Friday 22 January 2016

Berlioz, Rude Limericks, and the Ophicleide



My correspondent John Fletcher, who is a professor of French Literature, writes to correct me about that Berlioz symphony: seems it was actually all about a different insurrection; the one of 1830. Sorry about that.

In the same message he mentions a colleague who, in spite of a slight defect in his sense of humour, (he was German you see), was good at making up rude limericks in English. Reading this must have tripped the micro-switch on the limerick engine at the back of my brain/mind, because around 2.30 a.m. when, as usual, I couldn’t sleep, the following popped out:

            A musician who hailed from Madras
            Stuffed an ophicleide right up his arse.
            He suffered for art,
            But his F minor fart
            Was heard right up the Khyber Pass.

Ophicleide? I’ll tell you next time I write about Berlioz, but meanwhile here’s a picture of one:

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