Back in the day, the only way you could play a game of Classical Music "Name That Tune" would be to dust off your
record player and "drop the needle" somewhere randomly on the LP in order to challenge your music-loving friends
on their knowledge of the classical repertoire. See how well you fare with the tests I've constructed below.
It's only a few centuries or so of music history.
record player and "drop the needle" somewhere randomly on the LP in order to challenge your music-loving friends
on their knowledge of the classical repertoire. See how well you fare with the tests I've constructed below.
It's only a few centuries or so of music history.
For each selection, try to determine the following: (1) the stylistic period, (2) the composer of the work, and (3) if you can,
the name of the work. Getting the EXACT name of the work will be difficult in many cases. However, given the distinct stylistic traits featured in each selection, try to make a guess on the identity of a piece of music based on what you know, even if the name of the work doesn't come to you immediately. Above all, the point of these tests are to help you reconnect with the great stylistic breadth of the repertoire AND possibly introduce you to important works by noted composers. No problem if you didn't get the score you wanted. In the end, what's most important is that you develop a great appreciation for what's out there!
There are two types of tests:
If you need to replay a track, just position your cursor ABOVE any of the tiny Beethoven images which demarcate
the start of each example. Answers are posted all the way at the bottom of this page in the order of the individual
audio selections.
Please take a moment to LIKE my page and feel free to send me feedback using the form below. I'd love to hear from you.
Have fun and good luck!
the name of the work. Getting the EXACT name of the work will be difficult in many cases. However, given the distinct stylistic traits featured in each selection, try to make a guess on the identity of a piece of music based on what you know, even if the name of the work doesn't come to you immediately. Above all, the point of these tests are to help you reconnect with the great stylistic breadth of the repertoire AND possibly introduce you to important works by noted composers. No problem if you didn't get the score you wanted. In the end, what's most important is that you develop a great appreciation for what's out there!
There are two types of tests:
- Tests 1, 2, and 3 feature music prior to 1945
- Tests 4 and 5 feature music after 1945
If you need to replay a track, just position your cursor ABOVE any of the tiny Beethoven images which demarcate
the start of each example. Answers are posted all the way at the bottom of this page in the order of the individual
audio selections.
Please take a moment to LIKE my page and feel free to send me feedback using the form below. I'd love to hear from you.
Have fun and good luck!
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 1, Music before 1945
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 2, Music before 1945
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 3, Music before 1945
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 4, Music after 1945
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 5, Music after 1945
Answers are posted at the bottom of this page.
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Answers to the Drop-the-Needle Listening Tests
Answers are listed in the order they appear. (Scroll Carefully!)
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 1, Music before 1945
- Hector Berlioz - "Orgy of the Brigands", Harold in Italy, op. 16, movt. 4
- Johannes Brahms - Piano concerto no. 2 in B-flat major, op. 83, movt. 2
- Claudio Monteverdi - "Deus in Auditorium," Vespers of 1610
- Hildegard von Bingen – Ordo Virtutum
- Carl Orff - "Ego sum abbas," Carmina Burana, part II
- Alban Berg - Violin Concerto, movt. 1
- Franz Liszt - Piano Concerto no. 1 in E-flat major, S. 124, finale
- Dmitri Shostakovich - Passacaglia, Violin Concerto no. 1 in A minor, op. 77, movt. 3 * (*Caveat: composed in 1947)
- Samuel Barber - Violin Concerto, movt. 1
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Concerto for Flute and Harp in C major, K. 299/297c, movt. 1
- Gustav Mahler - "Revelge," Das Knaben Wunderhorn
- Sergei Prokofiev - "Capulets and Montagues," from Romeo and Juliet, op. 64, Act I, scene ii
- Franz Schubert - Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, "Trout," movt. 3 to 4
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043, movt. 1
- Arnold Schoenberg - Five Pieces for Orchestra, movt. 3
- Modest Mussorgsky - "Coronation Scene," Boris Godunov, Part I, Scene ii
- Ludwig van Beethoven - Gloria, Missa Solemnis in D major, op. 123
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Gloria, "Great" Mass in C minor, K. 427
