Posted by Tracy Bedgood on February 03, 2004 at 22:33:34:
In Reply to: History of the Opheclide posted by Chris Pineda on February 03, 2004 at 19:41:20:
Not really helpful, but funny. I was given this poem by a colleague:
The Ophicleide
The Ophicleide, like mortal sin
Was fostered by the serpent.
Its pitch was vague, its tone was din;
Its timbre rude and burpant.
Composers, in a secret vote,
Declared its sound non grata;
And that's why Wagner never wrote
An Ophicleide Sonata.
Thus spurned, it soon became defunct,
To gross neglect succumbing;
A few were pawned, but most were junked
Or used for indoor plumbing.
An so this ill wind, badly blown,
Has now completely vanished:
I nominated the saxophone
To be the next one banished.
Farewell, offensive Ophicleide,
Your epitaph is chiseled:
"I died of ophicleidicide:
I tried, alas, but fizzled!"