Name That Composer: 10s Blitz

[A] Modest Mussorgsky | Mussorgsky musically strolled through friend Hartmann's memorial exhibition. His piano promenades between paintings became orchestral blockbusters once Ravel added symphonic colors.

[D] Edward Elgar | His Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, paints musical portraits of friends and helped establish Elgar's reputation after its 1899 premiere.

[A] Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | His 1888 symphonic suite based on One Thousand and One Nights weaves solo violin and vivid orchestration into Scheherazade's storytelling.

[B] Claude Debussy | Debussy's most beloved piano piece captures Verlaine's moonlit poetry. Those rippling arpeggios sound like light dancing on water while lovers whisper below.

[C] Ludwig van Beethoven | Beethoven never named it "Moonlight." His Opus 27 No. 2 got its nickname from a poet comparing it to moonbeams on Lake Lucerne.

[A] Joseph Haydn | Haydn's musical prank wakes dozers with one thunderous chord. Symphony No. 94's gentle theme lulls audiences before that famous fortissimo gotcha moment.

[B] Aaron Copland | Martha Graham danced to Copland's pioneer symphony. The Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts" becomes America's soundtrack, all wide spaces and wooden porches.

[C] Johann Sebastian Bach | Those dramatic opening notes became horror movie shorthand. Bach probably wrote it as a young showoff, testing how many notes organs could handle simultaneously.

[D] Bedřich Smetana | This symphonic poem from Má vlast traces the Vltava river from its sources to Prague, becoming a symbol of Czech national identity.

[D] Jean Sibelius | Finland's secret anthem disguised as a tone poem. Sibelius smuggled patriotic protest past Russian censors, later churches borrowed the hymn worldwide.

[D] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart turned Beaumarchais's banned play into opera gold. Count Almaviva gets outwitted by his servants while Mozart serves up sublime music for everyone.

[B] Carl Orff | His 1937 scenic cantata sets medieval poems like 'O Fortuna' for massive chorus, soloists, and orchestra in a driving, rhythm-centered style.

[C] Joseph-Maurice Ravel | Ravel called his hypnotic masterpiece "orchestration without music." One melody repeats eighteen times, growing from solo flute to full orchestral eruption.

[A] Richard Strauss | The 1896 tone poem inspired by Nietzsche opens with a blazing sunrise fanfare later made iconic by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[B] George Frideric Handel | Written in just 24 days during Handel's creative fever. King George II supposedly stood during "Hallelujah," creating the tradition we still follow today.

[D] Johann Pachelbel | Wedding favorite written for unknown reasons, forgotten until 1960s rediscovery. Eight notes repeat 28 times beneath violin conversations, creating baroque's biggest earworm.

[C] Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky hated this crowd-pleaser featuring real cannons. Commemorating Napoleon's defeat, it ironically conquered American Fourth of July celebrations with Russian nationalism.

[A] Frédéric Chopin | Not sixty seconds but "small" waltz. Chopin supposedly watched George Sand's dog chase its tail, then spun the scene into whirling musical circles.

[C] Gustav Holst | Holst studied astrology, not astronomy, composing personality portraits. "Mars" introduced irregular meter to orchestras while "Jupiter" gifted England its favorite hymn.

[B] Johann Strauss II | Vienna's liquid anthem waltzes through drawing rooms and space stations alike. Strauss's river rarely looked blue, but his music sparkles regardless.