# What Questions Would Great Composers Ask Here?



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

What questions would great composers or any famous composers ask here? 

Examples:

Beethoven might ask what his later music sounds like (since he can't hear it).

Bach might ask how can he stop from stealing his kids music and putting his name on it.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

According to what I've learned about Nielsen, he is one of the composers who would ask where he might find the lovely ladies.

Sibelius might ask where he could find a drink.

Keeping in theme with that generation of composers, R. Strauss might want to play some cards and express his desire to repose.


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## kartikeys (Mar 16, 2013)

Would Mozart be arrested for perversion, and wonder why?


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

playing Devil's advocate after the recent 'Why did creators create' thread ... there might be a number who would ask something along the lines of "Why do you presume that I would think of the likes of *you* when I composed music?" :devil:


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

If you brought a composer back from, say Beethoven's time, to ask him some questions, I think they might instantly die of a culture-shock-induced heart attack.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Schubert would be curious as to how much of his stuff we heard (all those works found after he died). A lot of composers would have questions like this.

Others would ask, "what happened? Why don't you listen to me much any more?" E.g., Raff.

Beethoven would wonder what this "Moonlight" thing is all about, and Mozart would ask who Elvira Madigan was.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Beethoven would ask for sausages and beer. He would likely not ask to hear some Rossini.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Cracked version of Sibelius notation software.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

I am sure there are composers (traditional most likely) who would've ask "what is the meaning of today's music" given the sheer diversity available (by diversity, I mean in terms of styles, genres, modes of expressions even within genres, sub-genres, techniques, musical/sound/recording technologies, etc.). Many would've been fascinated, others repulsed and perhaps disgusted, others still, ambivalent regarding today's music. For instances,

*Towards the fascinated?* Beethoven, Offenbach, Wagner, Nielsen, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, maybe Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Poulenc, Strauss, and Scriabin.
*The repulsed?* Brahms, Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, perhaps Kodaly and Magnard.
*The ambivalent?* Bruckner, Myaskovsky, Bax, Rachmaninoff, maybe Ravel and Roussel.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Brahms was already repulsed by the music in his own time, and sure that music was dead or about to die. Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov had similar conservative tendencies.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> Brahms was already repulsed by the music in his own time, and sure that music was dead or about to die. Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov had similar conservative tendencies.


Although I'm not so sure why Brahms felt that way. Sure the music was moving in a new direction thanks to Wagner, then Strauss, et al., but there were many composers during his time who maintained the traditional, though forward-moving aesthetics that Brahms championed and hold on as his own: Fuchs, Dvorak, Goldmark, Reger, Draeseke (to some extent). And then there was Bruckner, whom Brahms began to respect.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

violadude said:


> If you brought a composer back from, say Beethoven's time, to ask him some questions, I think they might instantly die of a culture-shock-induced heart attack.


Beethoven's time? Heck, that almost happens to me every time I go shopping.

What _is_ that noise coming out of the ceiling in every store?


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

KenOC said:


> Beethoven would ask for *sausages *and beer. He would likely not ask to hear some Rossini.


Wursts xD......


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2015)

Wolfie would spend all his time in STI.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Orfeo said:


> Although I'm not so sure why Brahms felt that way. Sure the music was moving in a new direction thanks to Wagner, then Strauss, et al., but there were many composers during his time who maintained the traditional, though forward-moving aesthetics that Brahms championed and hold on as his own: Fuchs, Dvorak, Goldmark, Reger, Draeseke (to some extent). And then there was Bruckner, whom Brahms began to respect.


He was also friends with Mahler, though seemingly quite ambivalent about his music. Upon seeing the score of the first movement of the Second, he is said to have exclaimed something like "Why are works like those of Liszt and Bruckner better-known than this?"

Anyway, as to how Brahms could be despairing in the face of all of these traditionally-oriented composers, look at the nonsensical reactions accorded to the quite traditional music of Schoenberg even today. People's reactions aren't necessarily based on logic.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Mahlerian said:


> Anyway, as to how Brahms could be despairing in the face of all of these traditionally-oriented composers, look at the nonsensical reactions accorded to the quite traditional music of Schoenberg even today. People's reactions aren't necessarily based on logic.


