Classical Composers A-Z

Guess the names of classical music composers from A to Z based on their birth and death dates, nationality, and a distinguishable work.
Quiz by
ericsp23
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Last updated: October 14, 2021
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First submittedJuly 25, 2020
Times taken3,557
Average score46.2%
Rating4.59
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Birth
Death
Nationality
Example Work
Answer
A
1971
 
British
Powder Her Face
Thomas Adès
B
1770
1827
German
Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"
Ludwig van Beethoven
C
1810
1849
Polish
The Minute Waltz
Frédéric Chopin
D
1862
1918
French
Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque
Claude Debussy
E
1857
1934
British
The Enigma Variations
Edward Elgar
F
1926
1987
American
Rothko Chapel
Morton Feldman
G
1843
1907
Norwegian
Peer Gynt (incidental music and 2 suites)
Edvard Grieg
H
1732
1809
Austrian
Symphony No. 94, "Surprise"
Joseph Haydn
I
1874
1954
American
Central Park in the Dark
Charles Ives
J
1854
1928
Czech
Taras Bulba
Leoš Janáček
K
1903
1978
Armenian
Sabre Dance from Gayane
Aram Khachaturian
L
1811
1886
Hungarian
Transcendental Etudes
Franz Liszt
M
1756
1791
Austrian
The Magic Flute
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
N
1865
1931
Danish
Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable"
Carl Nielsen
O
1895
1982
German
Carmina Burana
Carl Orff
P
1891
1953
Russian
Peter and the Wolf
Sergei Prokofiev
Q
1697
1773
German
More than 200 flute sonatas
Johann Quantz
R
1936
 
American
Different Trains
Steve Reich
S
1797
1828
Austrian
Symphony No. 8, "Unfinished"
Franz Schubert
T
1840
1893
Russian
1812 Overture
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
U
1916
2006
Russian
Symphony No. 2, "True and Eternal Bliss"
Galina Ustvolskaya
V
1678
1741
Italian
The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi
W
1813
1883
German
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Richard Wagner
X
1922
2001
Greek
Metastasis
Iannis Xenakis
Y
1858
1931
Belgian
Poème élégiaque for violin and orchestra
Eugène Ysaÿe
Z
1871
1942
Austrian
Lyric Symphony
Alexander von Zemlinsky
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9 Comments
+1
Level 82
Apr 16, 2021
Some of these were a real challenge! Glad to get some of the lesser known ones though.
+4
Level 82
Oct 15, 2021
The A,F and R seemed rather obscure to me. Albeniz, Albinoni, Faure, Franck, Rachmaninov, Rossini and Rimsky-Korsakov all were overlooked.
+5
Level 99
Oct 15, 2021
Thanks for the feedback. I was trying to keep a good balance as possible of nationalities, time periods, and other factors. There were many that I wanted to include but with only 1 per letter some big names were inevitably going to be left out.
+1
Level 85
Jan 7, 2025
I agree with Cardinal above. It's a great idea for a quiz and a great quiz, but some of the answers are a bit obscure.

A could be Arne (who wrote Rule Britannia!). or even Mozart's middle name.

I have both nominated and spotlighted the quiz though.

+2
Level 99
Jan 7, 2025
Thanks for the feedback and nomination!

I know that I could have chosen more well-known composers for some of the letters, but I did want this quiz to be challenging, and to potentially expose people to new composers they might not be familiar with. I was also looking for a good balance between composers of different nationalities and eras. It is okay if you don't know the answer to all of the clues in a quiz, those are opportunities to learn something new.

+1
Level 85
Jan 30, 2025
All fair comments eric. This is why we are here - to learn new stuff.
+1
Level 76
Oct 20, 2021
Wonderful. Plenty of challenging ones to earn points for, and plenty of others that are presumably to introduce us to for the first time. Very generous for you to hand out a point after I typed ust, trying on Ustinov for luck!
+1
Level 61
Jan 14, 2025
Great quizz!
+1
Level 55
Feb 17, 2026
Steve Reich mentioned!!! I love him