Brain Teasers from Your Field

Re: RG#1, GENIUS, Gets Them All!

Wait a minute! I protest! You give RealtorGal a 6.0 and me a lousy 0.6? The Greek epic has to be the Odyssey, not the Iliad, right? Ulysses being the Latin version of the Greek name Odysseus and all, whereas Ilia is merely another name for the city of Troy (that's Troy, N.Y., the capital of New York). I get 5 more points for knowing all that. Plus 10 points for mentioning the word "bath" accidentally.

Mathman

Re: RG#1, GENIUS, Gets Them All!

<span style="color:navy;font-family:helvetica;font-size:small;">Twinnie, your admiration is MOST appreciated. (You're right, I didn't even KNOW there was a spoiler thread, I will go find it after I write this message!)</span> <span style="color:red;font-family:helvetica;font-size:small;">BLUSH! BLUSH!</span> <span style="color:navy;font-family:helvetica;font-size:small;"> (Did I forget to mention that my first Bachelor's degree was in English?).

You'd better give Mathman his points before my ears pop from all his WHINING!! :rollin: </span>

Re: RG#1, GENIUS, Gets Them All!

Hold the phone, I just logged onto this thread, thinking it was exclusively "math-type" questions. After a heads-up from R-Girl, I'm ready to go. I have a B.A. degree in English Literature, emphasis on British Lit., Poetry, and Satire.....

Here's the toss-up question for 100 points...
1. Name the 14th century British author of "The Canterbury Tales" and "The Nun's Priest's Tale"? 42

Re: RG#1, GENIUS, Gets Them All!

Too easy, Geoffrey Chaucer, 1343-1400. He, he. Compiling the old point total, gaining on RealtorGal. Gimme another one.

Mathman

Too easy!

100 points! I don't THINK so! :lol:

Realtorgal

I have a question for you, 9 I don't have the answer), since you are a musician.

Which of the following requried the largest choir and orchestra?

Mahler's symphony of 1000 voice, or Britten's War Requiem, or Brian's symphony #1 the Gothic?

3 more to make a perfect 10.0

RG: Lowest note: Osmin's aria from "The Abduction from the Seraglio" (low D) -- I was really into this opera in my coloratura days!!

>>> Osmin’s aria: good choice, I don’t mean to be challenging, and I am not a musician or music major, was it a D or E?


Well, I had picked Haydn in that bowling question because of the England connection, but jI had really vascillated between him and my other choice: MOZART (which just HAS to be the correct answer

>> Mozart composed K498 trio for piano, viola, and clarinet, the Kegelstatt on a bowling lane. Mozart loved the viola, and had written some of the most glorious music for this instrument.

RG: As for that Russian violinist and Tchaikovsky, I'm at a real loss, considering that by 1942, there wasn't even a symphony orchestra left in Leningrad (they'd already been evacuated to Siberia). My only other possible guess is: DAVID OISTRAKH

>>> David Oistrakh, good choice. I believe they actually called back some musicians who were in the front line for the Shostakovich #7. They managed to find > 50 musicians. Oistrakh’s performance of the Tchaikovsky v cto in the midst of air raid sirens was legendary. Sigh… how I wish they have recorded that.

3 more to make a perfect 10.0

8. Identify the opera and composer:

Mahler and Toscanini feuded over which one should conduct a particular opera at the Met.

What was the opera?

9. Identify Composer A and B

This was recorded by composer A

As B stepped down, radiant with the sense of achievement. I came forward, thrilled by the experience of hearing the work. The moment could not have been better chosen. Yet, after the first exchange of greetings, the same melancholy thought struck us both.

B: “What? 12 years? Can it be 12 years since we day dreamed together in Campagna?

A: “And in the Baths of Caracalla.”

B: “Ah, still the scoffer, I see, always ready to mock me!”

A: “No, my mocking days are over. I said it to test your memory and see whether you had forgiven me for my irreverence. In fact I mock so little that I’m going to ask you at once in all seriousness to exchange……”

Answer: Composers A and B were

i. Lizt and Chopin

ii. Chopin and Berlioz

iii. Berlioz and Mendelssohn

iv. Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann

v. Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann

10.0 What did A asked B to exchange?

i. orchestras

ii. wedding vows

iii. Batons

iv. Pianos

PS to add

For more music trivia


www.coolquiz.com/myquiz/m...1293585276

I score an embrassing _____, how about you?

eltamina

according to Google and the information it provides on these three pieces
Mahler's Symphony- Over 1000 instrumentalists and singers

Britten's War Requiem- Just over 250 depending on how many choruses you use ( the origional had double boys choirs and seperate chorales; one for the orchestra and one for itself.

