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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At what age did Isaac Albeniz hide on a ship crossing the Atlantic to Puerto Rico and play in his French musketeer costume for passengers?
(a) 13.
(b) 12.
(c) 15.
(d) 14.

2. In Chapter XXXVI, Bach a la Mode, the author comments on a trend that was unfashionable to play Bach on piano since whose resurgent harpsichord playing?
(a) Landowska's.
(b) Beethoven's.
(c) Chopin's.
(d) Glenn Gould's.

3. When was Sergei Rachmaninoff born?
(a) 1849.
(b) 1873.
(c) 1941.
(d) 1799.

4. Who codified twentieth century theory of technique beyond Chopin's ideas?
(a) Vladimir Horowitz.
(b) Arthur Rubinstein.
(c) David Tudor.
(d) Claude Debussy.

5. What is the name of a performance hall in New York City where Paderewski made a debut in 1891 on his tour for the Steinway piano company?
(a) Carnegie Hall.
(b) Metropolitan Opera.
(c) New York Philharmonic.
(d) Vienna Philharmonic.

6. When did pianist Arthur Rubinstein make his American debut?
(a) 1915.
(b) 1906.
(c) 1897.
(d) 1798.

7. Who sought ideal music he could play and compose and eventually settled on Mozart's twelve piano concertos at farewell concerts in 1922?
(a) Claude Debussy.
(b) Ferruccio Busoni.
(c) Claudio Arrau.
(d) Franz Liszt.

8. How old was Wilhelm Backhaus when he made his first concert tour?
(a) 14.
(b) 16.
(c) 18.
(d) 12.

9. What Australian pianist hiked to concerts with a knapsack and was one of the most gifted pianists of the 20th century?
(a) Alfred Grunfeld.
(b) Percy Grainger.
(c) Moriz Rosenthal.
(d) Vassily Sapellnikoff.

10. What Russian composer and pianist initially developed a highly lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin?
(a) Claudio Arrau.
(b) Claude Debussy.
(c) Alexander Scriabin.
(d) Franz Liszt.

11. What nickname did the pianist Vladimir de Pachmann acquire?
(a) "The Maestro."
(b) "The Little Giant."
(c) "Brahma of the Keyboard."
(d) "Chopinzee."

12. In what year did Glenn Gould retire?
(a) 1982.
(b) 1939.
(c) 1964.
(d) 1954.

13. What album by Glenn Gould is described as combining personality, ideas, bouncing rhythm and fast tempos?
(a) "Moonlight Sonata."
(b) "Rhapsody in Blue."
(c) "Goldberg Variations."
(d) "Goldberg Sonata in D Minor."

14. Where was Annette Essipoff from?
(a) Italy.
(b) France.
(c) Germany.
(d) Russia.

15. Who won the Leventritt competition in 1954, but his victory at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 made his name and musical competition well-known?
(a) Mozart.
(b) Van Cliburn.
(c) Beethoven.
(d) Chopin.

Short Answer Questions

1. What school promoted musicianship, severity, strength and solidity rather than charm and sensuality?

2. What instrument did Harold Bauer play as a child prodigy?

3. What contemporary pianist of Teresa Carreno called her a "goddess" despite her lack of discipline?

4. Prokofieff, Rachmaninoff and Horowitz emigrated after the Russian Revolution of 1917 when who took control?

5. How old was Isaac Albeniz when he debuted in 1864 Spain?

(see the answer keys)

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