- Antonio Vivaldi - Gloria in D, RV. 589, movt. 1
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake, finale
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 2, Music before 1945
- Leoš Janáček - Entrada-Exodus, Glagolitic Mass
- Heinrich Schütz - Musikalische Exequien, movt. 1
- Silvestre Revueltas - Sensemaya
- Charles Ives - "Fourth of July," Holidays Symphony, movt. 3
- Robert Schumann - Symphony no. 3 in E-flat, op. 97, "Rhenish," movt. 1
- Igor Stravinsky - Violin Concerto in D, movt. 1
- Richard Wagner - Overture to Rienzi
- Paul Hindemith - Cello Concerto
- Anton Bruckner - Symphony no. 8 in C minor, WAB 108, movt. 4
- Antonín Dvořák - Symphony no. 8 in G major, op. 163, movt. 1
- Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony no. 8 in F major, op. 93, movt. 1
- Gregorio Allegri - Miserere
- Maurice Ravel - La Valse
- Giacomo Puccini - "O soave fanciulla," La Boheme
- Claude Debussy - La Mer, movt. 3, finale
- Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachinana Brasilieras no. 2
- Richard Strauss - Variation no. 2, "Battle with the Sheep," Don Quixote
- François Couperin - "Les Barricades Mystérieuses," Second Book of Harpsichord Suites (1717)
- Johannes Brahms - Violin Sonata no. 1 in G major, op. 78, movt. 1
- Igor Stravinsky - Firebird Suite, finale
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 3, Music before 1945
- Felix Mendelssohn – Octet for Strings, movt. IV, Presto
- Joaquín Rodrigo – Concierto de Aranjuez, movt. 2
- Carlo Gesualdo - "Moro, Lasso," Sixth Book of Madrigals for five voices
- Béla Bartók - Violin concerto no. 2, movt. 1
- Gioacchino Rossini - William Tell Overture
- Pérotin - Viderunt Omnes
- Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring
- Guillaume de la Machaut - Kyrie, La Messe de Notre Dame
- Frédéric Chopin - Prelude in E minor, op. 28, no. 4
- Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade, op. 35, movt. 1, "The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship"
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony no. 4 in F minor, op. 36, movt. 1
- Josquin Desprez – "El Grillo"
- Igor Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms, movt. 1, "Exaudi orationem meam, Domine"
- Tomás Luis de Victoria - Kyrie, Requiem
- Franz Joseph Haydn - Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major, movt. 3
- Sergei Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, op. 18, movt. 1
- Giuseppe Verdi, "Anvil Chorus," Il Trovatore
- Gustav Holst - The Planets, movt. 1, "Mars, the Bringer of War"
- Ludwig van Beethoven - Violin Sonata no. 9 in A major, op. 47, "Kreutzer," movt. 1
- Edgard Varèse - Ionisation
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 4, Music after 1945
- Olivier Messiaen -Turangalîla-Symphonie, movt. 2
- Philip Glass - "Pruit Igoe," Koyaanisqatsi
- Michael Daugherty - Sing, Sing: J. Edgar Hoover
- Arvo Part - I. Ludus, Tabula Rasa
- Giya Kancheli - Mourned by the Wind
- Luciano Berio - Sinfonia, movt. 3
- Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music
- György Ligeti - Dies Irae, Requiem
- John Adams - Violin Concerto, movt. 3
- Krzysztof Penderecki - Capriccio for oboe and chamber orchestra
- Krzysztof Penderecki - Credo
- Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gesang der Junglinge
- Caroline Shaw - Allemande, Partita for 8 Voices, movt. 1
- Alfred Schnittke - Rondo, Concerto Grosso no. 1, movt. 5
- Morton Feldman - the Viola in my life
- John Cage - 4’33”
- Leonard Bernstein - Overture to Candide
- Sofia Gubaidulina - Offertorium for solo viola and orchestra
- Morten Lauridsen - Lux Aeterna, movt. 1
- Eric Whitacre - Godzilla Eats Las Vegas! for concert band
Drop-the-Needle Listening Test no. 5, Music after 1945
- Christopher Rouse – Gorgon for orchestra
- Benjamin Britten – Dies Irae, War Requiem
- Arvo Pärt – Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
- David Lang - Cheating, Lying, Stealing for mixed ensemble
- Henryk Górecki - Symphony no. 3, op. 36, movt. I, Lento-Sostenuto tranquillo ma cantabile
- Louis Andriessen, De Staat for large ensemble
- Jacob TV (Jacob Ter Veldhuis) - The Garden of Love for oboe and boombox
- Philip Glass, Violin Concerto, movt. 1
- Giacinto Scelsi, Uaxuctum, movt. 1
- John Adams – “News has a kind of mystery,” Nixon in China, Act I
- Claude Vivier – Zipangu for string orchestra
- John Corigliano – Symphony no. 1, movt. 1
- Steve Reich, Tehillim for large ensemble
- Jennifer Higdon, Violin Concerto, movt. 1, “1726”
- Giya Kancheli – Night Prayers for string quartet and tape
- George Crumb, Black Angels for amplified string quartet
- György Ligeti – Aventures for three singers and seven instrumentalists
- Iannis Xenakis, Kraanerg, opening
- Pierre Boulez, VI. “Bourreaux de solitude,” Le Marteau sans Maître for alto voice and six instrumentalists
- Julia Wolfe, Fuel for string orchestra