St. Francis Prep Music Department
Independent Study Course
Course Title: The Life and Music of Johannes Brahms
30 QUESTIONS
THIS IS THE OPEN BOOK TEST FOR CHAPTER 1. BRAHMS WE HARDLY KNEW YOU
Please answer the following questions concerning Johannes Brahms
1) In what year was Johannes Brahms born?
2) In what year did Johannes Brahms die?
3) What Musical Period did Johannes Brahms belong to?
4) What was Brahms’s nationality?
5) What religion was Brahms brought up in?
6) In which city was Johannes Brahms born?
7) Compared to other famous composers, how much biographical information
did Johannes Brahms leave us?
8) Johannes Brahms is considered one of the famous “3 B’s” among composers.
Please name the other two composers mentioned by Dr. Greenberg.
9) Was Brahms very proud of himself or was he very critical of himself and his
compositions?
10) What did Johannes Brahms do with compositions that he was not satisfied
with?
11) Before Johannes Brahms published his first string quartet, what did he do
with the 20 earlier string quartets that he composed?
12) In chapter one of this course Brahms, We Hardly Knew You” Name the three
musical excerpts (of Johannes Brahms) presented by Dr. Greenberg.
13) What Key was his 4th Symphony written in?
14) What year was the 4th Symphony first performed?
15) The word “opus” is used by Dr. Greenberg when referring to compositions
by composers. What does this word mean?
16) What is the Opus Number of Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms?
17) For a good part of his life Johannes Brahms rented an apartment in which
city?
18) Did Johannes Brahms smoke?
19) Is it true that Johannes did business with prostitutes?
20)Was Johannes Brahms a well dressed individual?
21) Was Johannes Brahms poor?
22) What did Johannes Brahms do for the composer Antonin Dvorak?
Johannes Brahms did three things for Antonin Dvorak?
(Please furnish three items)
23) Johannes Brahms was friends with an important violin player of this time
period. Please state his name?
24) Who was Johannes Brahms’ publisher?
25) With whom did Johannes Brahms study piano and composition?
26) What was Johannes Brahms’s father’s name?
27) Did Johannes Brahms have any siblings?
28) How old was Johannes Brahms’s mother when he was born?
29) Dr. Greenberg mentioned that Johannes Brahms, in addition to the piano,
studied three other instruments earlier in life. Name these instruments.
30) The city where Johannes Brahms was born is located in which part of
Germany?