Join Petroc Trelawny on a journey through the rich world of classical music, where great composers, fun facts and clever puzzles bring its stories to life.

Written by the renowned BBC broadcaster Petroc Trelawny, with puzzles by Dr Gareth Moore and Laura Jayne Ayres, this stylish and entertaining book is the perfect blend of classical music knowledge and puzzle-solving fun.

Petroc Trelawny is one of the most recognizable voices in classical music broadcasting, known for presenting BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and formerly Breakfast, as well as anchoring coverage of the BBC Proms and other major national events. With his signature warmth and insight, he brings the stories of classical music to life on every page.

Inside, readers will find a beautifully designed collection of puzzles, quizzes and curious facts covering composers, concert halls, iconic works and much more. Whether you're a seasoned concert-goer or simply enjoy listening to Radio 3 or Classic FM, this book is packed with detail, charm and challenge.

Can you tell your Bach from your Berlioz? Your Mozart from your Mendelssohn? With 80 puzzles divided into five themed sections - Vocal, Stage, Orchestral, Concertos and Instrumental - this is a book to dip into, puzzle over and return to again and again. No prior musical knowledge is needed, just a curious mind and a love of learning.

Petroc Trelawny’s Classical Music Puzzle Book is the ideal gift for music lovers of all kinds. Perfect for Christmas, birthdays or thoughtful self-gifting, it’s a joyful celebration of music, culture and the fun of figuring things out.

Petroc Trelawny is a classical music radio and television broadcaster. He has contributed to the Spectator, Irish Times and BBC Music Magazine. Since 1998, he has been a presenter on BBC Radio 3.

Introduction

UK
William Byrd – Mass for Five Voices (c.1540-1623)
Henry Purcell – King Arthur (1659-1695)
Edward Elgar – Piano Quintet (1857-1934)
*Ethel Smyth – The Wreckers (1858-1944)
Gustav Holst – Hammersmith (1874-1934)
**Samuel Coleridge Taylor – The Song of Hiawatha (1875-1912)
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Symphony No 3 Pastoral (1872-1958)
*Grace Williams – Penillion (1906-1977)
*Imogen Holst – Suite for Solo Viola (1907-1984)
Benjamin Britten – Night Mail (1913-1976)
*Doreen Carwithen – One Damn Thing After Another (1922-2003)
*/**Errolyn Wallen   TBA (b. 1958)
Thomas Adès – The Tempest / Arcadiana? (b.1971)

Russia
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – The Nutcracker (1840-1893)
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade (1844-1908)
Dmitri Shostakovich – Moscow Cheryomushk (1906-1975)

United States
*Amy Beach TBA (1867-1944)
Charles Ives – Three Places in New England (1874-1954)
*/**Florence Price – Symphony No.1 in E minor (1887-1953)
**William Grant Still – Symphony No.1 Afro-American (1895-1978)
Aaron Copland – Appalachian Spring (1900-1990)
*Ruth Crawford Seeger – Three Songs to poems by Carl Sandburg (1901-1953)
Elliott Carter Epigrams (1908-2012)
Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings (1910-1981)
John Cage – 4’33” (1912-1992)
Steve Reich – Different Trains (b.1936)
*Jennifer Higdon – Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams (b.1962)

Germany/Austria
*Hildegard of Bingen – Symphonia Armonie Celestium Revelationum (1098-1179)
Johann Sebastian Bach – Coffee Cantata (1685-1750)
Franz Joseph Haydn –Symphony No.45 in F sharp minor Farewell (1732-1809)
*Mariana Martines – Il primo amore (1744-1812)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Abduction from the Seraglio (1756-1791)
Beethoven – Piano Sonata No.14 Moonlight (1770-1827)
Carl Maria von Weber – Oberon. (1786-1826)
Franz Schubert – Winterreise (1797-1828)
Felix Mendelssohn – Elijah (1809-1847)
Robert Schumann – Liederkreis (1810-1856)
Franz Liszt – Nuages gris (1811-1886)
Richard Wagner – Siegfried Idyll (1813-1883)
*Clara Schumann – Piano Trio in G minor (1819-1896)
Johannes Brahms – Double Concerto in A minor (1833-1897)
Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.3 (1860-1911)
Richard Strauss – Oboe Concerto (1864-1949)
*Johanna Senfter  TBA (1871-1961)
Arnold Schoenberg – Pierrot Lunaire (1874-1951)
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Helikopter-Streichquartett  (1928-2007)

Central Europe
Antonín Dvorák – Cello Concerto (1841-1904)
Leoš Janácek – String Quartet No.2 Intimate Letter (1854-1928)
Bela Bartók – Piano Concerto No.3 (1881-1945)

France
*Élizabeth Jacquet de La Guerre TBA 1665-1729)
**Josef Bologne, Chevalier de Saint Georges – Aline et Dupré (1745-1799)
Hector Berlioz – Symphonie fantastique (1803-1869)
Camille Saint-Saëns – Symphony No.3 Organ Symphony (1835-1921)
*Cecile Chaminade – Automne (1857-1944)
Claude Debussy – La Mer (1862-1918)
Maurice Ravel – Concerto for the Left Hand (1875-1937)
*Lili Boulanger – D’un matin de printemps (1893-1918)

Italy
Claudio Monteverdi – L’Orfeo (1567-1643)
*Barbara Strozzi – Che si può fare (1619-1677)
Antonio Vivaldi – L’estro harmonico (1678-1741)
Giuseppe Verdi – String Quartet (1813-1901)
Giacomo Puccini – Il trittico (1858-1924)
Carlo Gesualdo. TBA (1566-1613)

Nordic Lands
Jean Sibelius – Lemminkäinen Suite (1865-1957)
*Elfrida Andrée - TBA (1841-1929)
Edvard Grieg – Piano Concerto in A minor (1843-1907)
Einojuhani Rautavaara – Cantus Arcticus (1928-2016)
*Kaija Saariaho – L’ amour de loin (1952-2023)

Classical Music’s New World
*Chiquinha Gonzaga (Brazil) TBA (1847-1935)
Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil) – Bachianas Brasileiras (1887-1959)
*Peggy Glanville-Hicks (Australia) – Etruscan Concerto (1912-1990)
**Toru Takemitsu (Japan)– Black Rain (1930-1996)
**Tan Dun (China) – Marco Polo (b.1957)
*/**Unsuk Chin (S Korea)– Alice in Wonderland (b.1961)
Brett Dean (Australia) – Hamlet  

The Exiles
George Frideric Handel – Messiah (1685-1759)
Frédéric Chopin – Polonaise fantaisie (1810-1849)
Sergei Rachmaninov – Symphonic Dances (1873-1943)
Igor Stravinsky – Le sacre du printemps (1882-1971)
Sergei Prokofiev – Overture on Hebrew Themes (1891-1953)

*Female composers (22/80)
**Global Majority (8/80)

Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index