Question 1

True or false: Mozart and Salieri were bitter rivals, and Salieri likely poisoned him.

Accepted Answer

False. No evidence supports poisoning; Salieri admired Mozart. The myth comes from Pushkin's play and the film 'Amadeus'.

Question 2

True or false: Mozart composed his Requiem as a secret commission from a mysterious gray-cloaked stranger.

Accepted Answer

False. The stranger was Count Walsegg, who wanted to pass the work off as his own. Mozart took the job, not knowing who paid.

Question 3

True or false: Mozart died a pauper and was buried in a mass grave with no mourners.

Accepted Answer

False. He had debts but wasn't destitute; his burial was a standard Viennese communal grave, not a pauper's pit.

Question 4

True or false: Mozart wrote his first symphony at the age of 8, before he could properly hold a quill.

Accepted Answer

True. He composed Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major in 1764–65, around age 8 or 9, with help from his father Leopold.

Question 5

True or false: Mozart's full baptismal name includes 'Amadeus,' but he rarely used it in daily life.

Accepted Answer

True. He was baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; 'Amadeus' is a Latin translation of Theophilus, used occasionally.

Question 6

True or false: Mozart had a pet starling that could whistle part of his Piano Concerto No. 17.

Accepted Answer

True. He bought a starling in 1784 that sang a phrase from his concerto; Mozart even wrote a playful funeral poem for it.

Question 7

True or false: Mozart was the first composer to write a piece entirely in the key of F-sharp major.

Accepted Answer

False. He used F-sharp major sparingly; earlier composers like Bach used it. Mozart's famous work in that key is rare but not first.

Question 8

True or false: Mozart once wrote a piece that included a part for a trained dog to howl along.

Accepted Answer

True. In his 'Musical Joke' (Ein musikalischer Spaß), he satirically included parts for untrained performers, but no dog—he did compose a piece for a mechanical organ.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Trivia Questions