“You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car, and then you wish you hadn’t?”

That’s how American composer John Adams describes his piece, “Short Ride in a Fast Machine“. Of note here is the wood block part – it plays a steady beat, like a metronome, in time with the orchestra, but not always on the same strong beat as the other instruments. Every once in a while, it skips a half-beat.

FLEDERMAUSMANN!

(The word “Batman” doesn’t really work in German.)

There’s a famous opera by Johann Strauss II called “Die Fledermaus” (“The Bat”). One of these days, I hope somebody writes “Batman: The Opera”. I’m not holding my breath, though. At least we have a fun overture from Strauss to tide us over.

This week, a post was going around Facebook about the Worst Composer Hair in History. I’m glad someone finally called out Berlioz on the hideous mop he wore on his head.

Also mentioned in the post was Rossini‘s epic comb-over. Naturally, I immediately started hearing the overture to The Italian in Algiers in my head as I inspected his unsuccessful attempt to cover his shiny bald head. Fortunately for him, he also had an epic knack for writing melodies that are exciting, lyric, and most importantly, memorable – an honor which arguably makes him the most-borrowed-from-composer of Looney Tunes.