# Classical Music Geography Quiz



## Guest (May 6, 2014)

You're landing at the Sergey Prokofiev International Airport. Where are you?

Thanks to Google this is incredibly easy to answer. But anyone who answers correctly should also follow up with another geography question related to classical music.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Donetsk, Ukraine.

You shouldn't need Google for this one - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Airport.


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

Salzburg, Austria ?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Uh, Salzburg? [Oops; Omega beat me to it.]

You're in Utah, and you run into a French composer wearing a beret and whistling bird songs. Where are you?


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

Bryce Canyon or Zion Park !


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

Bryce Canyon.
Give me a moment to pose my question ...


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

Oops, Omega beat me to it. Your turn, Omega.


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

You are in a dark place in a Scottish island...


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

Fingal's Cave? That housed a certain Felix?


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

Definitely!
Your turn...


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

In which US city would a French composer have been seduced by _mermaids_?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

What happens if nobody can guess?


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

Then you send me a hundred smakeroos!


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

But I'll give you a clue, Ingélou (that rhymes, by the way!)
_Mermaid_ is a synonym of s----.


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

Did someone compose a concerto for a chorus of firemen, policemen and their siren ?


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

Nearly there, Omega. A piece written by a French composer that features a siren, depicting a city in _America_.


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

One poster on this forum uses the composer's name as their avatar!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> Nearly there, Omega. A piece written by a French composer that features a siren, depicting a city in _America_.


Varese, "Amériques," specifically, Manhattan. (P.s. The piece uses taped sounds along with orchestral forces.)


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

Give that man a cigar. A cheap one, because the correct spelling is _Amériques_. Your turn!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> Give that man a cigar. A cheap one, because the correct spelling is _Amériques_. Your turn!


Arthur Berger, born in New York, but associated with a place via a stylistic 'school' of composing, which lands Arthur in _______ .
His woodwind quartet (no fair reading info on link


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

He hang around in trattorias?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> Give that man a cigar. A cheap one, because the correct spelling is _Amériques_. Your turn!


Thank you for the handy diacritical mark, which I copied and pasted... a bit COD with marks and punctuation today, are we?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> He hang around in trattorias?


Dunno, but I would have happily had a coffee and sandwich with Arthur, _or his contemporaries: Irving Fine; Lukas Foss; Harold Shapero; Ingolf Dahl, a.o._


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

PetrB said:


> Thank you for the handy diacritical mark, which I copied and pasted... a bit COD with marks and punctuation today, are we?


Nah, I'm always like that. As I am with missing sharps and flats. Mistakes like that change the pronunication, the sound.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

this is like a cryptic crossword - I recognise some of the answers when they are shown to me but struggle to work out the answers to the clues on my own


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> Nah, I'm always like that. As I am with missing sharps and flats. Mistakes like that change the pronunication, the sound.


It is more, I think, about rhythm and phrasing, like a measure where the notation does not add up


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

That would be Boston?


Best regards, Dr


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

DrKilroy said:


> That would be Boston?
> Best regards, Dr





PetrB said:


> Arthur Berger, born in New York, but associated with a place via a stylistic 'school' of composing, which lands Arthur in _______ .
> His woodwind quartet (no fair reading info on link


a-Yep! .........................


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Dr

It's your turn


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

Sorry for the late reply.  

This might be a bit obscure - which Swiss city would you associate with a concerto in D written by a rather ugly (according to a known poll) composer?


Best regards, Dr


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Stravinsky & Basel?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Ok, I guess it's my turn:

Bach wrote a Requiem Mass (really?) in a city....

Which city?


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

1733 Leipzig first revision


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## Guest (May 7, 2014)

I think it may be too tricky to require each answer to be followed by a question. So let's drop that rule. From now you can ask or answer whenever you like!

Ok, so, you're up inside an old church tower where a famous 20th century composer was born and raised. Where are you?


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

GioCar said:


> Stravinsky & Basel?


I was sleeping already when you posted this, but now I can ensure you that you are correct. 

Best regards, Dr


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

clara s said:


> 1733 Leipzig first revision


This is the Mass in B min. I meant a real latin Requiem (with the Dies Irae, etc...)

Sorry, this is not the correct answer ...


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Johann Christian Bach? Does that make the answer London?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

SimonNZ said:


> Johann Christian Bach? Does that make the answer London?


