Monty Python's Decomposing Composers

Entertainment: Music References

Monty Python - Decomposing Composers * (written by: Michael Palin) * Beethoven's gone, but his music lives on, * And Mozart don't go shopping no more. * You'll never meet Liszt or Brahms again, * And Elgar doesn't answer the door. * Schübert and Chopin used to chuckle and laugh, * Whilst composing a long symphony, * But one hundred and fifty years later, * There's very little of them left to see. * Chorus: They're decomposing composers, * There's nothing much anyone can do, * You can still hear Beethoven, *But Beethoven cannot hear you. * Verse: Händel and Haydn and Rachmaninov, * Enjoyed a nice drink with their meal, * But nowadays no-one will serve them, * And their gravy is left to congeal. * Verdi and Wagner delighted the crowds, * With their highly original sound, * The pianos they played are still working, * But they're both six feet underground. * Chorus: They're decomposing composers, * There's less of them every year, * You can say what you like to Debussy, * But there's not much of him left to hear. * Finish: Claude Achille Debussy, died 1918. * Christophe Willebaud Gluck, died 1787. * Carl Maria von Weber, not at all well * 1825, died 1826. Giacomo Meyerbeer, still alive 1863, not still alive 1864. * Modeste Mussorgsky, 1880 going to parties, no fun anymore 1881. * Johan Nepomuck Hummel, chatting away nineteen to the dozen with his mates down the pub every evening 1836, 1837 nothing.