Decomposing Composers

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

Schubert 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

The decomposing composers
There's nothing much anyone can do
You can still hear Beethoven
But Beethoven cannot hear you

Handel and Haydn and Rachmaninoff
Enjoyed a nice drink with their meal
But nowadays no one will serve them
And the gravy is left to congeal

Verdi and Wagner delighted the crowds
With a highly original sound
The pianos they played are still working
But they're both six feet underground

The 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

Claude Achile Debussy, died 1918
Christoph Willibald Gluck, died 1787
Carl Maria von Weber, not at all well, 1825; died 1826
Giacomo Meyerbeer, still alive 1863; not still alive 1864
Modest Mussorgsky, 1880 going to parties; no fun anymore, 1881
Johann Nepomuk Hummel, chattin' away 19 and a dozen with his mates down at the pub every evening 1836; 1837, nothing