Monty Python Decomposing Composers
Intro: Right ho, darling. Yeh, be home (spoken) about 8:30. No, no I'll go on a bike. Verse: Beethoven's gone but his music lives on, And Mozart don't go shoppin' no more, You'll never meet Liszt or Brahms again, And Elgar doesn't answer t he 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, Y ou 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 cro wds, 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 m uch 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 g oing 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.
