Matthew Guerrieri posts another of his infamous quizzes. He's obviously amassing a database. To what end, we'll probably never know.
1. What's the best quotation of a piece of music within another piece of music?
Best? Beats me. My favorite is the trombone solo quoting Handel's "Joy to the World" at the end of the third movement of Charles Ives's Symphony 4.
2. Name the best classical crossover album ever made.
Hymnen
3. Great piece with a terrible title.
I'm going to have to pass on this one for now. It requires some thought.
4. If you had to choose: Benjamin Britten or Michael Tippett?
Britten
5. Who's your favorite spouse of a composer/performer? (Besides your own.)
Mrs. Gesualdo
6. Terrible piece with a great title.
Contra mortum et tempus, Rochberg.
7. What's the best use of a classical warhorse in a Hollywood movie?
Das Rheingold Prelude in The New World.
8. Name the worst classical crossover album ever made.
Kiri does something or other.
9. If you had to choose: Sam Cooke or Marvin Gaye?
Marvin Gaye
10. Name a creative type in a non-musical medium who would have been a great composer.
Georg Cantor
Wow. I forgot about Mrs. Gesualdo! Thank you for bringing her back to mind!
ReplyDeleteWait, wait, wait! Hymnen, the 2-hour Stockhausen piece, is the worst crossover disc? Can't be true.
ReplyDeleteIt's the best crossover album.
ReplyDeleteEhm, which Mrs. Gesualdo? Number one, the stabbed (multiply so) one, or the second one, the one who said she wished she would go to hell after she died, because after life with the Prince, even Hell would be a change for good?
ReplyDeleteVery interesting answer in any case!
Oh. Sorry. I missed that it was the best. It's quite the piece, though I can't say I'm eager to listen to it repeatedly, having had my brains scrambled by it multiple times.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of the first Mrs., but either of them works for this purpose.
ReplyDeleteMarc--
Bust out Stimmung afterwards, to unscramble.