis is a colective collection of 16 short pieces for SQ, by Glazunoff, Borodin,Rimsky,Liadov,Sokoloff and others. Fridays, those guys and more join at the mansion of Mitrofan Belaieff, a very rich merchant, amateur violist,editor,mecenas and friend. They play together SQ and drank inmense quantities of vodka. Those pieces
were written for those gatherings, and published later.

There's an original version of op.18 No.2. LvB revised and retitlled Op.18 No 1

Schnabel was a composer trained on the Wienn Scholl. He left some very hard pieces,
including one almost unplayable solo violin sonata

Try to find the few recordings of the Amar-Hindemith SQ.

Theodor Kirchner (1823-1903) transcribed Brahm's sextets to piano trio

Rimsky,Liadov,Borodin and Glazunoff wrote each one mouvement of the "B-La-F"
SQ, in honor to Belaieff.

Oskar Shumsky,Josef Gingold,William Primrose and Harvey Shapiro were the team 
of the short-lived Primrose SQ

Guillaumme Lekeu composed one of the most beautiful violin sonatas of all time, IMHO.


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## Manuel




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## oisfetz

Manuel: the name Kirchner sounds familiar?


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## Manuel

oisfetz said:


> Manuel: the name Kirchner sounds familiar?


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