ThatQuiz Test Library Take this test now
Ludwig van Beethoven - Quiz
Contributed by: Newell
  • 1. In which city was Ludwig van Beethoven born?
A) Paris
B) Vienna
C) Berlin
D) Bonn
  • 2. What instrument did Beethoven primarily play?
A) Cello
B) Violin
C) Piano
D) Flute
  • 3. Which symphony by Beethoven is known as the 'Eroica'?
A) Symphony No. 3
B) Symphony No. 5
C) Symphony No. 7
D) Symphony No. 9
  • 4. Which era of music did Beethoven bridge during his lifetime?
A) Romantic and Modern
B) Medieval and Renaissance
C) Baroque and Classical
D) Classical and Romantic
  • 5. Which of Beethoven's symphonies is famously known for its four-note opening motif?
A) Symphony No. 5
B) Symphony No. 7
C) Symphony No. 9
D) Symphony No. 3
  • 6. Who was Beethoven's famous letter addressed to, in which he revealed his deafness?
A) Für Elise
B) Moonlight Sonata
C) Eroica Symphony
D) Immortal Beloved
  • 7. In which year did Beethoven pass away?
A) 1869
B) 1799
C) 1827
D) 1750
  • 8. What was the title of Beethoven's only opera?
A) The Magic Flute
B) Fidelio
C) Madama Butterfly
D) Carmen
  • 9. What was Beethoven's nationality?
A) French
B) Italian
C) Austrian
D) German
  • 10. Beethoven was often associated with which musical key signature?
A) D major
B) F sharp major
C) A flat minor
D) C minor
  • 11. Which famous French general did Beethoven originally dedicate his third symphony to?
A) Napoleon Bonaparte
B) Maréchal Ney
C) Louis-Alexandre Berthier
D) Joachim Murat
  • 12. Who was Beethoven's first music teacher?
A) Christian Gottlob Neefe
B) Joseph Haydn
C) Johann van Beethoven
D) Franz Rovantini
  • 13. What was the profession of Ludwig van Beethoven's grandfather?
A) Conductor
B) Composer
C) Kapellmeister (music director)
D) Pianist
  • 14. Which city did Beethoven move to at the age of 21?
A) Vienna
B) Bonn
C) Berlin
D) Munich
  • 15. Who was one of Beethoven's patrons in Vienna?
A) Heinrich Keverich
B) Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky
C) Clemens August
D) Johann IX Philipp von Walderdorff
  • 16. What was Beethoven's relationship to the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne?
A) Cousin
B) Nephew
C) Son
D) Grandson through his father, who worked at the court
  • 17. Who was Beethoven's mother?
A) Helene von Breuning
B) Nannerl Mozart
C) Julie Guicciardi
D) Maria Magdalena Keverich
  • 18. What was Beethoven's birth date according to the baptism record?
A) 15 December 1770
B) 17 December 1770
C) 18 December 1770
D) 16 December 1770
  • 19. Which Beethoven sonata is dedicated to his pupil Julie Guicciardi?
A) Pathétique Sonata
B) Moonlight Sonata
C) Appassionata Sonata
D) Waldstein Sonata
  • 20. What was Beethoven's age at the time of his death?
A) 60
B) 65
C) 56
D) 50
  • 21. Which of Beethoven's works were published posthumously?
A) Eroica Symphony
B) Fifth Symphony
C) Ninth Symphony
D) Bagatelle "Für Elise"
  • 22. Which period of Beethoven's career is known for his classical style influenced by Haydn and Mozart?
A) First period (up to 1802)
B) Middle period (1802–1812)
C) Romantic period
D) Late period (1812–1827)
  • 23. Which Beethoven work is a pinnacle of the string quartet genre?
A) Ninth Symphony
B) Fifth Symphony
C) Eroica Symphony
D) Große Fuge
  • 24. Who instructed Beethoven on the violin?
A) Joseph Haydn
B) Christian Gottlob Neefe
C) Johann van Beethoven
D) Court concertmaster Franz Anton Ries
  • 25. Which Beethoven work was composed in 1798?
A) Moonlight Sonata
B) Pathétique Sonata
C) First Symphony
D) Eroica Symphony
  • 26. Who was Beethoven's most important teacher in Bonn?
A) Franz Wegeler
B) Christian Gottlob Neefe
C) Count Ferdinand von Waldstein
D) Maximilian Franz
  • 27. What was Beethoven's first published work?
