Can you name the first names of these famous composers?

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Composers First Names Quiz

Rating:	Report a mistake
Published: August 17th, 2009
Category: Music
Plays: 57,108

Tags: Famous Quizzes, composer, art pack, last

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	Tahnan:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:12 GMT	16 points
	I liked this one! It was something a little different, and was challenging without feeling impossible.

	cmkeller:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:18 GMT	5 points
	Surprisingly hard. Especially since Bach's and Brahms's first names sound the same, but only one showed up when I types in Bach's, and I couldn't think of what was expected for Brahms.

	Tirion:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:21 GMT	9 points
	You should allow Georg Fried(e)rich for Händel.

	RobH:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:28 GMT	26 points
	Good 'ol Joe Green, one of the greatest composers to come out of Italy.

	montecarlo:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:30 GMT	3 points
	odd that the english spelling is accepted for some (tchaikovsky) but not others (verdi). and dvorak killed me, didnt know there was an N at the end of it. great quiz!

	chris1889:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:30 GMT	1 point
	I feel such a philistine

	Rebecca:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:34 GMT	5 points
	This was really fun!

	MikeSang:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:37 GMT	11 points
	carl philip emmanuel and/or johann christian should be accepted for "Bach"

	davidr:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:38 GMT	5 points
	@ChaimMK: Bach's and Brahms's don't sound the same. YO-hann Bach; yo-HANN-us Brahms (`us' with the same vowel sound as the second syllabe of `lemon').

	cmkeller:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:43 GMT	0 points
	I stand corrected, although in my experience the last syllable of Brahms' name tended to get either dropped entirely, or elided over to the point of inaudibility.

	Chris968:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:43 GMT	0 points
	Awesome! I've been out of music school for 2 years now so it was a good challenge to see how much I remember!

	davidr:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:44 GMT	-3 points
	There was a whole family of Bachs. J.S. Bach's sons Carl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhelm Friedemann, Johann Christoph Friedrich, Johann Christian were all composers. At the very least, Carl should be accepted, too.

	RobH:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:50 GMT	37 points
	Carl could possibly be accepted, but JS Bach towers over his sons to such an extent that anyone who knows the name CPE Bach surely knows the name JS Bach. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that pointing out this small flaw with this quiz is either being contrary for the sake of it, or trying to be too clever by half.

	Isstvan:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:52 GMT	19 points
	And PDQ should be accepted for Bach as well.

	ishowell:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:57 GMT	8 points
	I'm always happy to see a classical music quiz. I wish there were more on sporcle. And I kept getting hung up on how to spell Gioachino.

	zalagreensbury:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:03 GMT	10 points
	No Edvard Grieg! He's Norway's finest.

	davidr:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:22 GMT	1 point
	@RobH: Yes, it's contrary to want to give C.P.E. Bach instead of J.S. but the quiz just asks for `Bach' and, unless it says which Bach (e.g., by giving dates), `Carl Philipp Emanuel' is a correct answer and it should be accepted.

	indiekid:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:27 GMT	2 points
	I prefer Camper Van Beethoven to Ludvig Van Beethoven http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QyApEZqj6E

	HPZ:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:29 GMT	20 points
	@davidr: The hair you've got is highly splittable, but I think we can look at the title of the quiz for direction. The word "famous" says it all. There have certainly been other celebrated composers named Bach, Wagner, Schubert, and Schumann, but none of them are as famous as Johann Sebastian, Richard, Franz, and Robert, respectively, making them the "correct" choices for this quiz.

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	HPZ:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:35 GMT	9 points
	It would be nice if the Wikipedia links on the results page could magically point to composers' full names. Currently the "answer" for Schumann is just a link to the Wikipedia page for "Robert," which is not useful (and doesn't even have a link to Robert Schumann).

	RobH:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:36 GMT	22 points
	@davidr: Perhaps, but I think most people would know, on seeing the name Bach which Bach is being asked for, in the same way that 99% of people would know you were talking about Michael rather than Ralf if you only said Schumacher without specifying which. Bach on its own always means JS Bach to people when you're talking about classical music unless the context suggests otherwise. It's not like having a quiz on famous aviators and only accepting Wilbur Wright as a correct answer whilst ignoring his brother. I really don't mind if Sporcle changes it, but I just couldn't imagine anyone writing a comment saying "I typed Carl loads of times but it wouldn't work so I didn't get that one right!" ;-)

	Tuj:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:38 GMT	1 point
	Pretty tough but a good quiz. Nice to see there's good imagination beyond yet more country listing!

	ebennet68:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:42 GMT	25 points
	For Beethoven, I would say that his first name is Ludwig alone. The "von" part is part of his last name.

	marc412:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:45 GMT	-2 points
	I knew Rossini's first name, but I had to look up how to spell it.

	Erika:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 19:49 GMT	8 points
	Honus Wagner!

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	ianbob:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 20:09 GMT	18 points
	Gary Debussy!

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	jrnels:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 20:10 GMT	1 point
	Clara should be accepted for Schumann. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Schumann She's very well known, and the quiz doesn't specify.

	chikka2:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 20:19 GMT	8 points
	Oh, yes, a music quiz, super! Happy days. Would like to see a Liszt on the list...

	RC_Cola:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 20:20 GMT	12 points
	Just when I thought "Sporcle needs more classical music quizzes," they lob this softball for folks like me. I like it.

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	davidr:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 20:23 GMT	-4 points
	@Sarah O.: Sure, but `Wolfgang Amadeus' isn't Mozart's firt name, either — it's his first name and middle name. Since you only have to type `Ludwig', I think it's reasonable for the `van' to pop up, too.

	davidr:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 20:24 GMT	6 points
	@pr: I'm sure Sporcle has heard of Franz Liszt but there's already a Franz in the quiz. Likewise, I'm sure Sporcle has heard of Gustav Holst but there's already a Gustav.

	Rave:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 20:26 GMT	13 points
	very classy, Sporcle

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	RyanUR:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 21:21 GMT	4 points
	Can't take Anton for Dvorak?

	Kicking222:	Aug 17th, 2009 at 21:23 GMT	2 points
	My god, I can't believe I knew seven. That is damn near miraculous. I got Verdi because I used to sing a lot of Verdi; otherwise... I'm just flat-out proud of myself.