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Music

102 questions in this category
Q: Why did Toscanini put down his baton and walk out in the middle of act III during the premiere of Puccini's Turandot at La Scala in 1926?
A: Because Puccini had died leaving it unfinished: 'Qui finisce l'opera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto'
Q: Which three tenors formed the Three Tenors?
A: José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti
Q: What was the title of the Eurythmics only number one hit in the UK?
A: "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)". "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" only made it to number 2 in the UK although it achieved #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States
With thanks to Mr Lucky for fine tuning the question
Q: In Shanghai in 2000, the biggest ovation was when a soldier 'swept a trail of road apples' behind an elephant, camels, horses... what opera was it?
A: Aida
Q: Who composed the symphonic sketches known as 'La Mer'?
A: Claude Debussy
With thanks to Mike Mooney from Leeds for correcting this question
Q: Which chant, traditionally performed before certain sports events, starts with the following words (in its own language): It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life (bis) - This is the hairy man - Who brought the sun and caused it to shine
A: The Ka Mate, the traditional Haka performed by the All Blacks
With thanks to Lynda Finn in New Zeland for fine tuning the question
Q: Who wrote the song 'White Christmas' (made famous by Bing Crosby)?
A: Irving Berlin
Q: Who recorded the 70's disco song "You're My First, My Last, My Everything"?
A: Barry White
Q: A cappella is vocal music without instrumental accompaniment, but what does it mean?
A: As in chapel or in church
With thanks to Anthony Anchors for fine tuning the answer
Q: Who skipped the light fandango with sixteen vestal virgins?
A: Procol Harum in a Whiter Shade of Pale
Q: U2 is the best selling music act from Ireland but who is the most successful (in terms of record sales) individual performer (2011)?
A: Enya (Eithne Ní Bhraonáin)
Q: Who was the lead singer of the band Them in the 1960s and has had a very successful solo career ever since?
A: Van Morrison
Q: What kind of musical instrument is a bodhrán?
A: A frame drum
Q: Which band started life as 'Feedback' and then became 'The Hype' before settling on their current name?
A: U2
Q: Who had a chart hit in 1981 with Vienna?
A: Ultravox
Q: Who sang "Walk on the Wild Side" in 1973?
A: Lou Reed
Q: What are bow strings made of?
A: Horse tail hairs
Q: Which group backed Martha Reeves?
A: The Vandellas
Q: How many strings has a balalaika?
A: Three or sometimes three pairs
Q: In which Puccini opera do friends ply their landlord with drinks to avoid paying the rent?
A: La Bohème
Q: Who holds a trumpet on the Sgt. Pepper album?
A: Ringo
Q: Who had a 1993 album called 'Diva'?
A: Annie Lennox
Q: This is a Spanish-based question What is the name of the musical based on the group 'Mecano'?
A: Hoy no me puedo levantar
Q: Who is Vincent Furnier better know as?
A: Alice Cooper
Q: Which musical instrument did Karen Carpenter play?
A: Drums
Q: Percussionists have strange demands made of them by composers - to operate tape recordings of nightingales or to bash Rolls Royce springs, for example. In "The Rite of Spring" a percussionist must drop a tambourine absolutely flat on the floor, so it does not roll. Which composer made this unreasonable demand?
A: Igor Stravinsky
Q: This is a Spanish-based question A distinguished Spanish classical guitarrist, who played an unusual instrument with several extra strings, died recently. What was his name?
A: Narciso Yepes
Q: Against the advice of her friends, Carmen (in Bizet's opera) leaves the bullring to see Don José outside. What is the result of the meeting?
A: He kills her
Q: Chuck Berry wrote the first song that The Rolling Stones recorded. Which was it?
A: Come On, in 1963
Q: Elvis Presley had a hit with a Carl Perkins song. Which one?
A: Blue Suede Shoes
Q: Haydn's catalogue contains 104 symphonies, Mozart's 41. How many did Beethoven and Schubert write each? (They wrote the same number.)
A: Nine
Q: How many hours from Tulsa was Gene Pitney in 1963?
A: 24
Q: If a violinist broke her G-string, she would have three strings left. Name the note to which any of them is tuned.
A: E (mi ) A (la) D (re)
Q: In which opera do you find Lieutenant Pinkerton?