Of course they aren't - this music after all, not mathematics.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

nathanb said:


> Wolfie would spend all his time in STI.


I keep seeing STI thrown around. What does it mean?


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2015)

clavichorder said:


> I keep seeing STI thrown around. What does it mean?


Sexually Transmitted Infections.

I've no idea what nathan is on about.


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2015)

I reckon Xenakis would be well into asking about software applications.


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Schumann would be like: "What the... my early piano and song works are more acclaimed than my more serious work in the successorship of Beethoven, that is, my concertos and symphonies?"


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Wagner would rant about the awesomeness of heavy metal and how metalheads are his spiritual successors. Okay that's not a question but Wagner is perfect and knows everything so he doesn't need to ask anything.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

SeptimalTritone said:


> Schumann would be like: "What the... my early piano and song works are more acclaimed than my more serious work in the successorship of Beethoven, that is, my concertos and symphonies?"


I would say his symphonies are his most popular works.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Beethoven would likewise listen to some Manowar and say: "So this is what classical music has evolved into? Wunderbar!"


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

dogen said:


> Sexually Transmitted Infections.
> 
> I've no idea what nathan is on about.


In that case, we'd see more of Schubert there if he were a TC member.



kartikeys said:


> Would Mozart be arrested for perversion, and wonder why?


What 'perversion' did Mozart partake in that could get him arrested? Was he reincarnated in Dubai?


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Well, I'm glad you finally asked. I've had so many questions for so long.... 

(Ok, that was a joke.)

More seriously, a lot of them would ask where they can get pencil and paper.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Dim7 said:


> Of course they aren't - this music after all, not mathematics.


Oh? So logic doesn't apply at all to any question about music? This explains why illogical, absurd arguments based on delusion and prejudice are so popular around here.

Next up:

Haydn was a communist. Discuss.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> Sibelius might ask where he could find a drink.


I think dogen will be Sibelius's first online friend.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> I keep seeing STI thrown around. What does it mean?


Stupid Thread Ideas. Which was a very stupid thread idea. Dogen is more correct though.


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2015)

clavichorder said:


> According to what I've learned about Nielsen, he is one of the composers who would ask where he might find the lovely ladies.


So...

Nielsen: "Where might I find the lovely ladies?"

Bruckner: "Where might I find the lovely little virgin girls?"

Tchaikovsky: "Where might I find the lovely male strippers?"


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Mahlerian said:


> Haydn was a communist. Discuss.


WRONG lol


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Schumann was a communist?


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

regenmusic said:


> Schumann was a communist?


All the great composers were.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> WRONG lol


I know this is supposed to be a joke, but are you aware that Wagner was a friend of Mikhail Bakunin, one of the founders of social anarchism, and had a warrant out for his arrest for participating in the radical uprisings of 1848? His anti-authoritarianism didn't end with his youth either: it's one of the major dramatic themes of his operas. Who concocted that chart anyway?


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## TradeMark (Mar 12, 2015)

regenmusic said:


> Schumann was a communist?


That reminds me of something I posted in in the stupid thread ideas thread a while back



TradeMark said:


> Robert Schumann, a true romantic, or a dirty communist?


Apparently, it wasn't such a stupid thread idea after all.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Wagner and Brahms in the same quadrant! Gotta love it.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

I don't remember anything in the biography of Brahms I read years ago suggesting that he had right-wing or authoritarian views, by the standards of his time and place. I wonder where that came from.

Schoenberg would probably ask whether his music had finally won mainstream acceptance, and we'd have to let him down.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> I know this is supposed to be a joke, but are you aware that Wagner was a friend of Mikhail Bakunin, one of the founders of social anarchism, and had a warrant out for his arrest for participating in the radical uprisings of 1848? His anti-authoritarianism didn't end with his youth either: it's one of the major dramatic themes of his operas. Who concocted that chart anyway?