Right & wrong...

Small clue: very easy for me


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

BPS said:


> I think it may be too tricky to require each answer to be followed by a question. So let's drop that rule. From now you can ask or answer whenever you like!
> 
> Ok, so, you're up inside an old church tower where a famous 20th century composer was born and raised. Where are you?


You're in St. Jacob's church, Polička, Czech Republic in whose tower the town fire warden Ferdinand Martinů and his family lived.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Nereffid said:


> You're in St. Jacob's church, Polička, Czech Republic in whose tower the town fire warden Ferdinand Martinů and his family lived.



View attachment 41391

Wow. Penthouse flat, room w/ a view!


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

GioCar said:


> Right & wrong...
> 
> Small clue: very easy for me


not fair to reject my Johann S. Bach mass hahaha

but if you want Christian's requiem, Milan 1757

of course it's easy for you, since he was playing it in Duomo


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

clara s said:


> not fair to reject my Johann S. Bach mass hahaha
> 
> but if you want Christian's requiem, Milan 1757
> 
> of course it's easy for you, since he was playing it in Duomo


Very good! Give that lady a... well, not a cigar, let's say a rose bouquet? 
A small one, because the "premiere" was not in Duomo but in San Fedele church (close to the Duomo, anyway)


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

You're listening to _Brahms' 3rd racket_...where are you?


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> You're listening to _Brahms' 3rd racket_...where are you?


Heh... Barcelona?


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

GioCar said:


> Very good! Give that lady a... well, not a cigar, let's say a rose bouquet?
> A small one, because the "premiere" was not in Duomo but in San Fedele church (close to the Duomo, anyway)


a 0.5 carat diamond will do nicely

tante grazie

yes you are good, it was in San Fedele

with Alessandro Manzoni's statue outside... veeeery nice place


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Couac Addict said:


> You're listening to _Brahms' 3rd racket_...where are you?


Los Angeles I presume


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

clara s said:


> Los Angeles I presume


Because Arnold Schoenberg was humming it as he lobbed a ball into George Gershwin's side of the court?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> You're listening to _Brahms' 3rd racket_...where are you?


Probably I'm wrong, but I googled it and... Torquay?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

clara s said:


> a 0.5 carat diamond will do nicely
> 
> tante grazie
> 
> ...


Hey! you know my town quite well! :clap:

Sorry, I can afford a (small) rose bouquet only


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

You're in the middle of a Corpus Christi parade, where are you?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Deep in the heart of Texas?


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Better hint: a Spaniard with a fantastic mustache-beard combo is sitting at the piano


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## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

I sense this is Albéniz-related?


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## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

Is it Seville, by any chance?


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

BaronScarpia said:


> Is it Seville, by any chance?


Yep.  Corpus Christi en Seville from the first Iberia book


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

GioCar said:


> Hey! you know my town quite well! :clap:
> 
> Sorry, I can afford a (small) rose bouquet only


of course, especially galleria vittorio emanuele hahaha

rose bouquet is OK, any color


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Manxfeeder said:


> Because Arnold Schoenberg was humming it as he lobbed a ball into George Gershwin's side of the court?


nap, Brahm's third racket are playing in smaller courts, like santa monica pier hahaha


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

GioCar said:


> Probably I'm wrong, but I googled it and... Torquay?


Torquay it is!


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

OK, here's one:
Which of Haydn's named symphonies is farthest from his birthplace?
And which of Mozart's is farthest from _his_ birthplace?


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Oxford and Paris, respectively?


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

SimonNZ said:


> Oxford and Paris, respectively?


You fell for my trap! The answers are Mercury and Jupiter. :devil:


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

I love it! I intend to use that at some point and claim it as my own!


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## Guest (May 8, 2014)

If you sent your _highly-strung_ daughter Joanna on a torturous trip by sea and road, where would she end up and under whose harsh but formerly sensitive hands?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Manxfeeder said:


> Because Arnold Schoenberg was humming it as he lobbed a ball into George Gershwin's side of the court?


Kyo Yoshida ~ _I got rhythm and played tennis with Mr. Schoenberg_


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

Are we stuck on posting #63? Would we like a clue?


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

TalkingHead said:


> Are we stuck on posting #63? Would we like a clue?


Is it a Sweeney Todd thing?