A: Madame Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini
Q: On which LP cover can we read the words: 'Welcome the Rolling Stones'? (Snow White is also on the cover)
A: Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Q: The Beatles had several earlier names. Which wasn't one of them: The Quarrymen, Johnny and the Moondogs, The Silver Beatles, Rory Storme and the Hurricanes?
A: Rory Storme & the Hurricanes. It was Ringo's band before joining.
Q: The Hard Rock Café is named after one side of an album by which band?
A: The Doors
With thanks to John Polias for correcting this question
Q: The Who had an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. What for?
A: The loudest band, in London on May 31 1976, 120 decibels at 50 yards
Q: What comes out of the little tap that drains a French horn (and other brass instruments)?
A: Water, the result of condensation (not spit or saliva)
Q: What does the Bee Gees name mean?
A: Bill Gates and Bill Goode (Racetrack promoter Bill Goode saw them perform at Brisbane's Speedway Circuit and introduced them to Bill Gates who renamed them after his and Goode's initials)
Q: What is a Gopak?
A: A lively two beat time Russian or Ukrainian dance
Q: What is a Hurdy-Gurdy?
A: A pear shaped fiddle having strings that are sounded by the friction of a rosined wheel on the strings which are stopped by keys
Q: What is Eric Clapton's nickname?
A: Slowhand
Q: This is a Spanish-based question What is the name of Beethoven's only opera, set in Spain?
A: Fidelio
Q: What is the nickname of Haydn's Symphony no. 101 in D major?
A: The Clock Symphony
Q: What is the smallest size of a grand piano?
A: A baby grand
Q: What runs for 2,200 miles from Michigan Avenue in Chicago to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California?
A: Route 66
Q: What was Sting before he became a rock star?
A: A teacher
Q: Where does Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" take place?
A: Cornwall
With thanks to Brian Holt for correcting this question
Q: Who are Moon Unit, Diva, Dweezil, and Ahmet Rodan?
A: Frank Zappa's children
Q: Who is Declan Patrick McManus better known as?
A: Elvis Costello
Q: Who is Steveland Morris better known as?
A: Stevie Wonder
Q: Who was Janis Joplin referring to when she said "I can't go out the same year because he's a bigger star"?
A: Jimi Hendrix
Q: Which recording company was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1960?
A: Motown
Q: Who was Derek in 'Derek and the Dominoes'?
A: Eric Clapton
Q: 'They say the neon lights are bright'. Where according to the song?
A: On Broadway
Q: Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe played with which band?
A: The Beatles
Q: Who has an album called 461 Ocean Boulevard?
A: Eric Clapton
Q: 'The Ballad of Mackie Messer' is the opening and closing lament of The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. By what name is it popular in versions by Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin and others?
A: Mack the Knife
Q: 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' was the 17th and last number one hit for the Beatles in the UK and it mentions getting married in a place 'near Spain'. Where did John Lennon and Yoko Ono get married?
A: Gibraltar on 20 March 1969
Q: Who wrote hits such as 'Me and Bobby McGee', 'Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down', and 'Help Me Make It Through the Night'?
A: Kris Kristofferson
Q: Tom Tom Club was formed by two members of which famous band?
A: Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Talking heads
Q: Who had their first major hit in 1965 with 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling'?
A: The Righteous Brothers
Q: The name of which musical instrument derives its name from the Greek for 'wood' and 'voice' meaning 'wooden sound'?
A: Xylophone (from xylon and phone)
Q: Which British singer sang at JFK's inaugural ball and the 2007 Glastonbury Festival, and is the only person so far to have sung the theme song on more than one James Bond film (3)?
A: Shirley Bassey (sang on Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker)
Q: Which song tells the story of an itinerant worker making tea at a bush camp and taking a sheep to eat? When the sheep's owner arrives with three policemen, he drowns himself in the watering hole and goes on to haunt the site.
A: Waltzing Matilda
Q: Who created the 'Wall of Sound' music production technique in the 1960s?
A: Phil Spector
Q: Whose band was called the Tijuana Brass?
A: Herb Alpert
Q: What was Elvis Presley's main backup group called?
