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Johann Sebastian Bach
Contributed by: Newell
  • 1. When was Johann Sebastian Bach born?
A) 1735
B) 1720
C) 1685
D) 1650
  • 2. In which country was Bach born?
A) Austria
B) Italy
C) Germany
D) France
  • 3. Which instrument did Bach primarily play?
A) Organ
B) Piano
C) Violin
D) Flute
  • 4. What is the name of the collection of preludes and fugues written by Bach?
A) Musical Offering
B) Mass in B minor
C) The Well-Tempered Clavier
D) Brandenburg Concertos
  • 5. Which famous composer claimed, 'Bach is the father, we are the children'?
A) Beethoven
B) Brahms
C) Haydn
D) Mozart
  • 6. What was the name of Bach's first wife?
A) Maria Barbara
B) Anna Magdalena
C) Regina Susanna
D) Elisabeth Juliana
  • 7. Bach's music is often associated with which period?
A) Classical
B) Baroque
C) Romantic
D) Modern
  • 8. Which prelude from Bach's solo cello suites is the most famous?
A) Prelude in D minor
B) Prelude in G major
C) Prelude in E major
D) Prelude in C major
  • 9. Who was the first biographer of Johann Sebastian Bach?
A) Mendelssohn
B) Schumann
C) Brahms
D) Forkel
  • 10. Where was Johann Sebastian Bach born?
A) Köthen
B) Weimar
C) Eisenach
D) Leipzig
  • 11. Who precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829?
A) Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
B) Felix Mendelssohn
C) Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach
D) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
  • 12. What title was granted to Bach by Augustus III of Poland in 1736?
A) Thomaskantor
B) Director of Collegium Musicum
C) Court composer of the Elector of Saxony
D) Organist at St. Thomas Church
  • 13. Which city did Bach serve as Thomaskantor?
A) Leipzig
B) Eisenach
C) Arnstadt
D) Mühlhausen
  • 14. Which of the following is a choral work by Bach?
A) Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
B) Cello Suites
C) Goldberg Variations
D) St. Matthew Passion
  • 15. Which of the following is a famous solo instrumental work by Bach?
A) Cello Suites
B) Mass in B minor
C) The Well-Tempered Clavier
D) Brandenburg Concertos
  • 16. Which of these works showcases Bach's mastery of counterpoint?
A) Goldberg Variations
B) The Art of Fugue
C) Brandenburg Concertos
D) St. Matthew Passion
  • 17. How many children of Bach became composers?
A) Two
B) Six
C) Eight
D) Four
  • 18. Which city did Bach work in as a musician for Protestant churches after returning to Thuringia in 1703?
A) Köthen
B) Leipzig
C) Arnstadt
D) Eisenach
  • 19. What type of music did Bach compose for Leipzig University's student ensemble?
A) Brandenburg Concertos
B) Cello Suites
C) St. Matthew Passion
D) Collegium Musicum
  • 20. What is a notable feature of Bach's compositions?
A) Mastery of counterpoint
B) Focus on solo piano works
C) Primarily secular themes
D) Use of electronic instruments
  • 21. Which instrument did Bach enrich with his compositions, including concertos and suites?
A) Keyboard
B) Percussion
C) Guitar
D) Bassoon
  • 22. What was one of the main reasons for Bach's difficult relations with his employers?
A) Lack of musical talent
B) Religious conflicts
C) Financial disagreements
D) His responsibilities and expectations
  • 23. Which of these works is a famous keyboard composition by Bach?
A) Mass in B minor
B) Brandenburg Concertos
C) Goldberg Variations
D) St. Matthew Passion
  • 24. Who was Johann Sebastian Bach's father?
A) Vitus Bach
B) Johann Christoph Bach
C) Johann Pachelbel
D) Johann Ambrosius Bach
  • 25. What was the name of Johann Sebastian Bach's uncle who may have introduced him to the organ?
A) Georg Böhm
B) Vitus Bach
C) Johann Christoph Bach
D) Johann Pachelbel
  • 26. Which composer was not mentioned as an influence on Johann Sebastian Bach during his time with his brother?
A) Johann Pachelbel
B) Johann Caspar Kerll
C) Dieterich Buxtehude
D) Georg Böhm
  • 27. What instrument did Johann Sebastian Bach's father presumably teach him?
