Crossword and Quiz

Is your classical music knowledge up to speed?

1. Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a short ‘fanfare for orchestra’ composed in 1986 by whom?

2. At what speed should a piece of music marked Adagio be played?

3. Premiered in 1893, which Shakespeare-inspired opera by Verdi includes a character called Mistress Quickly?

4. Who in 1962 composed Poème symphonique, scored for 100 metronomes each set to a different tempo?

5. ‘What if I never speed, shall I straight yield to despair’ are the opening lines of a 1603 song by which British composer?

6. Begun on 5 September 2001 in St Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany, an organ performance of whose As Slow As Possible is set to finish in 2640?

7. Having written off his brand new Lea-francis saloon car in an accident in 1936, which speedobsessed composer subsequently appeared in court charged with dangerous driving?

8. According to its name, the model of car pictured above travels at the same speed as the final movements of Mozart’s 40th and Beethoven’s Seventh symphonies. What is it?

9. Which musical tempo instruction was issued by Abba in the title of a song on their 1980 Super Trouper album?

10. And who, in their 1974 song, assured listeners that ‘If you Minuetto Allegretto you will live to be old’?

See p132 for answers