I am very aware. I took the chart from politicalcompass.org


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

isorhythm said:


> I don't remember anything in the biography of Brahms I read years ago suggesting that he had right-wing or authoritarian views, by the standards of his time and place. I wonder where that came from.
> 
> Schoenberg would probably ask whether his music had finally won mainstream acceptance, and we'd have to let him down.


Poor Schoenberg! But his music is very popular on talk classical at least!


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Poor Schoenberg! But his music is very popular on talk classical at least!


Verklärte Nacht is at least popular elsewhere too.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Sloe said:


> Verklärte Nacht is at least popular elsewhere too.


Most classical music fans and musicians I've ever spoken to in real life are enthusiastic about Verklärte Nacht.


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

Bach would ask why a certain Abraham Lincoln is so obsessed with him.


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## LHB (Nov 1, 2015)

Chopin would probably shoot himself considering his Fantasie Improptu has been played by probably every 9 year old Korean pianist.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Zappa would create a poll asking what is your least favorite smell.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I would ask Beethoven to order his symphonies for me from favorite to least favorite.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Some of the composers might find that they preferred being dead, and ask us to put them back.


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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

LHB said:


> Chopin would probably shoot himself considering his Fantasie Improptu has been played by probably every 9 year old Korean pianist.


Mozart would probably shoot himself if he listen my neighbor playing Rondo alla Turca.


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## kartikeys (Mar 16, 2013)

trazom said:


> What 'perversion' did Mozart partake in that could get him arrested? Was he reincarnated in Dubai?


Surely he would do something politically incorrect. Might be his cousin reports him for the letter. 
The world is larger than Dubai.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Scriabin may ask if world's disasters were caused by his "black mass" sonata.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

OldFashionedGirl said:


> Mozart would probably shoot himself if he listen my neighbor playing Rondo alla Turca.


Or he'd just have to read through some of the comments in this thread.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit (Oct 20, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I know this is supposed to be a joke, but are you aware that Wagner was a friend of Mikhail Bakunin, one of the founders of social anarchism, and had a warrant out for his arrest for participating in the radical uprisings of 1848? His anti-authoritarianism didn't end with his youth either: it's one of the major dramatic themes of his operas. Who concocted that chart anyway?


I've seen this chart before and I agree, it seems weird given what is known about Wagner.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> I know this is supposed to be a joke, but are you aware that Wagner was a friend of Mikhail Bakunin, one of the founders of social anarchism, and had a warrant out for his arrest for participating in the radical uprisings of 1848? His anti-authoritarianism didn't end with his youth either: it's one of the major dramatic themes of his operas. Who concocted that chart anyway?





Gaspard de la Nuit said:


> I've seen this chart before and I agree, it seems weird given what is known about Wagner.


But guys, you're overlooking one very important factor in deciding Wagner's political beliefs....THE NAZIS

BUM BUM BUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM

I'm just joking, btw. Hope that was obvious.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

On the side branch, Debussy was composing an 'Ode a la France' cantata. I doubt it'd have been a great work.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

regenmusic said:


> What questions would great composers or any famous composers ask here?
> 
> Examples:
> 
> ...


It sure is a good thing Herr Sebastian isn't reading this right now...


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

violadude said:


> If you brought a composer back from, say Beethoven's time, to ask him some questions, I think they might instantly die of a culture-shock-induced heart attack.


That and they probably wouldn't be able to understand modern English anyways.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Beethoven might ask, "Do people still listen to Rossini? If so, please don't answer."


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Mahlerian said:


> Brahms was already repulsed by the music in his own time, and sure that music was dead or about to die. Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov had similar conservative tendencies.


I think we can forgive his eccentricities, given immortal themes of his like Denn alles Fleisch.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

dogen said:


> Sexually Transmitted Infections.
> 
> I've no idea what nathan is on about.


Oh yes you do, we're not daft!


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Mahlerian said:


> Oh? So logic doesn't apply at all to any question about music? This explains why illogical, absurd arguments based on delusion and prejudice are so popular around here.
> 
> Next up:
> 
> Haydn was a communist. Discuss.