A) Violin
B) Organ
C) Clavichord
D) Harpsichord
  • 28. How did Johann Sebastian Bach likely travel to St Michael's School in Lüneburg?
A) By horseback
B) In a carriage
C) Mostly on foot
D) On a ship
  • 29. What did Johann Sebastian Bach have access to at St Michael's School?
A) An orchestra for practice
B) Exclusive manuscripts of famous composers
C) A private tutor for music theory
D) The school's comprehensive musical library
  • 30. How many children did Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara have together?
A) Thirteen
B) Four
C) Seven
D) Six
  • 31. In which year did Bach marry Anna Magdalena Wilcke?
A) 1720
B) 1713
C) 1721
D) 1707
  • 32. How many of Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena's children survived into adulthood?
A) Thirteen
B) Four
C) Seven
D) Six
  • 33. What was the name of Bach's first child with Maria Barbara?
A) Johann Gottfried Bernhard
B) Catharina Dorothea
C) Elisabeth Juliane Friederica
D) Regina Susanna
  • 34. Which composer did Bach meet in Lübeck that influenced his understanding of fugue?
A) Prince Leopold
B) Johann Adam Reincken
C) Dieterich Buxtehude
D) P. D. Kräuter
  • 35. Which city did Bach travel to for a 450-kilometre journey each way in 1705-1706?
A) Lübeck
B) Mühlhausen
C) Köthen
D) Weimar
  • 36. Which cantata did Bach write for the inauguration of the new council in Mühlhausen?
A) Concerto for Organ solo in C major, BWV 595
B) Organ Concerto No.1 in G Major, BWV 592
C) Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4
D) Gott ist mein König, BWV 71
  • 37. In which year did Johann Sebastian Bach leave Mühlhausen?
A) 1723
B) 1708
C) 1717
D) 1730
  • 38. In which year was Bach dismissed from his position in Weimar?
A) 1723
B) 1717
C) 1730
D) 1708
  • 39. What type of music did Bach primarily compose during his time in Köthen?
A) Secular music
B) Religious cantatas
C) Operas
D) Choral works
  • 40. Which of the following is NOT a work composed by Bach during his time in Köthen?
A) Cello Suites
B) Orchestral suites
C) Brandenburg Concertos
D) Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
  • 41. Which concerto by Vivaldi was later attributed to Alessandro Marcello, influencing Bach's transcription BWV 974?
A) A cello concerto
B) A viola da gamba concerto
C) An oboe concerto
D) A violin concerto
  • 42. What was Bach's opinion of Leipzig's city council?
A) Indifferent
B) Supportive
C) Generous
D) Penny-pinching
  • 43. Which principle did 'Christ lag in Todes Banden' follow?
A) Per omnes versus
B) Binary form
C) Through-composed
D) Strophic form
  • 44. What type of music did Jean-Baptiste Lully introduce at the French court that influenced Bach?
A) Slow and stately movements
B) Lively ballets with rapid rhythm
C) Ornamentation
D) Four-part harmony
  • 45. Which composers' music did Bach transcribe or adapt in the older polyphonic style between 1740 and 1748?
A) Palestrina, Kerll, Torri, Bassani, Gasparini, Caldara
B) Lully, Charpentier, Couperin, Rameau
C) Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Corelli, Telemann
D) Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert
  • 46. When did the peak interest in numerological analyses of Bach's work occur?
A) During his lifetime
B) Around the 1970s
C) In the early 20th century
D) In the late 19th century
  • 47. On what date did Johann Sebastian Bach die?
A) 31 December 1749
B) 15 March 1750
C) 1 January 1750
D) 28 July 1750
  • 48. In which decade did Bach write and arrange his harpsichord concertos?
A) The 1740s
B) The 1720s
C) The 1710s
D) The 1730s
  • 49. Which composer's dance-based movements influenced Bach's keyboard suites?
A) Jean-Baptiste Lully
B) Antonio Vivaldi
C) George Frideric Handel
D) François Couperin
  • 50. In Bach's sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, how are the instruments treated?
A) Both as continuo parts.
B) One as a soloist and the other as accompaniment.
C) Neither is featured prominently.
D) As equal soloists.
  • 51. How many lute-harpsichords were part of Johann Sebastian Bach's estate?
