30Q - Number 79

[jamiebk]

Hey....I thought the answer was supposed to be "Yes" or "No"...

[Shapley]

It's a round-about waying of getting there,
but the end result is just as fair,
I could just say 'no', but I really like messin'
with your minds while imparting a history lesson.

[piqaboo]

With A-I (& S) out the door,
I'll try again, with a few more.
Could the name begin with J, K, L, M, or N?
With O, P, or Q? Must I try again?

[dai bread]

Are we looking for an American composer?
If we're not, then I'm no closer.
And since we've now passed question five,
Say, is the composer still alive?

[Shapley]

With a J, K, L, or M, or N,
The composers last name does begin.

Neither on North nor South American ground
would this composer in his youth be found.

Through the gates of Death, did this composer go?
I have to answer, and the answer is "no".

[dai bread]

Our composer lives.
Let's see what gives
In countries European.

Perhaps a Brit.
Is that it?
Let's see if that's the scene.

[Shapley]

Dai, it seems, assumes it to be
that composers must from Europe be
if in America they do not dwell.
Though I disagree, the assumption served him well.
In Britannica, as it was called in Rome,
Our composer makes his home

[barfle]

While musing on this topic more
Was he a member of the old fab four?

[Shapley]

With their long hair and their 'ya, ya, ya',
The Beatles defined the generation-a-go-go,
For better, or worse, it might be said,
But the answer to question is a 'no, no, no.'

[barfle]

Crud.
My question was a dud.

[Shapley]

Crud.
My question was a dud.

Au Contraire,
the question was fair.
Tho' negative the answer were
'twas surely a valid question, sir.

[barfle]

Wiki's list of British composers
Shows a group of relative dozers
Of that list, but few I know
Does our composer therein show?

[Shapley]

I scanned the list, from 'J' to 'N'
(The range in which his name doth begin).
Unless my eye, the composer's name hath eluded,
it does not appear on the list to be included.

[Shapley]

An interesting thing about your list,
it seems this composer is frequently missed
by those who such lists prepare
tho' the name doth appear here and there.

I Googled first for 'composers' and 'Britsh'
and the found the results to be quite skittish,
howe'er, if I search by the name, and look for a list
I find several in which the name was not missed.

[barfle]

I note the consistant evasion
Of the composer's gender pursuasion
So now I wonder can it be
That our target is a she?

[Shapley]

'tis true, I've avoided saying "him" or "her"
when to querries I provided answer,
howe'er, now that the questions been posed,
'tis time to reveal the gender, 'tis supposed.

The composer in question, is indeed a 'him'
whose last name starts with J, K, L, M, or N
From the Isle of Britannica, he doth hail.
And he lives to this day, unless I missed his obit in the mail.

[jamiebk]

I'm going to take a stab at this, although I'm not a sly man
A poem I write to to offer up the name of Michael Nyman

[Shapley]

Michael Nyman, Composer & pianist
whose name appears on Barfle's list
is not the composer who we seek,
to solve this riddle, which has taken nearly a week!

[barfle]

The initials are many, let's make them few
Will a starting with M or N the trick do?

[Shapley]

With neither 'N' nor 'M', (of James Bond fame),
does this composer begin his name.
Which leaves us now with only three,
which one do you suppose it to be?