Yes, Mahler, I can *feel* your anger. It makes you strong, gives you focus. Forget the petty, hidebound traditions of the Jedi, and feed on your emotions. You can save Padme...


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

KenOC said:


> Beethoven might ask, "Do people still listen to Rossini? If so, please don't answer."


Actually Rossini is probably better known today _because_ of Beethoven's famous disparaging remarks!!!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Without reading the previous 59 posts, I'll suggest that some composers would say, "Don't analyze the music. Just listen to it."


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Beethoven: This online internet and credit card thing are rather awkward to me. Can someone here help me place an online order for really cheap composition paper?

Bump!

The silence to my request is deafening!!


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

i think Beethoven might have asked "WAS? WAS SAGST DU ZU MIR? EH?"


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

That should be "Hä"


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> That should be "Hä"


Well, Google Translate wasn't good enough for that degree of subtlety!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Mahlerian said:


> Oh? So logic doesn't apply at all to any question about music? This explains why illogical, absurd arguments based on delusion and prejudice are so popular around here.
> 
> Next up:
> 
> Haydn was a communist. Discuss.


It seems to me that the problem is not one of whether there is logic or not, rather many confuse logic with agreement and illogical with disagreement.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Becca said:


> It seems to me that the problem is not one of whether there is logic or not, rather many confuse logic with agreement and illogical with disagreement.


But a lack of logic is at the very heart of most of the absurd arguments around here.

Pointing out logical inconsistencies or fallacies is generally rewarded with either dismissal (it's not important) or condemnation (you're just nit-picking), when it should be instead taken as an invitation to attempt to strengthen one's argument.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Becca said:


> It seems to me that the problem is not one of whether there is logic or not, rather many confuse logic with agreement and illogical with disagreement.


Besides that, many artistic questions are matters not of logic but of perception, definitions, and values. If people hear or value different things when they listen to a piece of music, or define their terms differently, they may be equally logical in their discussion of what they hear but come to different conclusions about it.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Go and argue about logic in the many threads devoted to it, people. This one is for idiots like me to make jokes about what daft questions composers would have asked if transported to the modern day. In.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Mahlerian said:


> But a lack of logic is at the very heart of most of the absurd arguments around here.
> 
> Pointing out logical inconsistencies or fallacies is generally rewarded with either dismissal (it's not important) or condemnation (you're just nit-picking), when it should be instead taken as an invitation to attempt to strengthen one's argument.


It's not often you even see a post with the word "fallacy" in it responded to, let alone quoted. Maybe some members at TC are insecure about their phallic fixations? :lol:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Lukecash12 said:


> It's not often you even see a post with the word "fallacy" in it responded to, let alone quoted. Maybe some members at TC are insecure about their phallic fixations? :lol:


Hmmm... That didn't occur to _me._


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

"What is wrong with you people?"


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

"Am I a great composer?" I need your approval!


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

starthrower said:


> "Am I a great composer?" I need your approval!


Beethoven again?


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## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

Schubert: " Did anyone finish that bloody symphony of mine."

Bach: " I really hate those English eye surgeons."

Mozart: "Can anyone tell me where they buried me."


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

A resurrected composer should be given a looong time to adjust and explore music from all the ages. After that it would be really interesting to hear his opinions and, perhaps, new compositions!


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

"Why in the heck am I being drawn as a girl?"


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

"Why are you even listening to my music at all?"


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

"Did you guys know I used to share a house with F. Murray Abraham in Byzantium?"


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

TurnaboutVox said:


> "WAS? WAS SAGST DU ZU MIR? EH?"[/SIZE]


My vote for post of the year. Maybe because I do not speak German and I had to translate. Or maybe because the large letters. Or maybe because it is on-point.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Avey said:


> My vote for post of the year. Maybe because I do not speak German and I had to translate. Or maybe because the large letters. Or maybe because it is on-point.


Hell, I don't know German all that well, and I could intuit immediately what it was because it was all caps. Beethoven probably wouldn't be half as entertaining with the benefit of modern hearing aids.


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