A tourist in Vienna is walking through a graveyard when, out of nowhere, he starts hearing music.

With no one around, he begins searching for the source. Eventually, he tracks it down to a grave with a headstone that reads:

“Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827.”

He’s stunned to realize the music is Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony… being played backward!

Confused, he leaves and convinces a friend to come back with him. When they return, the music has changed to the Seventh Symphony, also being played backward.

Curious, they consult a music expert. When they return with him, they hear the Fifth Symphony… and once again, it’s backward!

The expert points out that the symphonies are playing in reverse order of their composition: 9th, 7th, and 5th. By the next day, the crowd has grown, and they’re now hearing the Third Symphony, still backward.

Just then, the caretaker of the graveyard strolls by. Someone asks him if he has any explanation for the music.

With a shrug, he replies, “I thought it was obvious… He’s decomposing.”