Viola Jokes

Part 3

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For sale: Viola, German, 19th century, 405mm. Excellent condition. Recently tuned.

Established string quartet requires two violinists and a 'cellist.

Entry Exam For The BBC Symphony Orchestra--Viola Players

The pass mark is 10% but be careful--over 45% and you are overqualified.

1. Who wrote the following:

   a) Beethoven's Symphony No. 6
   b) Fauré's Requiem
   c) Wagner's Ring Cycle

   [5 pts.]
   
   
2. Tschaikovsky wrote 6 symphonies including Symphony no. 4. Name the other five.
   [5 pts.]
   
   
3. Explain "counterpoint" or write your name on the reverse of the paper.
   [10 pts.]
   
   

4. Which of the following would you tuck under you chin?

   a) a timpani
   b) an organ
   c) a 'cello
   d) a viola

   [1 pt.]
   
   
5. Can you explain "sonata form"? (Answer yes or no.)
   [5 pts.]
   
   

6. Which of the following literary works was made the subject of a Verdi opera?

   a) First among Equals -- Jeffrey Archer
   b) Macbeth -- William Shakespeare
   c) Noddy and Big Ears -- Enid Blyton

   [5 pts.]
   
   
7. Domenico Scarlatti wrote 555 harpsichord sonatas for which instrument?
   [5 pts.]
   
   

8. Arrange the following movements in order of speed, starting with the slowest first.

   a) Quickly
   b) Slowly
   c) Very Quickly
   d) At a Moderate Pace

   [4 pts.]
   
   
9. Where would you normally expect to find the conductor during a performance?
   [5 pts.]
   
   

10. Which of the following wrote incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream?

    a) Des O'Connor
    b) Mickey Mouse
    c) Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
    d) Terry Wogan

    [5 pts.]
    
    

11. Which of the following is the odd one out?

    a) Sir Colin Davis
    b) Andrew Davis
    c) Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
    d) Desmond Lynham

    [5 pts.]
    
    

12. Arrange the following words into the name of a well known Puccini opera.

    Bohème, La

    [5 pts.]
    
    
13. Within five minutes, how long is Chopin's Minute Waltz?
    [5 pts.]
    
    

14. From which of the following countries did Richard Strauss come?

    a) Venezuela
    b) Sri Lanka
    c) Germany
    d) Japan

    [5 pts.]
    
    
15. For what town were Haydn's "Paris" Symphonies written?
    [5 pts.]
    
    

16. Which is the odd one out?

    a) Fantasy Overture Romeo and Juliet -- Tchaikovsky
    b) Romeo and Juliet -- Berlioz
    c) Romeo and Juliet Ballet -- Prokofiev
    d) Ten Green Bottles -- anon.

    [5 pts.]
    
    

17. From which song do the following lines come?

    "God save our gracious Queen, Long live our noble Queen."

    [5 pts.]
    
    

18. Spell the following musical terms.

    allegro
    rallentando
    crotchet
    pizzicato
    intermezzo

    [5 pts.]
    
    
19. Tosca is a character found in which Puccini opera?
    [5 pts.]
    
    

20. Arrange the following letters to form the abbreviation for a well known British broadcasting corporation.

    C, B, B.

    [5 pts.]

Translations

Gen Totani has translated these jokes into Japanese. The URL is http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~gen-san/violajoke.html.

Research about Viola Jokes

Carl Rahkonen peresented his paper: No Laughing Matter: The Viola Joke as Musician's Folklore at the National Meeting of the American Folklore Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 21, 1994.

This is the third of three viola joke pages.

previous viola joke page (part 2)

contents (instrument jokes arranged by instrument)

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This page has been requested times since January 3, 1997.

Last modified: 2002/07/05 22:51:47 by jcb@mit.edu