Halloween Beethoven Groaner

A tourist in Vienna was going through a graveyard, when all of a sudden he heard some music. No one was around, so he started searching for the source. He finally located the origin, discovering it was coming from a grave with a headstone that read: Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827.

As he continued to listen he realized that the music playing was Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” and it was being played backward! Puzzled, he left the graveyard and proceeded to persuade a friend to return with him.

By the time they arrived back at the graveyard the music had changed again. This time it was Beethoven’s “Seventh Symphony,” and like the previous piece, it was being played backward.

Curious, the men agreed to consult a music scholar. When they returned with the expert, Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” was playing, again backward. The expert noticed that the symphonies were being played in the reverse order in which they were composed—the 9th, the 7th, and then the 5th.

By the next day word had spread and a throng had gathered around the grave. They were all listening to Beethoven’s “Second Symphony,” once again being played backward. Just then the graveyard's caretaker ambled up to the group. Someone in the crowd asked him if he had an explanation for the music.

“Don't you get it?” the caretaker said incredulously, “He's decomposing!”

(Stan Kegel's Groaner's List; “Profusions of Puns, Gaggles of Groaner”)

Have a Happy Halloween!