Learning about the musical rock stars of their respective eras is important to do well on the MAT. For the Miller Analogies Test, you have to know the most important musicians and composers throughout history and be familiar with their major works. These lists keep you in tune with the major musicians and composers, and the most important musical works.

Important composers and musicians that appear on the MAT test

The following lists important composers and musicians you should become familiar with before taking the MAT.

  • Armstrong, Louis: Famous American jazz trumpeter and singer

  • Bach, Johann Sebastian: Baroque German composer known for his Mass in B Mi-nor

  • Beethoven, Ludwig van: German pianist and composer of the classical and roman-tic eras

  • Brahms, Johannes: Romantic German composer known for piano works

  • Caruso, Enrico: Italian tenor opera singer

  • Chopin, Frederic: Polish composer known for piano works

  • Copland, Aaron: American composer who wrote Billy the Kid

  • Debussy, Claude: French composer who wrote impressionist music

  • Ellington, Duke: American composer and big-band leader

  • Gershwin, George: American composer and pianist who wrote Porgy and Bess

  • Gilbert and Sullivan: English comic opera composers who wrote The Pirates of Penzance

  • Handel, George Frideric: German composer famous for operas and The Messiah

  • Haydn, Joseph: Austrian composer called the “Father of the Symphony”

  • Mendelssohn, Felix: German composer who wrote the Italian Symphony

  • Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Austrian composer who wrote The Magic Flute

  • Puccini, Giacomo: Italian opera composer who wrote La Bohème

  • Purcell, Henry: Baroque English composer

  • Schubert, Franz: Austrian composer known for his Lieder and symphonies

  • Sousa, John Philip: American composer who wrote The Stars and Stripes Forever

  • Strauss, Richard: German composer known for the opera Salome

  • Stravinsky, Igor: Russian ballet composer who wrote The Firebird

  • Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich: Russian composer who wrote The Queen of Spades

  • Verdi, Giuseppe: Italian opera composer who wrote Rigoletto

  • Vivaldi, Antonio: Venetian composer known for violin works

Important musical works that appear on the MAT test

The following lists important musical works you should become familiar with before taking the MAT.

  • Amazing Grace: Christian hymn by Englishman John Newton

  • America: Patriotic American song; lyrics by Samuel Francis Smith

  • America the Beautiful: Patriotic American song by Samuel A. Ward and Katharine Lee Bates

  • Auld Lang Syne: Scots poem–based folk song used to celebrate the New Year

  • Carmen: Opera by the French composer Georges Bizet

  • Don Giovanni: Opera by Mozart

  • Frère Jacques: French nursery melody sung in a round

  • God Bless America: American patriotic song by Irving Berlin

  • Greensleeves: English folk song and tune

  • Madame Butterfly: Opera by Giacomo Puccini

  • The Messiah: Oratorio by Handel

  • The Star-Spangled Banner: National anthem of the United States, by Francis Scott Key

  • Swan Lake: Ballet by Tchaikovsky

  • La Traviata: Opera by Giuseppe Verdi

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Vince Kotchian is a full-time standardized test tutor specializing in the MAT, SSAT, ISEE, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. He teaches a GRE prep course at the University of California, San Diego, and has an extensive understanding of analogies and the MAT.

Edwin Kotchian is a MAT tutor and freelance writer who has contributed to a variety of test-prep material.

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