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

'Sright, Science! A Cockney thing.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

TalkingHead said:


> 'Sright, Science! A Cockney thing.


Your memory of the plot is different than mine so I'm not sure I can get the answer right anyway, but I guess the answer is Fleet Street and the hands are Todd's?


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

Sorry Science, not the answer I was looking for. The answer depends on how you interpret a _Joanna_. If you Google 'Joanna' in Cockney slang ...


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

TalkingHead said:


> Sorry Science, not the answer I was looking for. The answer depends on how you interpret a _Joanna_. If you Google 'Joanna' in Cockney slang ...


Piano?

Yeah, I'm not gonna get it. I don't know Cockney slang from Saterland Frisian. But I've set someone up for the answer!


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

Yes, "Joanna" = "Piano". So, a famous piano went on a long and arduous trip by ship and road (around 1817) to end up in a famous *European* city under the harsh (though previously very sensitive) hands of a *very famous composer*.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

TalkingHead said:


> If you sent your _highly-strung_ daughter Joanna on a torturous trip by sea and road, where would she end up and under whose harsh but formerly sensitive hands?


My first reaction was to think this alluded to the film of The Piano


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

A fair reaction. But this piano didn't end up in New Zealand.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

I'm sensing that its going to be a Beethoven piano that ended up being "ravished" by Liszt. But i don't know where or when.


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

OK, bingo !!
http://www.sjsu.edu/beethoven/research/beethoven_the_broadwood_fortepiano/


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

So, in summary: the Broadwood piano was shipped from London to Vienna (see route in the link above) to end up under the 'harsh' hands of Beethoven (because of increasing deafness he bashed it around somewhat).
Your turn now!


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> If you sent your _highly-strung_ daughter Joanna on a torturous trip by sea and road, where would she end up and under whose harsh but formerly sensitive hands?





TalkingHead said:


> So, in summary: the Broadwood piano was shipped from London to Vienna (see route in the link above) to end up under the 'harsh' hands of Beethoven (because of increasing deafness he bashed it around somewhat).
> Your turn now!


:tiphat:

Turandot is an amateur


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

"highly-strung daughter Joanna" 

Oh, I get it....


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

Moving forward....

There was a famous composer who supposedly escaped from cannibals, then became a cellist in an opera company. My geography question is this - in what city was that opera company located?

Hint: if you guess the composer the city is pretty easy.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Villa-Lobos & Rio?


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## Guest (May 9, 2014)

Yep! :tiphat: 

Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep!


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Ok, my turn.

Please look at the *TC Top Recommended Lists *in this forum (thread: Compilation of the TC Top Recommended Lists, all posts)

Who was the composer born northernmost and where was he/she born? And the southernmost?

Enjoy!


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

Sibelius was born in Järvepää (what a strange spelling) which is 60° 28′ 30″ North (just a bit more than Helsinki where Saariaho comes from). But maybe I missed some other nordic composers...


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

southern

Villa Lobos Rio de Janeiro?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

omega said:


> Sibelius was born in Järvepää (what a strange spelling) which is 60° 28′ 30″ North (just a bit more than Helsinki where Saariaho comes from). But maybe I missed some other nordic composers...


Sibelius died in Järvepää. He was born in Hämeenlinna which is even northernmost (about 61°), but he is the second one.
Anyway, very good :tiphat:, not so easy.

There is a guy coming from Lapland...perhaps with a passion for Harley-Davidson...
His name is quite obscure to me, I have to admit, but he is listed there.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

clara s said:


> southern
> 
> Villa Lobos Rio de Janeiro?


Not really...He is actually the most famous composer of his country, but it's not Brazil...


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

GioCar said:


> Not really...He is actually the most famous composer of his country, but it's not Brazil...


So, was Peter Sculthorpe born in Tasmania? And the answer is yes - in Launceston. Beating out Douglas Lilburn's Wanganui by a couple of degrees


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

dgee said:


> So, was Peter Sculthorpe born in Tasmania? And the answer is yes - in Launceston. Beating out Douglas Lilburn's Wanganui by a couple of degrees


Good, but are they mentioned in the *TC Top Recommended Lists *thread? I cannot find them.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Didn't know that was the criteria! Ginastera then?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Ginastera! :tiphat:

PS Born in Buenos Aires


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

GioCar said:


> There is a guy coming from Lapland...perhaps with a passion for Harley-Davidson...
> His name is quite obscure to me, I have to admit, but he is listed there.