A) One
B) Two
C) Four
D) Three
  • 52. From which composer did Bach borrow the idea of propulsive rhythmic patterns?
A) Corelli
B) Marcello
C) Vivaldi
D) Torelli
  • 53. How many violins did Johann Sebastian Bach own at the time of his death?
A) One
B) Five
C) Three
D) Six
  • 54. What is the status of Bach's music for the St Mark Passion?
A) Both the music and the libretto are lost.
B) It is lost, but the libretto by Picander is extant.
C) The music was found in 1735.
D) Bach's music for it survives intact.
  • 55. What instrument did Johann Sebastian Bach play a fugue on during his visit to King Frederick the Great?
A) Harpsichord
B) Clavichord
C) Fortepiano
D) Organ
  • 56. Who wrote to the Leipzig burgomasters requesting a new music director upon Bach's eventual decease?
A) King Frederick the Great
B) Johann Christoph Altnickol
C) Lorenz Christoph Mizler
D) Heinrich von Brühl
  • 57. Which composer's influence was not confined to Italy and affected chamber music development, including Bach's work?
A) Giuseppe Torelli
B) Arcangelo Corelli
C) Benedetto Marcello
D) Antonio Vivaldi
  • 58. Which composer said 'Bach is the father, we are the children.'?
A) Ludwig van Beethoven.
B) Joseph Haydn.
C) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
D) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
  • 59. In which of Bach's works is the operatic vocal style evident, despite not being an opera?
A) Coffee Cantata
B) Christmas Oratorio
C) Well-Tempered Clavier
D) Brandenburg Concertos
  • 60. In which decade did Bach begin having the organ play concertante with the orchestra?
A) The 1720s
B) The 1740s
C) The 1710s
D) The 1730s
  • 61. What type of harmony is central to Bach's compositional style?
A) Five-part harmony
B) Four-part harmony
C) Three-part harmony
D) Two-part harmony
  • 62. What does the term 'fugue' derive from?
A) French, referring to a musical journey.
B) Latin for "flight" or "escape."
C) Greek, meaning "to sing together."
D) Italian, indicating a fast-paced composition.
  • 63. How many harpsichords were part of Johann Sebastian Bach's estate?
A) Seven
B) Three
C) Five
D) Two
  • 64. What was the cause of Johann Sebastian Bach's death?
A) Pneumonia
B) A stroke without prior complications
C) Complications due to unsuccessful eye surgery
D) Natural causes
  • 65. In which year were Johann Sebastian Bach's remains moved to a vault in St John's Church?
A) 1750
B) 1800
C) 1900
D) 1894
  • 66. Which of the following was NOT a feature of Bach's musical style?
A) Counterpoint
B) Four-part harmony
C) Use of continuo instruments
D) Opera compositions
  • 67. Which institution received a substantial collection of Bach manuscripts from Abraham Mendelssohn in 1805?
A) Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
B) Breitkopf & Härtel
C) Berlin Sing-Akademie
D) Bach-Gesellschaft
  • 68. What type of books were included in Johann Sebastian Bach's estate, totaling 52?
A) Fictional novels
B) Historical manuscripts
C) Sacred books
D) Science textbooks
  • 69. Who is credited with the invention of the French overture?
A) Johann Sebastian Bach
B) François Couperin
C) George Frideric Handel
D) Jean-Baptiste Lully
  • 70. In which year was The Art of Fugue published?
A) 1775
B) 1749
C) 1751
D) 1760
  • 71. Which city is Leipzig located in?
A) Saxon
B) Hessian
C) Bavarian
D) Prussian
  • 72. What year was Johann Sebastian Bach's obituary published?
A) 1754
B) 1750
C) 1760
D) 1775
  • 73. What is the term for music with a simple sequence of notes accompanied by a bass?
A) Homophony
B) Counterpoint
C) Polyphony
D) Monody
  • 74. What was the reason Bach did not meet Handel in 1719?
A) Bach lost his way
B) Handel had left town
C) Bach decided to stay in Köthen
D) The meeting was canceled by Leopold
  • 75. Which genre did Bach NOT explore extensively in his lifetime?
A) Suites
B) Concertos
C) Chorale preludes
D) Opera
  • 76. What instrument did Johann Sebastian Bach own that is similar to a cello but played differently?