A) Three piano sonatas (WoO 47)
B) Cantata for the death of Joseph II (WoO 87)
C) A set of keyboard variations (WoO 63)
D) Ballet Musik zu einem Ritterballett (WoO 1)
  • 28. What nickname were Beethoven's first three piano sonatas sometimes known by?
A) Waldstein
B) Kurfürst
C) Breuning
D) Haydn
  • 29. Who became a 'second mother' to Beethoven and taught him refined manners?
A) Anna von Schaden
B) Helene von Breuning
C) Maximilian Franz's wife
D) Johann van Beethoven
  • 30. Who commissioned Beethoven's first work for the stage?
A) Count Ferdinand von Waldstein
B) Christian Gottlob Neefe
C) Maximilian Franz
D) Franz Wegeler
  • 31. What ballet did Beethoven compose in 1791?
A) Leonore
B) Musik zu einem Ritterballett (WoO 1)
C) Fidelio
D) Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus
  • 32. When did Beethoven's mother die?
A) 1785
B) 1789
C) 1792
D) July 1787
  • 33. Which composer's spirit did Waldstein hope Beethoven would receive from Haydn?
A) Paisiello
B) Gluck
C) Beethoven
D) Mozart
  • 34. When was Beethoven first introduced to Joseph Haydn?
A) 1789
B) Late 1790
C) 1792
D) 1785
  • 35. In which year did Beethoven leave Bonn for Vienna?
A) 1789
B) 1801
C) 1792
D) 1794
  • 36. Who was the composer that Beethoven studied under to master counterpoint?
A) Albrechtsberger
B) Mozart
C) Salieri
D) Haydn
  • 37. Which instrument did Ignaz Schuppanzigh teach Beethoven?
A) Piano
B) Flute
C) Cello
D) Violin
  • 38. Who was Beethoven's brother that helped him with business dealings?
A) Joseph
B) Carl
C) Kaspar
D) Ferdinand
  • 39. Who did Beethoven have a piano 'duel' with in 1799?
A) Ferdinand Ries
B) Ignaz Moscheles
C) Joseph Wölfl
D) Daniel Steibelt
  • 40. What was the reaction to Beethoven's concert at Burgtheater on April 2, 1800?
A) The players ignored the soloist entirely
B) It was called 'the most interesting concert in a long time' by the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
C) Beethoven's works were not well received
D) It was universally praised without criticism
  • 41. Which company's proprietor presented Beethoven with a piano as a testimonial of esteem in England?
A) Yamaha
B) Steinway & Sons
C) Bechstein
D) Broadwood
  • 42. Who did Beethoven propose to in 1810?
A) Antonie Brentano
B) Therese Malfatti
C) Julie Guicciardi
D) Josephine Brunsvik
  • 43. Which building was Beethoven's most enduring residence in Vienna?
A) Beethoven House, Bonn
B) Beethoven Museum in Probusgasse
C) Pasqualatihaus (Mölker Bastei 8)
D) Beethovenhalle
  • 44. Who was the conductor during the first performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony?
A) Michael Umlauf
B) Johann Nepomuk Hummel
C) Ludwig van Beethoven
D) Anton Schindler
  • 45. For which play did Beethoven write incidental music commissioned by Goethe in 1810?
A) Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt
B) King Stephen
C) Egmont
D) The Ruins of Athens
  • 46. Who did Charles Rosen suggest Beethoven's early style was closer to?
A) Schubert and Liszt
B) Hummel or Muzio Clementi
C) Haydn and Mozart
D) Bach and Handel
  • 47. Who did Beethoven have a legal dispute with over custody of his nephew Karl?
A) A local magistrate
B) His brother Johann
C) Kaspar's widow Johanna
D) Therese Obermayer
  • 48. What did a review in Johann Nikolaus Forkel's Musikalischer Almanack compare Beethoven's early efforts to?
A) Contemporary virtuosos
B) Rank beginners
C) Classical masters
D) Mature composers
  • 49. In which year were Beethoven's remains moved to Vienna's Zentralfriedhof?
A) 1827
B) 1888
C) 1900
D) 1863
  • 50. Since what year has the Beethovenfest in Bonn been organized annually?
A) 1845
B) 2007
C) 1880
D) 2001
  • 51. Where did Beethoven move in 1802 to cope with his hearing loss?