A: The Jordanaires
Q: Which was the first posthumous US pop chart no. 1?
A: (Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding, recorded three days before his death on December 10th, 1967 and released in January 1968
Q: This is a Spanish-based question Only two Spanish acts have ever reached no. 1 on the US Hot 100. Who?
A: Los del Rio (Macarena in 1996) and Enrique Iglesias (Bailamos in 1999 and Be With You in 2000)
Q: 'Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words' is the first line of which song?
A: Killing Me Softly With His Song
Q: What is Paul McCartney's middle name?
A: Paul, his first name is James
Q: Which song by whom? 'Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars, it's a hundred thousand light years side to side. It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick, but out by us it's just three thousand light years wide. We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point, we go 'round every two hundred million years. And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions, in this amazing and expanding universe.'
A: 'The Universe Song' by Monty Python in 'The Meaning of Life'
Q: Which musical opens with the song 'Food Glorious Food'?
A: Oliver!
Q: The first line of this song refers to whom? 'The most interesting thing about King ... is that he was five foot six inches tall at the start of his reign, but only four foot eight inches tall at the end of it'
A: Charles the First, from 'Oliver Cromwell' by Monty Python
Q: In which two operas does the character 'Figaro' appear?
A: 'The Barber of Seville' and 'The Marriage of Figaro'
Q: How was the 18th Century singer Carlo Maria Broschi better known?
A: Farinelli
Q: Who was Cho-Cho San?
A: Madame Butterfly
Q: What is an Opera Buffa?
A: A comic opera
Q: Who were the comedians and the rock group associated with 'A Night at the Opera'?
A: The Marx Brothers and Queen
Q: What is known as a Dudelsack or Doedelzak in Germany and the Netherlands, a Biniou or Musette de cour in France, a Zampogna in Italy, or Sackpfeiffe in Switzerland?
A: Bagpipes
Q: What's the name of the wind instrument considered to be the national instrument of the Aboriginal people of Australia? It is a hollow tube between 1 and 3 metres long, technically an aerophone.
A: Didgeridoo (or yirdaki)
Q: What is the name of the hole or holes in a guitar or other string instrument?
A: Sound hole
Q: Which two singers were killed in a light plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 3rd, 1959, together with the Big Bopper and the pilot?
A: Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens
Q: Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for which song?
A: Streets of Philadelphia
Q: Who did Jackie Paper love?
A: "Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea and frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lei. Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff and brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff"
Q: Which songs open with the line 'are you ready Steve, uhuh, Andy, yeah, Mick, ok all right fellers let's gooooooooooooooooooooooo'?
A: Ballroom Blitz (by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and originally performed by Sweet)
Q: In Bizet's "Carmen", what is the profession of Escamillo?
A: Bullfighter
Q: Which style of music was created in the late fifties by Antônio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto in Brazil?
A: Bossa Nova
Q: On which record label was The Beatles 'Hey Jude' released?
A: Apple
Q: Which British singer has the middle name Hercules?
A: Elton Hercules John
Q: Which jazz trumpeter was nicknamed Satchmo?
A: Louis Armstrong
Q: What is Bono's (of U2) real name?
A: Paul Hewson
Q: This is a Spanish-based question Which Spanish pop star composed the music for the Madrid bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games?
A: Nacho Cano
Q: The Beatles' 'Penny Lane' was on one side of a Double-A. What was on the other side?
A: Strawberry Fields Forever
Q: Who recorded the 1970 album 'Abraxas'?
A: Santana
Q: Who wrote the opera Turandot?
A: Puccini
Q: Which band did Ronnie Wood leave to join the Rolling Stones?
A: The Faces
Q: This is a Spanish-based question Who recorded 'No es lo mismo', the best-selling Spanish album in 2003?
A: Alejandro Sanz
Q: Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison all joined Elvis at which recording label in the 50s?
A: Sun Records
Q: Who composed 'Die Fledermaus' (The Bat)?
A: Johann Strauss

