Q.1
Which instrument is used to mark the moment of midnight?
  • The gong
  • The tubular bells (or rather, just one of them)
  • The cymbals
  • The horn
Q.2
When Walt Disney put together a series of musical pieces (including this one as its grand finale) with moving cartoon images in colour, in 1940, what was the title of the film?
  • Silly Symphonies
  • Toccata and Fugue
  • Fantasia
  • Sound Surround
Q.3
Also as with , was not originally written by Mussorgsky as an orchestral piece: the orchestral version (in this case) was arranged by one of his friends in the composers' circle known as 'the Five'. Which of them did it?
  • Miliy Balakirev
  • Cesar Cui
  • Alexander Borodin
  • Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Q.4
In an age before films etc. as we now know and love them, colourful orchestral pieces such as developed as a spectacular, dramatic way of catching an audience's imagination. If the piece set out to 'tell a story' it was known as Programme Music, but the orchestral form was known by a further special label. What are such pieces (like Sibelius' later ) called?
  • Orchestral pictures
  • Sound stories
  • Tone poems
  • Musical movies
Q.5
On what occasion is the supposed to have taken place?
  • The night of St John's Day, very shortly after midsummer
  • Hallowe'en
  • The autumn equinox (late September)
  • Midwinter
Q.6
There is another 'Bald Mountain' outside Vienna, but where is the one in this piece supposed to be?
  • In ancient Greece
  • Near Kiev in Ukraine
  • In the Russian Steppes
  • In the Alps
Q.7
Which section of the orchestra is used early on to suggest the sound of the scampering witches?
  • The lower strings
  • The percussion
  • The upper woodwinds
  • The brass
Q.8
40 or so years before this piece was ever heard, another composer had written an orchestral 'movement' depicting (as this one also does) a 'witches' sabbath', using not-dissimilar musical effects at certain points. What was this other earlier work?
  • Beethoven's 7th Symphony
  • Hector Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique
  • Paradise Lost in a setting by Haydn
  • An opera by Verdi
Q.9
Which of these instruments is used in the piece, apart from the 'regular' sections of the orchestra?
  • Piano
  • Celesta
  • Harp
  • Organ
Q.10
Which of these best describes the overall shape of the piece?
  • It begins slowly and quietly, and gradually grows louder and faster
  • It begins slowly and loudly, then becomes faster but quieter towards the end
  • It starts quickly and quietly, then grows slower and louder
  • It starts quickly and loud, then ends slowly and calmly
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