Source link : https://las-vegas.news/tom-lehrer-tune-satirist-and-mathematician-dies-at-97/
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Lehrer, the favored and erudite tune satirist who lampooned marriage, politics, racism and the Chilly Battle, then largely deserted his music profession to return to instructing math at Harvard and different universities, has died. He was 97.
Longtime pal David Herder mentioned Lehrer died Saturday at his house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He didn’t specify a reason behind dying.
Lehrer had remained on the mathematics college of the College of California at Santa Cruz effectively into his late 70s. In 2020, he even turned away from his personal copyright, granting the general public permission to make use of his lyrics in any format with none charge in return.
A Harvard prodigy (he had earned a math diploma from the establishment at age 18), Lehrer quickly turned his very sharp thoughts to outdated traditions and present occasions. His songs included “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,” “The Old Dope Peddler” (set to a tune paying homage to “The Old Lamplighter”), “Be Prepared” (by which he mocked the Boy Scouts) and “The Vatican Rag,” by which Lehrer, an atheist, poked on the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. (Pattern lyrics: “Get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries. Bow your head with great respect, and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.”)
Accompanying himself on piano, he carried out the songs in a colourful model paying homage to such musical heroes as Gilbert and Sullivan and Stephen Sondheim,…
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Author : LasVegasNews
Publish date : 2025-07-27 19:37:00
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