That jealous demon, my wretched health : disease, death and composers
Noble, Jonathan2018
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The health - and especially deaths - of composers excite controversy. Was Mozart really poisoned? Did Tchaikovsky commit suicide? How did Beethoven lose his hearing? Much good previous scholarship has been sullied by unsubstantiated views, and many composers' reputations have been unfairly tarnished by scandalous commentary, often involving alcoholism or syphilis. This book, by a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, charts the disturbed physical and mental health of 70 great composers. It attempts to unpick the evidence forensically and to define the cause of death based on the legal paradigm of a balance of probabilities. The author reviews where the composer was when the final illness or death overtook him and considers how many of them would have fared with modern treatment. Chapters are organised thematically, by illness; and numerous misconceptions, such as madness fuelling creativity, are challenged. The book relates the nature of composition to composers' suffering, showcasing much triumph in adversity, and, importantly, rehabilitates reputations.
Main title:
That jealous demon, my wretched health : disease, death and composers / Jonathan Noble ; foreword by Petroc Trelawny.
Author:
Imprint:
Woodbridge, United Kingdom : The Boydell Press, 2018.
Collation:
xvii, 492 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
1.The Frailty of Youth -- Mozart -- Bellini -- Bizet -- Pergolesi -- Purcell -- 2.A Triumphant Old Age -- Joseph Haydn -- Saint-Saens -- Elgar -- Sibelius -- Monteverdi -- Verdi -- Johann Strauss II -- Janacek -- R Strauss -- Vaughan Williams -- 3.Iatrogenic Afflictions -- J. S. Bach -- Handel -- Holst -- Gershwin -- Ravel -- 4.Syphilis -- Schubert -- Smetana -- Delius -- Wolf -- Donizetti -- Chabrier -- 5.Alcoholism -- Arnold -- Lambert -- Field -- Satie -- Musorgsky -- Glazunov -- 6.Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and Suicide -- Schumann -- Bruckner -- Tchaikovsky -- Gesualdo -- Jeremiah Clarke -- Warlock (aka Heseltine) -- 7.Nerves Beyond the Edge: Other Afflictions of the Nervous System -- Shostakovich -- Prokofiev -- Berlioz -- Gluck -- Gounod -- Mendelssohn -- Copland -- 8.Broken Hearts -- Liszt -- Wagner -- Dvorak -- Mahler -- Nielsen -- Britten -- Borodin -- Rimsky-Korsakov -- Poulenc -- 9.Breathless: Respiratory Diseases -- Weber -- Chopin -- Grieg -- Stravinsky -- Vivaldi -- Schoenberg -- 10.Cancer -- Rossini -- Debussy -- Brahms -- Puccini -- Rachmaninov -- Bartok -- Finzi -- Massenet -- 11.The Ultimate Blow: Deafness -- Beethoven -- Faure.
ISBN:
9781783272587
Dewey class:
780.922780
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
352808
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton Library | Adult Non Fiction - Biography | 780 THE | Available |