Ah, the Motorbike Concerto!
Jan Sandström, born in Vilhelmina, Sweden, 64.6ºN.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

yes! :tiphat:

PS quite useful this exercise at least for me. Made me discover many works I have never heard of (one of these is just above).
Honestly I don't go very often to those lists ...


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## Guest (May 12, 2014)

Ok, here's another composer-trivia-question-masquerading-as-a geography-question.

This composer fought against Napoleon, then later was sent to live in exile back in his home town! Today he is best known for one very good song about a bird which he composed while in prison.

Where was his home town?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

*Tobolsk*, since the composer is Alyabyev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Alyabyev

Here´s another one:

this composer wrote a religious mystery-opera, a lot of instrumental works including symphonies and string quartets, and a lesser known piano cycle inspired by the poet Tagore. In what country did he often go on summer holidays, besides his native country?


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

I was tempted to say Carpenter but Gitanjali was one of his better known works so beats me


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Interesting answer, but not the one I was thinking of.


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## Guest (May 12, 2014)

I'm gonna guess Sweden, purely on the basis of some googling. I came up with Rued Langgaard - Antichrist as a religious mystery-opera, plus lots of symphonies and string quartets, and a piano work titled Summer Holidays in Blekinge. Couldn't find any connection to Tagore though.

Wait: Rued Langgaard: Gitanjali-Hymner (Gitanjali Hymns), BVN 149

Am I right?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Yes, Sir!

Langgaard took many holidays in Sweden, mostly close to Copenhagen. Especially on the lovely, rocky Kullaberg peninsula ("Kullen"), with the villages Mölle, Arild and Brunnby, where he also played on the church organ. Kullen-related scenery is partly described in his piano concerto, the 1st, 10th and 12th symphonies, and some small piano works.

On this website, Langgaard´s photo albums are reproduced, including photos from Sweden http://www.langgaard.dk/liv/fotoal/home.htm'

A Danish site on the subject http://www.langgaard.dk/liv/kort/skort/skort-1.htm


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

he had his first music lessons by a student of Alexander Scriabin,

he was a member of the communist party,

his thesis in the university was about reinforced concrete...

with the fear of being exiled, he escaped to a nearby country.

which country was this?


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## Guest (May 13, 2014)

Can we safely assume that his thesis was not a musical composition about reinforced concrete?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

BPS said:


> Can we safely assume that his thesis was not a musical composition about reinforced concrete?


Ah, but was it about Musique concrète?


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## Guest (May 13, 2014)

clara s said:


> he had his first music lessons by a student of Alexander Scriabin,
> he was a member of the communist party,
> his thesis in the university was about reinforced concrete...
> with the fear of being exiled, he escaped to a nearby country.
> which country was this?


France. Xenakis.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

clara s said:


> he had his first music lessons by a student of Alexander Scriabin,
> 
> he was a member of the communist party,
> 
> ...





TalkingHead said:


> France. Xenakis.


Doh, of course... (I guess it would have been too obvious to mention he was Le Corbusier's assistant for some years


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

BPS said:


> Can we safely assume that his thesis was not a musical composition about reinforced concrete?


sorry for the delayed reply, time gap over the ocean

his thesis not...

but later yes, when he developed composing methods, 
related not only to reinforced concrete, but prestressed as well hahaha


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

PetrB said:


> Ah, but was it about Musique concrète?


e-xa-cte-ment monsieur PetrB


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

TalkingHead said:


> France. Xenakis.


very nice but

80% of the marks

he first escaped to Italy, the nearby country to Greece, and then passed to France


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## Guest (May 13, 2014)

Hah! 
OK, my turn, a bit cryptic: which 19th-century composer fancied "Egyptian rites" when he shuttled off his mortal coil and under which pipes does he now sleep for eternity?


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

PetrB said:


> Doh, of course... (I guess it would have been too obvious to mention he was Le Corbusier's assistant for some years


aaaaaa that would be even bigger as a clue, than telling his name from the beginning

i did not even mention the Fibonacci sequence hahaha


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

TalkingHead said:


> Hah!
> OK, my turn, a bit cryptic: which 19th-century composer fancied "Egyptian rites" when he shuttled off his mortal coil and under which pipes does he now sleep for eternity?