Brian's Symphony #1- approx 700 or more ensemble players.

sk8m8, thanks

So how many coductors are required for these pieces?

Re: Rgirl Goofs!

Mathman and Rgal,
I was so overwhelmed by Rgal nailing all the Carver/Nabokov questions that I skimmed over her answer to the "Ulysses" question. Mathman, you are absolutely right, <em>Ulysses</em> is based on Homer's "The Odyssey," not "The Iliad," and Shakespeare's "Hamlet." My faux paux and deepest apologies to you both! Mathman, you definitely get extra points for knowing that Ulysses is the Latin version of the Greek name Odysseus and for mentioning "bath," but instead of 15 I'm giving you 25pts for catching my mistake. I'm also begging of you both 1000 pardons<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT="">

Okay, consolation question:
What play by another famous Irish writer also evokes <em>Hamlet</em>? 25pts
How does this play evoke <em>Hamlet</em>? 100pts

And in case anybody wants to tackle it:
How are <em>The Odyssey</em> and <em>Hamlet</em> used in <em>Ulysses</em>, especially since the characters of Odysseus and Hamlet have virtually nothing in common? 100 pts

And here are some for Show (I'm so not surprised that Satire was one of your areas:lol: ) or anybody else of course:
1. What is the controversial structural feature of Evelyn Waugh's novel <em>A Handful of Dust</em>? 25pts
2. What famous English author plays a role in <em>A Handful of Dust</em>? 25pts
3. What other great writer is thought to have died on the same day as Shakespeare? 25pts.
4. (a) In what work by what author does the character Cunegonde appear? 5pts. (b) What character of Dante's does Cunegonde reflect? 10pts. (c) What part of Cunegonde's anatomy gets eaten off? 10pts. (This is a G-rated question, honest!)
5. What poem did Chaucer consider to be his masterwork?
Rgirl

Re: 3 more to make a perfect 10.0

Okay, Eltamina, I'll give #8, 9, & 10 a try.

8. Identify the opera and composer:
Mahler and Toscanini feuded over which one should conduct a particular opera at the Met.
What was the opera?

I'm pretty sure the composer has to be Wagner (because of Mahler), but which Wagner? I'm partial to "Parsifal" but that wouldn't be it. Given Toscanini and Mahler's personalities and that the opera would have to be a popular one, I'll say "Tristan and Isolde."

9. Identify Composer A and B
This was recorded by composer A
As B stepped down, radiant with the sense of achievement. I came forward, thrilled by the experience of hearing the work. The moment could not have been better chosen. Yet, after the first exchange of greetings, the same melancholy thought struck us both.
B: “What? 12 years? Can it be 12 years since we day dreamed together in Campagna?
A: “And in the Baths of Caracalla.”
B: “Ah, still the scoffer, I see, always ready to mock me!”
A: “No, my mocking days are over. I said it to test your memory and see whether you had forgiven me for my irreverence. In fact I mock so little that I’m going to ask you at once in all seriousness to exchange……”

Answer: Composers A and B were
i. Lizt and Chopin
ii. Chopin and Berlioz
iii. Berlioz and Mendelssohn
iv. Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann
v. Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann

I wish it were v. Robert and Clara Schumann because that would fraught with sexual tension and drama. But alas, I can't see Bob and Clara in that situation. I'll say iii. Berlioz and Mendelssohn only because I remember my musicologist friend (the one with the blow-up ducks) talking about how Berlioz and Mendelssohn did NOT get along.

10.0 What did A ask B to exchange?
i. orchestras
ii. wedding vows
iii. Batons
iv. Pianos

I'd love to say ii. Wedding Vows, but even I won't go there with Berlioz and Mendelssohn . If I'm right about B and M, it's got to be iii. Batons.
Rgirl

Re: Rgirl Goofs!

Yah, yah, Mathman, I know the Chaucer question was too easy, but I'm just warming up........

Okay, Rgirl, Waugh is not one of my favorites, but If I remember correctly, his satire, "A Handful of Dust", was written to parallel the tale of King Arthur, including Lady Gwen and Sir Lancelot......is that the controversial stuctural feature that you are referring to?.......I remember that Charles Dickens is the author whose name keeps popping up, I think as punishment for one of the characters (he has to continually read his works).......wow, it's been years since I read anything by Waugh........how am I doing so far? 42

Re: Rgirl's Waugh Questions

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Okay, Rgirl, Waugh is not one of my favorites, but If I remember correctly, his satire, "A Handful of Dust", was written to parallel the tale of King Arthur, including Lady Gwen and Sir Lancelot......is that the controversial stuctural feature that you are referring to?.......I remember that Charles Dickens is the author whose name keeps popping up, I think as punishment for one of the characters (he has to continually read his works).......wow, it's been years since I read anything by Waugh........how am I doing so far? 42[/quote]

The King Arthur thing is not what I was thinking of, but that's an interesting point. (Next time I read "Dust," I will have to keep King Arthur in mind.) I guess I should say it's more of a constructural thing (if constructural is a word ), as in the way Waugh wrote the novel. Let's do one more try and if it's too obscure, I'll tell you. That's the thing about some of these lit questions. You've got to work hard to come up with questions that have unequivocal answers, and this one is certainly not an absolute.

