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I like how Richard Strauss, ever the egomaniac, said on his deathbed, "It's a funny thing, Alice, dying is just the way I composed it in Death and Transfiguration."

I nominate Louis Vierne, composer and organist at Notre Dame de Paris: Vierne suffered either a stroke or a heart attack (eyewitness reports differ) while giving his 1750th organ recital at Notre-Dame de Paris on the evening of 2 June 1937. He had completed the main concert, which members of the audience said showed him at his full powers—"as well as he has ever played." Directly after he had finished playing his "Stele pour un enfant defunt" from his 'Triptyque' Op 58, the closing section was to be two improvisations on submitted themes. He read the first theme in Braille, then selected the stops he would use for the improvisation. He suddenly pitched forward, and fell off the bench as his foot hit the low "E" pedal of the organ. He lost consciousness as the single note echoed throughout the church. He had thus fulfilled his oft-stated lifelong dream—to die at the console of the great organ of Notre-Dame. Maurice Duruflé, another major French organist and composer, was at his side at the time of his death.

That's so hardcore. But it's kind of true, isn't it? I don't think it's a matter of deserving anything though, just that if you're so concerned about your motives, you're not concerned enough with being awesome and that just hurts your work. It's fine to philosophize about stuff from time to time and know where your priorities are, but if you want to write music if for no better reason than to just write it, there's nothing wrong with that. Who said anyone needed a reason to put sounds together and feel smug about it (on the internet?)