kinmonth@null.DEC (Bruce Kinmonth) (03/12/85)
And now, the moment you've all been waiting breathlessly for: answers to the quiz about the strange deaths of various composers. 1. What composer was killed when the bicycle he was riding slammed into a tree? No one guessed this. It was Emmanuel Chabrier, killed in 1895 when he was 44. 2. What composer, while living in an occupied country, was shot to death by a sentry of the occupying forces as he stepped outside one evening to smoke a cigarette? Of what nationality was the sentry? Anton Webern. USA. Correct responses came from Rich Rosen, Chuck Lipp, Ellen Perlman. Chuck adds: He was shot by a U.S. Army *cook* who was a *temporary MP* during a raid on the home of a black marketeer (Webern's son-in-law). Toni (nickname for Anton used by his wife) stepped out for a *cigar*. 3. What composer was murdered by an intruder and left to die in his garden? No one guessed at this one. Jean-Marie LeClair. 4. What composer succumbed to angina? I'm surprised no one guessed this. Gustav Mahler, at age 51 in 1911. 5. What composer died when he got blood poisening from an infected pimple on his upper lip? Michael Ellis got this one. Alexander Scriabin. 6. What composer was crushed to death by a bookcase? Charles-Henri Alkan. Correct responses came from Michael Ellis, Chuck Lipp. Chuck noted that he was reaching for the Talmud when the incident occured.