Clerhews

Alan Owen (Hon. Secretary)

 

 

A clerihew is a simple four-line poem where the first line rhymes with the second line, and the third line rhymes with the fourth line ..

 

J. S. Bach’s propensity

Lay in his contrapuntal intensity;

He was so pleased when he could say

He had polished-off three fugues that day.

 Thomas Tallis’s choir

Said "We should be aiming higher;

To win the peoples’ hearts

Please write us a motet in 40 parts."

 
John Stanley said "I’m proud

That I can draw a crowd:

My friend Handel always tries

To look in to hear me improvise.

 

 Maurice Duruflé

Did not hesitate to say

That Jehan Alain’s name

Merited lasting musical fame.

 
Maurice Duruflé

Did not hesitate to say

That Jehan Alain’s name

Merited lasting musical fame.

 

 Gaston Litaize

Looked on Hampton Court Maze:

That labyrinth he viewed

Inspired a fine new Prélude.

 
Olivier Messiaen heard

A remarkable singing bird:

At once he said "I know!

I’ll add it to my ‘Catalogue des Oiseaux’.

 

 

 J.S. Bach said "Cheerio,

I’m off to Lűbeck to meet my hero:

I can’t afford to go by horse;

Tell my employer I’ll be back in due course.

 

 
César Franck

Ran down to the bank

To deposit his takings for the week

From publishing his ‘Pièce Heroique’.

 

 

 Sir John Stainer

Was an important musical trainer;

Organists through the ages

Have found inspiration in his Organ Tutor’s pages.
J. S. Bach

Said "Just for a lark

I made rash promises

To write 100 cantatas for St. Thomas’s.

 Bach, Carl Philip Emanuel,

Kept a lively spaniel;

But that dog in mischievous mood,

Chewed his E flat Organ Prelude.

 

 
John Bacchus Dykes

Went on long hikes:

This gave him inspiration

To write more fine hymn tunes than....

                                     anyone in the Nation.

 A healthy organ pipe is said

To need the right blend of tin and lead:

Mix 50/50 and it will settle

Into blotches; they call it ‘Spotted Metal.’