Ether Game Daily Music Quiz

The inspiration for this cantata was a trendy new beverage that was making its way across Europe in the early eighteenth century. The plot concerns a young lady, hopelessly addicted to the jive of the java, and her father, who tries to “cure” her by interfering in her love-life!

In this piece, the composer goes far beyond simply transcribing music from his favorite opera, a story about an unrepentant seducer. This special type of transcription, called “reminiscences” or “memories,” was popular with Romantic composers.

This composer so passionate about his operatic philosophy that he built his own theater to serve as the main performance space for his operas. The theater opened in 1876 with the world premiere production of his monumental cycle of four operas based on subjects from Norse and ancient German mythology.

This composer defined Hollywood music in the Golden Age of the major studios. Despite his numerous accolades, however, he lost the Academy Award. If sheer musical girth had been a factor, he certainly would have won-timing in at just under four hours of music. This civil war epic was only one of the twelve films on which he worked in the same year!

This composer was to compose a set of incidental music for a Russian production of one of the greatest plays ever written. While he was exhausted after just finishing one of his monumental operas, he agreed and began work on this piece in 1888. He would eventually compose two separate sets of music based on this play.

can you name this tune? Go to the land of balalaikas and Boris Godunov and see what you can come up with…

Ether Game asks: can you name this tune? It’s a musical tradition at graduations everywhere!

Although this composer is best known for his film work, his career began in radio, and eventually stretched to include both concert music and television. Although the grotesque, disturbing, and violent film didn’t please the director’s studio, both filmmaker and composer had a way of getting what they wanted…

This music was prominently featured in a film about the intoxicating power of chocolate, and how it shook up a small French town. Things are further complicated when gypsy guitarist finds his way ashore.

This composer wrote over 100 pieces featuring this instrument. That’s because it was his employer’s instrument of choice. It seems that his patron wasn’t so good at it. The most adept players would have been able to play a melody and accompany themselves at the same time, but this composer kept it simple to keep the benefactor happy.

This music honors an Austrian king. It was written to accompany a play about an older Hungarian king. The composer wrote this piece while taking a “rest cure” at a spa, as wars raged through Europe.

Ether Game asks: can you name this tune? It just might leave you chirping for more.

Can you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Fasten your seat belts!

Can you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Let’s end this cycle on a high note!

Can you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Look to the stars!

A few weeks after writing the text to this final opera in his epic sage, the composer was persuaded that his draft assumed too much background knowledge to the story, so he added a prologue to bring the audience up to speed on the plot. Ultimately, everything is destroyed, and the listener ends up where they started nearly 16 hours before.

Can you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: A tricky gambling game

Can you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Marching to a totally different beat

When this comic play was translated for an operatic audiences and the Austrian stage, the location was from a cafe to something more familiar to Viennese audiences, a splendid ball!

This selection and its companions were written when the composer returned to his hometown after a few years away. Accompanying this work is a group of corresponding sonnets, likely written by composer. The words that complement this selection describe biting snow, stinging winds and ice, and the music evokes these frosty characteristics.