# Gimme a composer! or Look, I'm a college student! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2000, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446 "2000-09-08T02:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/1 "2000-09-08T02:52:06Z")
Hey ever-body! Man, do I miss you people. I hate not having regular access to the board… That’s what happens when you get a real job, I guess. And! I’m a college student! My first Understanding Music and Culture class was last night. Cool prof, wide range of ages in the class (teens to 70s for God’s sake) and we get to attend four concerts during the semester in place of lecture. Woo hoo! 20% of my grade is a “Composer Impersonation” - I come into class and act like a famous composer, giving their life story etc. in a (hopefully) entertaining manner. Anyone know a good composer I can impersonate? Not Mozart. He’s been done. And done very well. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/2 "2000-09-08T03:05:54Z")
John Cage - one of my music history professors called his work ‘controlled chaos’ - take everyone outside the classroom for the outdoor version of 4:33 [Three movements -_Tacet, Tacet, Tacet_]. Purists may say this is tampering with the score (ought to be performed indoors). My personal favs are Mahler and Bruchner - nice Alpine, _Sound of Music_ky feeling to their works. {And nothing like the _Kindertotenlieder_ to get rid of guests who have overstayed their welcome - works faster than the ‘Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’.} ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/3 "2000-09-08T03:09:40Z")
BTW, congrats on college. Do you know which concerts you are attending? Let me know - I and others can probably pull up some old history and composer notes (ah, the days of music history classes. One of my favorite courses ever.) ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/4 "2000-09-08T03:22:47Z")
Hi there! Nice to see you again…was wondering where you had gone to. Being back in school is kinda interesting, isn’t it? Considering your SD name, you might want to do Beethoven 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/5 "2000-09-08T05:12:05Z")
Frank Zappa. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/6 "2000-09-08T05:32:15Z")
I’ve always been a fan of Franz Liszt. I don’t know about doing an impersonation, though. How well can you do a Hungarian accent? 😃 You’ve most likely heard his stuff. His “Hungarian Rhapsody #2” has got to be the most popular cartoon tune of all time. Remember Daffy Duck & Donald Duck doing dueling pianoes in _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_ That’s what they were playing. Amazingly hard to play! I’ve got the music, and I’m still trying to get through the beginning. If you do want to do Liszt, here’s a site that has a picture: [http://www.vredenburg.nl/liszt/index.htm](http://www.vredenburg.nl/liszt/index.htm) Congrats on university! ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/7 "2000-09-08T05:34:22Z")
How about Charles Ives? He was one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century, but he also worked a normal day job. He said that anyone who had to make a living from composing wouldn’t be free to be artisitic. Of course he was a bit of whack job. What can you expect from someone who would use Charles as a _first_ name? ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/8 "2000-09-08T09:22:33Z")
Wagner ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/9 "2000-09-08T14:01:57Z")
Ooooh! Oooooooh! Do Erik Satie! He was one CRAZY little fucker. And it’d give you the opportunity to wear pince-nez and a derby. Who was that other nutjob who composed a lot of stuff for the piano…his name began with “A” and he died when a huge shelf of piano music fell over on him…HE’D be good, too. You’d have a real slam-bang finish. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/10 "2000-09-08T14:17:44Z")
Roger Daltry. I suggest selections from the opera “Tommy”. Have fun! ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/11 "2000-09-08T14:19:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\*My personal favs are Mahler and Bruchner \*\* Hmmm. Seven years of music school (B.M and M.M.) and I can’t even spell **Bruckner**. Ei! Sidenote: Want a real kick? Get “The Anna Russell Album?” (yes, the ? is part of the title) and listen to her 20 minutes synopsis of Wagner’s ‘Ring Cycle’. We d@mn near fell out of our chairs laughing when the professor played this in class. Right up there with P.D.Q. Bach’s ‘1712 Overture’ [Warning - Digital balloons!]. “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” - Johannes Brahms ---
**Author:** ![DVous\_Means](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/12 "2000-09-08T15:13:36Z")
You could choose Tchaikovsky. Mince into the class to the tune of the Sugarplum Fairy, remembering that the man you are impersonating was a homosexual who desperately tried to keep his sexuality in the closet. ---
**Author:** ![rubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@rubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rubes)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/13 "2000-09-08T15:34:28Z")
The adventures of Auntie Canty in college… congrats. This time of the year gets me thinking that it’s time for me to go back to school again. As far as your composer, how bout Freddie Mercury? ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/14 "2000-09-08T15:35:35Z")
Wow, that was offensive, Dvous. Hmm… I think I may have aftereffects from another post that someone I didn’t want came in… I see the humour now. Wagner would be really good to do. He was a dirty old man with a loathing personality. He just wasn’t nice. He was even more intense than Beethoveen has been characterised. There are other composers that could be more easily characterised by their hobbies. Bach liked numerology for instance, Gesualdo was a melomaniac (crazy in regards to music…his mania forced him to compose music constantly), etc. Some would be easier to do as the spouse or friend of the composer rather than the composer himself. For example, Mozart’s wife would read the paper to him while he was scribing the music. He felt it was horribly boring. I hope this helps. HUGS! Sqrl PS. Congrats on college. ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/15 "2000-09-08T18:33:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\*John Cage - one of my music history professors called his work ‘controlled chaos’ - take everyone outside the classroom for the outdoor version of 4:33 [Three movements -_Tacet, Tacet, Tacet_]. Purists may say this is tampering with the score (ought to be performed indoors). > \*\* Funny that you mention 4:33… My professor talked about it in class. I’d never heard of it before. Kinda cool. I love all the suggestions so far… I knew you guys would have some cool ideas. I LOVE DOPERS! ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/16 "2000-09-08T18:38:01Z")
And thanks so much for your congratulatory messages… This is my third try at college and I think I’m finally ready for it. Big love to all who are Dopey ‘n’ stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/17 "2000-09-08T20:21:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doctor Jackson \* > **Roger Daltry. I suggest selections from the opera “Tommy”.** Then she’d want Pete Townsend. Daltry was just the singer, right? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/18 "2000-09-08T20:24:54Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but wasn’t John Williams the guy who did the star wars music? Would be cool to be him. ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/19 "2000-09-08T21:15:09Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > Right up there with P.D.Q. Bach’s ‘1712 Overture’ [Warning - Digital balloons!]. > \*\* Where can I find P.D.Q. Bach recordings? I’ve gone to at least a dozen stores and they always say, “Don’t you mean J.S. Bach?” or, “We have C.P.H. Bach; that’s probably who you want.” But nobody has (or has even heard of) P.D.Q. Bach. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![FarrisGoldstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f17d59/32.png) [@FarrisGoldstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FarrisGoldstein)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446/20 "2000-09-08T21:18:56Z")
I say either Wagner or Gershwin… If you’re Wagner, be sure talk about hatin’ Jews… BTW - For more ideas, check out Monty Python’s “Decomposing Composers.” -The Jew [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-a-composer-or-look-im-a-college-student/32446.md?page=2)