But you are absolutely right about Charles Dickens as the author who keeps popping up and indeed it is a "punishment" ("irony" quotes for Waugh) for the lead character, Tony, but a treat for the mysterious Mr. Todd. Actually, the use of Dickens adds another level of irony to the story, especially regarding the structural thing I'm referring to. BTW, there's a nice film version of "Dust" with Alec Guinness doing a great turn as Todd. It's directed by Charles Sturridge, who directed "Brideshead Revisited" and also did a nice job, IMO, with the film version of "Where Angels Fear to Tread."
Rgirl

Re: Waugh and Voltaire

Rgirl, well I took a stab at it. I tried your first Waugh question, but when I did a Google search on "Handful controversial Dust structural" nothing about King Arthur came up, so I didn't know how to proceed from there. (I could always read the book, I suppose.)

About your number 4(a): "In what work does a character named Cunegonde appear? (This is G-rated, honest.)" This is a trick question. No book with a character named Cunegonde can possibly be G rated.

Anyway, that's Candide. By Leonard Bernstein (according to Google).

Now I will answer the extra credit question that you intended to ask, but forgot to: What do these three stories have in common: King Arthur, Candide, and Handful of Dust?

Answer: All of them are about what happens to people who try to be good in a bad world. (2,963 points).

Mathman

Re: Waugh and Voltaire

Oh where to begin, Candide is a novella (perhaps the greatest ever written according to literary minds) by Voltaire. Isn't the answer to what gets eaten "PG"? I think, if I remember her face is "eaten" by disease (veneral?) When Candide finds her at the end of the story she has lost her beauty and sweet nature. Funny aside, the old woman only has one(lower) cheek.

Handful of Dust is a "tip" to TS Eliot's "the Wasteland" and all three stories protagonists go on long journies to "make right what is wrong" and find some sort of "salvation"

HOD is dirivative of the Authurian legends and deals with the shift in conciousness from what is idealized to what is real. All three protagonists come to terms with "reality" and all deal with the crumbling of the "old order" and the transition of the "new order" or reality ( whatever that may be)

Re: Waugh and Voltaire

......sk8m8.......exactly, couldn't have said it better....A+....

Okay, now for some of my favs, British prose and poetry....
Name that poet:

1."The Tiger"
2."She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways"
3."Elegy Written In a Country Churchyard"
4."Highland Mary"
5."Cristabel"

I tried to pick fairly familiar pieces as some of their poetry is rather obscure.......hint.....They are all 18th Century poets.

42

Re: Waugh and Voltaire

Thank god I paid attention in at least on class...
my little ADD mind did get a few things...


1."The Tiger" – William Blake
2."She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways" – William Wordsworth
3."Elegy Written In a Country Churchyard" –Thomas Gray
4."Highland Mary"–Robert Burns
5."Cristabel"- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Re: Waugh and Voltaire

.......Bravo sk8m8.........you're batting a thousand......back to my books.........

......RGirl, Chaucer's "Canterbury's Tales" was probably his best work as it holds the mirror up to the life of fourteenth century England so brilliantly. I do believe he wasn't entirely satisfied with it at the time, but who really knows for sure?

.....Anyway, here are a few more works by some British authors of poetry, prose, essays, etc. spanning the 16th and 17th century: Name that author:

1. "Essays of Counsels- Civil and Moral"
2. "Song to Celia"
3. "The Ecstasy"
4. "Lycidas"
5. "The Rape of the Lock"

.....Any takers? 42

Re: Waugh and Voltaire

wow, show42, make me go back a few decades and draw from my renaissance lit course ( or more likely My Norton's Antholgy of British Lit) Ok, here goes. I think I have this right....

1. "Essays of Counsels- Civil and Moral": Francis Bacon.
2. "Song to Celia": Ben Johnson
3. "The Ecstasy": John Donne
4. "Lycidas": John Milton
5. "The Rape of the Lock" : Alexander Pope

Why do I always hang out with the smart people???8o

Re: Waugh and Voltaire

Right again, sk8m8......you're my star pupil...back to the books for me.........42