A) Vienna
B) Cassel
C) Leipzig
D) Heiligenstadt
  • 52. Whose endorsement did Maelzel seek and obtain for his newly developed metronome in 1817?
A) Haydn's
B) Schubert's
C) Mozart's
D) Beethoven's
  • 53. Which musical period's devices did Beethoven incorporate in his late works?
A) Classical era
B) Baroque-era
C) Romantic era
D) Renaissance era
  • 54. What was particularly popular from the concert on 8 December 1813?
A) Seventh Symphony, Op. 92
B) Wellington's Victory (Op. 91)
C) Battle Symphony
D) The Allegretto movement
  • 55. What did Beethoven write under the introductory slow chords in the last movement of Op. 135?
A) "Der schwer gefasste Entschluss"
B) "Muss es sein?"
C) "Von Herzen—Möge es wieder—Zu Herzen gehn!"
D) "Es muss sein!"
  • 56. What did the Philharmonic Society in London send to Beethoven?
A) £100
B) A lifetime membership
C) A grand piano
D) A portrait of him
  • 57. Who originally suggested the idea of a symphony based on Napoleon?
A) Archduke Rudolf
B) E. T. A. Hoffmann
C) Czerny
D) General Bernadotte
  • 58. Who was the composer that Beethoven studied under for Italian vocal composition style?
A) Joseph Haydn
B) Johann Albrechtsberger
C) Ignaz Schuppanzigh
D) Antonio Salieri
  • 59. What illness did Beethoven attribute part of his reduced output between 1815 and 1819 to?
A) Inflammatory fever
B) Migraine
C) Rheumatism
D) Tuberculosis
  • 60. How much money did Beethoven lend to his brother Kaspar in 1813?
A) 1000 florins
B) 1500 florins
C) 500 florins
D) 2000 florins
  • 61. What did Beethoven call the F minor String Quartet, Op. 95?
A) Heroic Quartet
B) Dramatic Quartet
C) Quartetto serioso
D) Tragic Quartet
  • 62. Which city did Antonie Brentano move to with her husband?
A) Berlin
B) Munich
C) Vienna
D) Budapest
  • 63. What illness did Beethoven suffer from while writing the String Quartet No. 15?
A) Migraine
B) Rheumatism
C) A sudden illness
D) Tuberculosis
  • 64. What was the relationship between Beethoven and Josephine Brunsvik?
A) He never wrote to her.
B) He had a passionate correspondence with her.
C) They were married.
D) She rejected his proposal.
  • 65. What condition is believed to have caused Beethoven's hearing loss?
A) Otosclerosis
B) Neural degeneration
C) Auricular infection
D) Tinnitus
  • 66. In which year did Beethoven begin experiencing hearing loss?
A) 1802
B) 1824
C) 1798
D) 1815
  • 67. In which city is the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies located?
A) Bonn
B) Vienna
C) St. Louis
D) San Jose, California
  • 68. When did Beethoven's brother Kaspar die?
A) On 8 November 1812
B) In early 1813
C) In late 1820
D) On 15 November 1815
  • 69. How much did Beethoven set the price for each of the three string quartets commissioned by Prince Nikolai Galitzin?
A) 50 ducats per quartet.
B) 100 ducats per quartet.
C) 30 ducats per sonata.
D) 75 ducats per quartet.
  • 70. To whom did Beethoven write that he cherished admiration, love, and esteem since his youth?
A) Goethe
B) Rudolph
C) Antonie Brentano
D) Bettina Brentano
  • 71. In which year did Beethoven regain custody of his nephew Karl?
A) 1820
B) 1822
C) 1818
D) 1816
  • 72. Who read the funeral oration at Beethoven's requiem mass?
A) Joseph Mayseder
B) Anselm Hüttenbrenner
C) Franz Schubert
D) Heinrich Anschütz
  • 73. What do later writers seek to identify within Beethoven's generally accepted structure?
A) The influence of other composers
B) A fourth period
C) New compositions
D) Sub-periods
  • 74. When was the Beethoven Monument in Bonn unveiled?
A) August 1845
B) 2001
C) 1880
D) 2007
  • 75. What illness did Beethoven's brother Kaspar suffer from?
A) Pneumonia
B) Malaria
C) Cholera
D) Tuberculosis
  • 76. Who attended Beethoven until his death in December 1826?
A) Schindler
B) Andreas Ignaz Wawruch
C) Karl
D) Dr. Malfatti
  • 77. Who did Beethoven accuse of cheating or mismanaging ticket receipts?
