At this year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Artistic Director Jack Liebeck has programmed a concert, inspired by the Horrible Histories books and TV series, which will explore the demise of several composers. Running with the idea, Clive Paget suggests some prime contenders for classical music’s oddest and most grisly deaths.

Jean-Baptiste Lully stabbing his foot while conducting. Illustration © Jo Ogilvie, Sharp Pencil Design

Horrible Histories is, as they say, a global phenomenon. The bestselling books by Terry Deary, each one packed with macabre yet often useful facts about the dastardly deeds and miserable ends of major historical figures, have been running as a musical comedy television series on the BBC for 16 seasons. Last year, there was even...