Q.1
Which other of our Ten Pieces was written in the same year, and also has a deliberate air of the supernatural about it?
  • Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
  • Mussorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain
  • Handel's Zadok the Priest
  • Britten's 'Storm' Interlude
Q.2
In contrast to the Mussorgsky piece, what is the basic overall musical 'shape' of this one by Grieg?
  • It starts fast and loud, and gradually grows slower and softer
  • It starts slow and loud, and gradually grows faster but softer
  • It starts fast and soft, and gradually grows slower and louder
  • It starts slow and soft, and gradually grows quicker and louder
Q.3
Which woodwind instrument first plays the theme of ... ?
  • The flute
  • The saxophone
  • The bassoon
  • The clarinet
Q.4
Which of these Italian musical directions does NOT apply most of the way through the piece?
  • Staccato
  • Poco a poco accelerando
  • Poco a poco crescendo
  • Fortissimo
Q.5
One of the main ways to establish 'mood' in such a piece is by the composer's technical choice of key and mode. Which of these is the appropriate label for this present work?
  • A major key
  • A minor key
  • Whole-tone scales
  • Pentatonic scales
Q.6
Towards 2 minutes into the piece, which percussion instrument plays repeatedly on the off-beat (to ratchet-up the overall tension further)?
  • The triangle
  • The cymbals
  • The gong
  • The tambourine
Q.7
This piece is conceived as a grotesque version of which more 'normal' form of music?
  • March
  • Waltz
  • Polka
  • Minuet
Q.8
Grieg wrote the piece as part of a suite of 'incidental music' (like a forerunner of the film-score, or the integral accompaniment to a Broadway-style stage musical) for a play by Norway's greatest playwright, who was ~ and remains ~ well respected in his own right, and was a great friend and encourager of the composer (then in his mid-20s). Who was the dramatist?
  • Henrik Ibsen
  • Nils Gade
  • Ole Bull
  • Hugo Alfven
Q.9
Which instrument creates the dramatic rumbling sound just before the final huge chord?
  • The bass drum
  • The kettledrum
  • The gong
  • The double-basses
Q.10
... And which instrument/s started the whole huge piece off? (You may need to listen very carefully)
  • The violas
  • The horns
  • The harp
  • The drums
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