Author looks at 70 composers from Beethoven to Britten, also dismissing alcoholism claims
A retired surgeon’s research into the deaths of 70 of the best-known classical composers has led him to conclude that many of them were unfairly tainted with reputations for “venereal disease, alcoholism or sexual impropriety”.
Jonathan Noble, a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, has reviewed material – including letters and diaries where symptoms and ailments are detailed – relating to Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven and many others, and found that “an awful lot of them have been slighted by music critics and biographers”.
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