Symphony No. 4 (Mahler) - Quiz
Symphony No
  • 1. Who was the soloist for the tour conducted by Weingartner?
A) Thila Plaichinger
B) Michalek
C) Etta de Montjau
D) Alida Lütkemann
  • 2. Which city was the sole exception to the negative receptions during the initial tour?
A) Frankfurt
B) Nuremberg
C) Karlsruhe
D) Stuttgart
  • 3. How did the General-Anzeiger describe the symphony in its review?
A) Tragic symphony
B) Folk-dance masterpiece
C) Masterpiece of the era
D) Vaudeville-Symphony
  • 4. To what did the Musikalisches Wochenblatt liken the audience hissing in Frankfurt?
A) A screeching owl
B) A gathering storm
C) The sound of breaking glass
D) Autumn wind blowing through dead leaves
  • 5. Why did the concert in Karlsruhe feature only the Finale?
A) The orchestra refused to play the full work
B) The hall was too small
C) Weingartner chose it because of a near-empty audience
D) The sheet music was missing
  • 6. Which Stuttgart newspaper praised Mahler as a rising star?
A) Berliner Tageblatt
B) Vossische Zeitung
C) Schwäbischer Merkur
D) Neues Taggblatt
  • 7. What was the result of the tour for Weingartner?
A) He was traumatized and never conducted Mahler again
B) He was fired from the Kaim Orchestra
C) He retired from music completely
D) He became Mahler's primary supporter
  • 8. Who was the soprano for the Berlin premiere on 16 December 1901?
A) Thila Plaichinger
B) Michalek
C) Olga Wood
D) Bella Alten
  • 9. Which of these critics provided negative reviews of the Vienna premiere?
A) Max Kalbeck
B) Bruno Walter
C) Donald Mitchell
D) Willem Mengelberg
  • 10. In which city was Mahler surprised by a friendly reception on 23 January 1903?
A) Vienna
B) Wiesbaden
C) Berlin
D) Amsterdam
  • 11. What did reviews of the 1904 Staatstheater Mainz performance criticize?
A) The work's naïveté
B) The soprano soloist
C) The conductor's tempo
D) The orchestration
  • 12. Who conducted the American premiere in 1904?
A) Henry Wood
B) Bruno Walter
C) Gustav Mahler
D) Walter Damrosch
  • 13. Who conducted the British premiere at a Prom concert in 1905?
A) Anatole Fistoulari
B) Adrian Boult
C) Henry Wood
D) Willem Mengelberg
  • 14. Who was the soprano in Mahler's last performances of the Fourth in 1911?
A) Alida Lütkemann
B) Olga Wood
C) Etta de Montjau
D) Bella Alten
  • 15. Which conductor directed the complete Mahler opus at the 1920 Amsterdam Festival?
A) Adrian Boult
B) Henry Wood
C) Willem Mengelberg
D) Bruno Walter
  • 16. What did Russian organizers want to alter in a 1923 performance conducted by Bruno Walter?
A) The orchestration of the strings
B) Religious references in Das himmlische Leben
C) The soprano's lyrics
D) The tempo of the finale
  • 17. According to Donald Mitchell, what contributed to the 'Mahler boom' in England during the 1940s?
A) The 1920 Amsterdam Festival
B) The invention of radio broadcasts
C) The publication of Mahler's letters
D) Performances by Fistoulari and Boult
  • 18. Why does Mitchell believe the Fourth was an agent of changed attitudes toward Mahler after WWII?
A) Its experimental musical structure
B) Its modest resources and approachability
C) Its extreme length and complexity
D) Its endorsement by famous politicians
  • 19. Who stated in 1973 that the Fourth became popular most quickly among Mahler's symphonies?
A) La Grange
B) Kurt Blaukopf
C) Donald Mitchell
D) Zychowicz
  • 20. What did Zychowicz write about the Fourth in 2005?
A) It was rarely performed
B) The orchestration was widely considered vulgar
C) The composer was uncannily concise
D) It was Mahler's most difficult work
  • 21. In what key is Mahler's Symphony No. 4 written?
A) G major
B) E-flat major
C) D minor
D) C major
  • 22. During which years was Mahler's Fourth Symphony composed?