A) Schindler
B) Michael Umlauf
C) Rudolph
D) Karl Holz
  • 78. To whom did Beethoven present the manuscript of the completed Missa solemnis on 19 March?
A) Rudolph
B) Michael Umlauf
C) Johann Friedrich Rochlitz
D) Louis XVIII
  • 79. Which works are considered Beethoven's 'late' quartets?
A) Composed between 1806–1814
B) Op. 18 quartets
C) Composed from 1824 onwards
D) Opp. 59, 74 and 95
  • 80. What was the name of the cantata Beethoven composed for the Congress of Vienna?
A) Der glorreiche Augenblick (The Glorious Moment)
B) Fidelio
C) An die Hoffnung
D) Wellington's Victory
  • 81. What was the financial outcome of Beethoven's subscription concert in April 1803?
A) It resulted in significant losses for Beethoven
B) It was a financial success
C) The concert was cancelled due to poor ticket sales
D) Beethoven had to refund all the tickets
  • 82. Which work was inscribed to Beethoven's foremost patron, pupil, and friend?
A) Missa solemnis
B) Ninth Symphony
C) Diabelli Variations
D) String Quartet No. 14
  • 83. How did Beethoven's nephew Karl perceive his uncle's involvement in his life?
A) As indifferent and distant.
B) As minimal and uninvolved.
C) As supportive and caring.
D) As an overbearing manner.
  • 84. Who prepared a piano score of Fidelio commissioned by Beethoven's publisher, Artaria?
A) Moscheles
B) Ludwig Spohr
C) Duke of Wellington
D) Johann Nepomuk Maelzel
  • 85. Which of Beethoven's works was dedicated in 1822?
A) Archduke Trio
B) Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt
C) F minor String Quartet
D) Egmont Overture
  • 86. What did Beethoven add to Moscheles' inscription on the piano score of Fidelio?
A) "O Man, help thyself."
B) "To success!"
C) "For art and glory."
D) "With God's guidance."
  • 87. What device did Beethoven use to communicate due to his deteriorating hearing?
A) Braille
B) Telegraph
C) Conversation books
D) Sign language
  • 88. In which city did Beethoven meet Goethe in 1812?
A) Berlin
B) Teplitz (now Teplice)
C) Vienna
D) Munich
  • 89. Which institution arose largely as a vehicle for performing Beethoven’s symphonies?
A) The art of conducting
B) Recording technology
C) The professional orchestra
D) The modern piano
  • 90. Which composer did Beethoven consider 'the greatest who ever lived'?
A) Johann Sebastian Bach
B) Claudio Monteverdi
C) George Frideric Handel
D) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • 91. Which category of Beethoven's compositions fits the three-period categorization most neatly?
A) Concertos
B) Piano sonatas
C) Symphonies
D) The quartets
  • 92. How many people are estimated to have attended Beethoven's funeral procession?
A) 5,000
B) 50,000
C) 20,000
D) 10,000
  • 93. Which publisher did Beethoven persuade to write a new finale for String Quartet No. 13?
A) Cramer
B) Schlesinger
C) Haslinger
D) Artaria
  • 94. In which year did Ludwig van Beethoven complete the Missa solemnis?
A) 1826
B) 1824
C) 1823
D) 1825
  • 95. Where did Beethoven recuperate after his illness in April 1825?
A) Vienna
B) Munich
C) Baden
D) Berlin
  • 96. Which phrase did Beethoven utter on 24 March 1827, indicating the end of his life?
A) "Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est"
B) "To be or not to be"
C) "Veni, vidi, vici"
D) "Carpe diem"
  • 97. Which work did Beethoven dedicate to Archduke Rudolf?
A) Fidelio
B) Mass in C, Op. 86
C) Violin Concerto
D) Archduke Trio Op. 97
  • 98. Which French monarch sent Beethoven a heavy gold medallion?
A) Napoleon Bonaparte
B) Louis XVIII
C) François I
D) Charles X
  • 99. Who was the proprietor of the Stein piano workshop that assisted Beethoven during his illness?
A) Nannette Streicher
B) Thomas Broadwood
C) Maelzel
D) Alois Jeitteles
  • 100. When did Beethoven's late period begin?
A) The decade 1790–1800
B) The decade 1810–1819
C) The decade 1780–1790
D) The decade 1820–1830
Created with That Quiz — the site for test creation and grading in math and other subjects.