Anton? Saint Florian? his favourite organ? embalming of his body according to the ancient egyptian rites?


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## Guest (May 13, 2014)

Gosh, that was quick! Yes, you're absolutely right, Anton Bruckner, embalmed and sleeping for eternity under his belovèd organ in St Florian's.


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## Guest (May 13, 2014)

You guys are out of my league! I'm still looking for a Soviet composer who was also a civil engineer.


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

Tanich wrote songs and was a civil engineer but he was like Sir Tim Rice to Lord Lloyd-Webber so not a composer in my eyes so that'd probably be Verstovsky


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

What's no.3 in this sequence?

1. A memorial sculpture on Beacon Street, Boston.
2. Connecticut's oldest state park.
3. ?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

The Housatonic River! Ives' Three Places in New England.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> The Housatonic River! Ives' Three Places in New England.


Yes! Specifically "at Stockbridge", of course.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

BPS said:


> You guys are out of my league! I'm still looking for a Soviet composer who was also a civil engineer.





RudyKens said:


> Tanich wrote songs and was a civil engineer but he was like Sir Tim Rice to Lord Lloyd-Webber so not a composer in my eyes so that'd probably be Verstovsky


Russian composer who was an experienced civil engineer, specialized in fortifications,
was Cesar Cui, a member of the five.
He was an instructor to his field for many years.

Verstovsky was a civil engineer, but as it seems, he never worked in his profession.


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## Guest (May 15, 2014)

Ok, here's an easy one....

Which republic commissioned one of it's most famous composers to write it's anthem?


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

BPS said:


> Ok, here's an easy one....
> 
> Which republic commissioned one of it's most famous composers to write it's anthem?


its more than one

shall I say or shall i wait for a while?


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## Guest (May 15, 2014)

Maybe you could give one answer then challenge the group to name another one !


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

Bocanegra and Mexico to start the ball rolling from me.


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## Guest (May 16, 2014)

Bocanegra was a poet who wrote the lyrics! There's at least one more correct answer.

By the way, I would emphasize "famous" and note that the work should have been written to serve as an anthem rather just being an earlier work later used as an anthem.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

now, leave the hidden information in a side ( i mean your last sentence) hahaha

earlier work or pure anthem, I do not care

your initial question was clear

so I start with Amadeus and Austria (and do not say Holzer)


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

BPS said:


> Ok, here's an easy one....
> 
> Which republic *commissioned* one of it's most famous composers to write it's anthem?





clara s said:


> ...
> your initial question was clear
> 
> so I start with Amadeus and Austria (and do not say Holzer)


Unless Wolfie was still alive in 1946, Austria couldn't commision him anything...


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Armenian SSR and Khachaturian?


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## Guest (May 16, 2014)

BPS said:


> Ok, here's an easy one....
> 
> Which republic commissioned one of it's most famous composers to write it's anthem?





GioCar said:


> Armenian SSR and Khachaturian?


This is the one I was looking for!!! Note the careful wording of the original question.

But there may be others. Baltics maybe?

If we include earlier pieces by famous composers, there's Germany using Haydn, possibly Austria using Mozart. And isn't Beethoven's 9th used as the anthem for the European Union?


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

GioCar said:


> Unless Wolfie was still alive in 1946, Austria couldn't commision him anything...


why not?

Austria commisioned him in 1791, to write the austrian national anthem of 1946...


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

BPS said:


> This is the one I was looking for!!! Note the careful wording of the original question.
> 
> But there may be others. Baltics maybe?
> 
> If we include earlier pieces by famous composers, there's Germany using Haydn, possibly Austria using Mozart. And isn't Beethoven's 9th used as the anthem for the European Union?


wow

first of all it is not the current anthem of Armenia, but OK

second it was the national anthem of Armenia when it was a soviet union republic.

this was a bit tricky, because saying "republic" i was looking for an independent republic
and not a soviet state, let's say.

anyway Khachaturian was a great composer


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

My turn:

Please list all composers (and countries) who were born in a country but, in their lives, became *much more* famous in another one.
The longest list wins!

Enjoy!