Acknowledgements

Questions compiled by Luis de Avendaño. Additional questions provided by Alex Carter, Antony Reid, Antonio Vázquez, Declan Forde, Peter Moore, Steve Owen, John Wirnsberger, Clive Mendes, and Jennifer Riggins.

Thanks also to Alan; Alan Boxall; Alan Chapple; Andy Corder and Mick Watts; Andy Henderson at the Breeze Beer Garden in Thailand; Anthony Anchors; Barbara Ridgely; Bob Clarke; Bren Murphy of The Irish Rover; Brian Holt; Carter Young; Chris; Chris Goode and Nic Crequer; Chris O'Byrne; Chris Wilkins; Claire Ambler, Billy Painter and Richard Painter; Colin Dinnie; Colin Hurst; Damian Considine; Dan Hall; Dave Cohen, ex-teammate; Dave Harrop; Dave Love and Andy Bell; David Heslop; David Keen; David Regal; Diane Peake; Esther Ford; Fithi Garza; Geoff Swaine; George Holdstock; George Pitchley and Colin Hurst; Gerry O'Sullivan of Killarney; Godfrey Donaldson of Jeffreys Bay, South Africa; Graham Jones; Harry Winfield, question master of the Marina Alta Pensionisters Association in Benitachell, Alicante, Spain; Ian; Ian Gerrard; Jake Whiteman; Jeff Hicks; Jim Welsh; Jimmy Rafferty; Joe Bicarregui; John Polias; Jonathan Burt; Jurgen Lobert; Karim Nanji, Entertainments Officer, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London; Keith Woodcock from Chippenham; Ken G. Fisher of Toronto; Kevin Magill of the Cayman Islands; Kirsty Taylor; Lesley Melvin; Lucy Boulding; Luke Williams in Switzerland; Lynda Finn in New Zeland; Lynne and Thierry in Paris, and Steve Hall in Angola; Matt Jones; Mike Healy and Carol Balster; Mike Jones; Mike Mooney from Leeds; Mike O'Shea; Mr Lucky; Neil Robinson in New Zealand; Nick Dadds; Nick Dodd; Nick Wilde; Nicola Wood; Oscar Nolan from Dublin; Remo Anniyan; RKN; Rolland Willa; Ross Stewart of Auckland, New Zealand; Russ Hall; Sam Jones PhD, South Wales; Sebastien D. Fortas; Shelley; Sinead Fisher; Steve Rose; Steven Malan; Susanne; Suzy Fewtrell of New Zealand; Ted Bollard from Dublin; Terry Denham; Tim Sharples; Tony Newman; Yvonne Steyn from Somerset West, South Africa; and many others for correcting, amending and fine tuning the questions and answers.

Please send corrections and amendments to These questions have all been used at the Moore's Irish Pub quiz (formerly O'Donnell's) and at Triskel. New questions are added at irregular intervals. However, if 102 music questions are not enough, we recommend you check TriviaBug.

Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, Whitaker's Almanac, The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Collins Gem Fact File, Diccionario Enciclopédico Espasa 1 and Wikipedia.. This page layout was last updated on Thursday, June 20th, 2019 @ 1:30pm CEST (Europe/Madrid).

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