can anyone tell me which composer was killed by a falling pig!  my
father read this once and thinks that it was an austrian composer, but
we can't locate it.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was believed to have been killed by a pig.
However, the pig was not falling at the time.

Based on information collated over 200 years since his death. A Dr.
Jan. V. Hirschmann came up with a theory that because of the recorded
symptoms of Mozart before he died which were fever, rash, limb pain
and swelling she concluded a theory that he died of Trichinosis which
is a worm infestation usually caused by eating undercooked pork.

A published letter from Mozart to his wife contained the extract "What
do I smell? ...pork cutlets!  Che Gusto [What a delicious taste].  I
eat to your health." This letter was sent 44 days before his death and
the incubation period of Trichinosis is around 50 days.

The article by Associated Press can be found at
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSWeirdNews0106/11_mozart-ap.html

The scoop ties the evidence together at
http://www.pigsinthenews.com/issues/02/articles/020101a.htm

I hope that you find this useful.

thank you for the answer, I think that might be the one that my father
was thinking about.  Thanks for the reference, he found that useful to
read

I haven't found an account of a falling pig killing a composer, but
there seems to be a possibility that a pig killed Mozart:

http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSWeirdNews0106/11_mozart-ap.html

http://www.mercola.com/2001/jun/23/mozart_pork.htm

Also "falling pig kills poet!"

"Jason W. Plover, a poet with six books, was killed when a pig tumbled
out of the sky and crushed him as he was crossing Massachusetts Avenue
against the light at Harvard Square"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805060227/ref=ase_jonradel/002-0362931-5124030

I bet that explanation raised a few eyebrows when they submitted the
insurance claim form!