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Concerning the national hymns, Eisler wrote that of the former GDR, and another composer´s version was rejected; seems reasonable to talk of some sort of a "commission" in that case too
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auferstanden_aus_Ruinen


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## Guest (May 17, 2014)

GioCar - "much more famous" is a tricky criteria; so too, more subtly, is "in another country" (singular). And I don't even want to contemplate the complexities of the devolving Austro-Hungarian empire and other geographic changes.

I'll start....

1) George Frideric Handel - Germany >> England
2) Reynaldo Hahn - Venezuela >> France
3) Alexandre Tansman - Poland >> France
4) Charles Martin Loeffler - Germany >> USA
5) Ernest Bloch - Switzerland >> USA
6) George Enescu - Romania >> France
7) Pablo de Sarasate - Spain >> France


Not sure all these qualify.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Uhm...BPS, good remarks...
Let's say "in other countries". 
Actually I'd like to point out all composers who, although born in one country, lived and worked for almost all of their lives abroad, often assimilating the cultural traits and styles of the guest country/ies, and so have nothing (or very little) in common with their country of birth.
Does it make more sense?

Some examples from your list:
- Handel is ok, he moved to London when he was in his 20s and the vast majority of his works where written in England. We can say it's an "English" composer
- Bloch is borderline imo: although he took the U.S. citizenship, I cannot really say it's an American composer, his music is deeply rooted in jewish Europe.
- Enescu wouldn't be in my list: although he lived and worked abroad he is widely recognized as a Romanian composer, he never took other citizenships, there is a festival in his name in Bucharest, even the city airport holds his name...

There are others and very famous composers with my requirements...


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some more, though a few are debatable, since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the developement of modern media/the recording industry have meant some being re-installed in national canons etc.

1. *Boccherini* // Italy -> Spain
2. Kuhlau // Germany -> Denmark
3. *Chopin* // Poland -> France
4. Horatio Radulescu // Romania -> France
5. *Rachmaninov* // Russia -> USA
6. *Korngold* // Austria -> USA
7. Panufnik // Poland -> UK (debatable)
8. Karel Husa // Czechoslovakia -> USA (debatable)
9. *Martinu* // Czechoslovakia -> France, USA (debatable)
10. Ernst Toch // Austria -> USA (debatable)
11. Tubin // Estonia -> Sweden
12. Paul Juon // Russia -> Germany, Switzerland
13.* Medtner* // Russia -> UK 
14. Theodore Rousseau // Switzerland -> France (wrote operas etc.)
15. Alexander Tcherepnin // Russia -> France, USA
16. Jacob Avshalomov // China -> USA
17. John Fernström // China -> Sweden
18. Lekeu // Belgium -> France
19. *Clementi* // Italy -> UK
20. *Cherubini* // Italy -> France
21. *Offenbach* // Germany -> France
22. Marcel Mihalovici // Romania -> France


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Joen, excellent list but some quite famous (and more aligned with my requirements - see post #131) are still missing...
One of these was actually born in your country...

Handel (in the former list) and Offenbach (in your list) are good examples of what I mean.
Those born in China as well.


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

GioCar said:


> Joen, excellent list but some quite famous (and more aligned with my requirements - see post #131) are still missing...
> One of these was actually born in your country...
> 
> Handel (in the former list) and Offenbach (in your list) are good examples of what I mean.
> Those born in China as well.


I suspect Gade but am rubbish at this game


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

*Buxtehude* is quite known here too, and the related geography/history is complicated ... but it is probably correct that he became most famous in Germany.

*N.W. Gade* returned to Denmark after his success in Germany and kept a reputation here, as a conservatory director etc. His international break-through was in Germany, though.

*Langgaard* enjoyed a very brief success as a young composer in Germany, but never reached fame in his lifetime.

But *Asger Hamerik* also qualifies, settling in Baltimore though a Dane by birth, and quite forgotten when he returned to Denmark.


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## Guest (May 18, 2014)

I want to win for the shortest list, hereafter.
*Beethoven* : born in Bonn (Germany) but spent most of his famous life in Vienna (Austria).


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> I want to win for the shortest list, hereafter.
> *Beethoven* : born in Bonn (Germany) but spent most of his famous life in Vienna (Austria).


Damn how could I have missed the second biggest B


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## Guest (May 18, 2014)

Then there's *Varèse*, born in Paris but who spent the major part of his life in the USA.


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