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.

Händel and Haydn and Rachmaninow,
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.