A) Viola da gamba
B) Mandolin
C) Harp
D) Double bass
  • 77. In what year was Johann Sebastian Bach appointed Thomaskantor in Leipzig?
A) 1730
B) 1714
C) 1701
D) 1723
  • 78. How many years did Bach hold the position of Thomaskantor?
A) 30
B) 15
C) 27
D) 20
  • 79. Which of Bach's compositions is a set of six chorale preludes transcribed from cantata movements?
A) Schübler Chorales
B) Musical Offering
C) Art of Fugue
D) Goldberg Variations
  • 80. What type of keyboard instrument, smaller than a harpsichord, was part of Johann Sebastian Bach's estate?
A) Spinet
B) Piano
C) Organ
D) Clavichord
  • 81. How did Italian composers influence church music during Bach's time?
A) They imitated the operatic vocal style.
B) They used only German styles.
C) They avoided ornamentation.
D) They simplified liturgical compositions.
  • 82. On what date was Bach's St Matthew Passion first performed?
A) Good Friday, 23 March 1731
B) Good Friday, 11 April 1727
C) Easter Sunday, 1728
D) Christmas Day, 1727
  • 83. Who was instrumental in passing Bach's legacy on to the composers of the Viennese school?
A) Gottfried van Swieten.
B) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
C) Johann Sebastian Bach himself.
D) Ludwig van Beethoven.
  • 84. What did Bach add to his keyboard arrangement of Marcello's Oboe Concerto?
A) Simplified harmonies.
B) Explicit ornamentation.
C) A new melody line.
D) Additional instruments.
  • 85. Which Marian feast did Lutheran Leipzig observe on 25 March?
A) Visitation
B) Immaculate Conception
C) Annunciation
D) Assumption of Mary
  • 86. Which composer shunned opera and Italian virtuoso vocal music?
A) Handel
B) Bach
C) Telemann
D) Kuhnau
  • 87. In which year did Bach visit the court of King Frederick the Great in Potsdam?
A) 1745
B) 1749
C) 1747
D) 1750
  • 88. Who invited Handel to visit the Bach family in Leipzig in 1730?
A) The court secretary
B) Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
C) Johann Sebastian Bach himself
D) Wilhelm Friedemann, Bach's oldest son
  • 89. In what musical system did Johann Sebastian Bach's style primarily reside?
A) Modal system
B) Tonal system
C) Polyphonic system
D) Monophonic system
  • 90. In which mode is Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue written?
A) D Dorian
B) A Phrygian
C) G Lydian
D) E Aeolian
  • 91. Who was the Elector of Saxony that also became King of Poland and appointed Bach as an honorary member?
A) Georg Philipp Telemann
B) Johann Kuhnau
C) Frederick Augustus
D) Christoph Graupner
  • 92. Who was Johann Sebastian Bach's daughter that married his pupil in January 1749?
A) Maria Barbara Bach
B) Elisabeth Juliane Friederica
C) Anna Magdalena Bach
D) Catharina Dorothea Bach
  • 93. In which periodical journal was Johann Sebastian Bach's obituary published?
A) Musical Times
B) The Leipzig Gazette
C) Mizler's Musikalische Bibliothek
D) Harmonia Mundi
  • 94. What was the basis for much of Bach's work?
A) English madrigals
B) The Lutheran chorale
C) Italian opera
D) French overture
  • 95. Which composer was a significant Italian influence on Johann Sebastian Bach?
A) Antonio Vivaldi
B) Arcangelo Corelli
C) Giuseppe Torelli
D) Benedetto Marcello
  • 96. Who performed eye surgery on Johann Sebastian Bach in March and April 1750?
A) Elias Gottlob Haussmann
B) John Taylor
C) George Frideric Handel
D) Lorenz Christoph Mizler
  • 97. How many new works did Bach compose for liturgical occasions in his first year?
A) None
B) Only a few
C) Almost all
D) Just one or two
  • 98. Which position did Bach hold in Leipzig that involved teaching Luther's Small Catechism?
A) Kapellmeister
B) Court composer
C) Cantor at the Thomasschule
D) Thomaskantor
  • 99. What was a significant focus of Bach's compositions that led to numerological analyses?
A) Harmony
B) Melody
C) Structure
D) Rhythm
  • 100. In which year did the Annunciation fall on Palm Sunday?
A) 1725
B) 1723
C) 1729
D) 1727
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