A) 1904 to 1905
B) 1901 to 1902
C) 1892 to 1895
D) 1899 to 1900
  • 23. How many movements does the final form of Mahler's Fourth Symphony contain?
A) Five
B) Four
C) Six
D) Three
  • 24. Who performs the vocal part in the Finale of the symphony?
A) A baritone
B) A soprano
C) A tenor
D) A full choir
  • 25. Where did Mahler complete the symphony in August 1900?
A) Maiernigg
B) Bad Aussee
C) Vienna
D) Munich
  • 26. Which conductor led the first recording of the symphony in 1930?
A) Willem Mengelberg
B) Gustav Mahler
C) Bruno Walter
D) Hidemaro Konoye
  • 27. What is the primary musical theme depicted in the second movement's scherzos?
A) The resurrection of the dead
B) Death at his fiddle
C) Heroic suffering
D) A child's vision of heaven
  • 28. How many movements did Mahler initially plan for the Fourth Symphony?
A) Four
B) Six
C) Seven
D) Five
  • 29. Which musicologist credited the Fourth Symphony with being responsible for the post-war rise in Mahler's popularity?
A) Paul Bekker
B) Donald Mitchell
C) James L. Zychowicz
D) Natalie Bauer-Lechner
  • 30. What is the source of the poem used in 'Das himmlische Leben'?
A) Bavarian folk tales
B) The Third Symphony programs
C) Des Knaben Wunderhorn
D) A collection of five Humoresken
  • 31. When was 'Das himmlische Leben' originally written?
A) 1901
B) 1900
C) 1892
D) 1899
  • 32. In which city did the premiere of the Fourth Symphony take place?
A) Vienna
B) Munich
C) London
D) Berlin
  • 33. Which type of form is used throughout the structure of the Fourth Symphony?
A) Baroque fugal form
B) Strict serialism
C) Rondo form
D) Cyclic form
  • 34. What was the name of the orchestra that performed the 1901 premiere?
A) Kaim Orchestra
B) London Symphony Orchestra
C) Vienna Philharmonic
D) Berlin Philharmonic
  • 35. The first movement of the Fourth Symphony is characterized as having what style?
A) Romantic
B) Expressionist
C) Neoclassical
D) Impressionist
  • 36. What does the second movement's scherzo contrast with?
A) Sonata form developments
B) Ländler-like trios
C) Strophic variations
D) Double theme and variations
  • 37. Who asked Mahler if he could conduct the premiere of the Fourth Symphony instead of the Third?
A) Richard Strauss
B) Margarete Michalek
C) Felix Weingartner
D) Henry-Louis de La Grange
  • 38. When did Mahler ask Weingartner for permission to conduct the premiere himself?
A) August or September 1901
B) October 1901
C) July 1901
D) November 1901
  • 39. On what date did Mahler hold a reading rehearsal with the Vienna Philharmonic?
A) 25 November
B) 12 October
C) 3 July
D) 18 November
  • 40. What was the final date chosen for the world premiere in Munich?
A) 12 October 1901
B) January 1902
C) 18 November 1901
D) 25 November 1901
  • 41. Which movement was described by Bauer-Lechner as being met with both applause and boos?
A) The third movement
B) The first movement
C) The Finale
D) The second movement
  • 42. Which publication described the Fourth Symphony as a 'succession of disjointed and heterogeneous atmospheres'?
A) Kleine Journal
B) Münchener Zeitung
C) Allgemeine Zeitung
D) Die Musik
  • 43. Which publication called the Fourth Symphony a 'great step forward on the road to artistic clarity'?
A) Münchener Post
B) Die Musik
C) Münchener Zeitung
D) Bayerischer Kurier
  • 44. What did Die Musik claim the 'bad seeds' of the Second Symphony had grown into in the Fourth?
A) Incredible cacophony
B) Troubled waters
C) Immense spiky thistles
D) Instrumental quirks
  • 45. What did the Kleine Journal call the Fourth Symphony despite lauding the Finale?
A) A succession of disjointed atmospheres
B) A work of incredible cacophony
C) A work trespassing against the Holy Spirit
D) Transparent, sensitive, almost hysterical
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