Enrique Granados went down with a ship that was torpedoed by the Germans during World War I. The American composer Wallingford Riegger took his dog for a walk, tripped over the leash and sustained fatal injuries. Anton Webern, living in occupied Austria after World War II, was caught up in a bungled arrest and accidentally shot by an American GI. Jean-Baptiste Lully, using a heavy iron rod to beat time for his orchestra, struck himself in the foot and died of blood poisoning.

But perhaps the most bizarre fate of all met Karekin Zildjian, of the famous cymbal-making dynasty. (If you've been around any kind of group that uses percussion, from a symphony to a rock band, you've been around Zildjians.) Karekin was in his factory, mixing a batch of metal, when an explosion occurred. Not only was his head blown off his neck--his headless body was encased in molten bronze.

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