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Title: 10 Unsolved Mysteries In The Lives Of Great Composers
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URL Source: http://listverse.com/2016/07/23/10- ... -the-lives-of-great-composers/
Published: Jul 25, 2016
Author: M. Land
Post Date: 2016-07-25 09:09:09 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 350
Comments: 7
The composer Edward Elgar enjoyed creating a sense of mystery: One of his most famous compositions is a series known as the Enigma Variations, of which he stated, “The enigma I will not explain—its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed.” While not every great composer has played with ambiguity as deliberately as Elgar did, many mysteries can still be found in their actions in the world of baroque and classical music, either in the works they wrote or within the events of their own lives. This list takes a chronological look at certain mysteries surrounding some of the greatest composers of music over the past few centuries.
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#1. To: Ada (#0)
What fun, what pure fun. I had no idea about some of this. Have never heard there was a mystery about the Goldberg variations -- wikid agrees with your page, but they're the mature Bach for sure, not the brilliant teenage composer. It's accepted that Mazart's requiem is partly by Süssmayr -- just a question of how much. Quite an achievement for such a relative nobody. Beethoven was likely the father of his nephew Karl, and his notoriously cruel treatment of his sister-in-law that of an aggrieved or jilted lover. Some scholars have concluded the Unfinished Symphony is in fact finished. This would be in keeping with its otherwise totally unorthodox format. It came out a decade or three ago that Tchaikovsky was called before the PTB for being queer and ordered to drink poison, which he did. This was considered definitive at the time. Wonder what else he would have written if this ugly business hadn't been instigated by a Jue, Bernardi? Here's an amazing book, especially if it's true -- I guess it's written by a Jue and that puts everything in doubt, but he says Elgar (who was famously so broken by the death of his wife he never composed again) had an affair with some woman. www.amazon.com/Lives-Wives-Loves-Great- Composers/dp/0714529176 Shostakovich and other "Soviet" composers lived in dread of the authorities, who attempted to dictate musical values and persecuted the musically incorrect on such vague charges as "formalism". Lots of composers destroy works they considered inferior. (There's a great little book called The Bad Old Days or something that covers how horribly filthy street and city life were till cars. The poop dried, powdered and blew all over the place making clean air a rare commodity.)
I read somewhere that Karl was the "Immortal Beloved". Beethoven stole Karl from his sister-in-law but I hadn't heard the theory he was the father. In any event, Karl did not reciprocate Ludwig's doting affection and kept trying to return to his mother.
Whew -- sick! Supposedly LvB was born with VD and this explains the poor man's eventual deafness and quasi-insanity.
For some reason the darkest conclusions often get the widest circulation, particularly in the case of unmarried figures such as Beethoven, Schubert and Neitzsche. Cited by Awesome Stories (2011), the Royal college of Surgeons (2006) took another look at the autopsy and some of Beethoven’s hair and concluded the following: …The autopsy data indicate that Beethoven had cirrhosis of the liver; and probably also renal papillary necrosis, pancreatitis and possibly diabetes mellitus. His lifestyle for at least the final decade of his life indicated that he overindulged in alcohol in the form of wine. Alcohol was by far the most common cause of cirrhosis at that period. Toxicological analysis of his hair [recently conducted] showed that the level of lead was elevated. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, lead was added illegally to inexpensive wines to sweeten and refresh them. These findings strongly suggest that liver failure secondary to alcoholic cirrhosis, associated with terminal spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, was the cause of death. This was complicated in the end stages by renal failure. If the presence of endogenous lead was verified by analysis of Beethoven’s skeletal remains, it would suggest that the lead was derived from wine that he drank. Lead poisoning may account for some of his end-of-life symptoms. There is little clinical or autopsy evidence that Beethoven suffered from syphilis. hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinginternational/2011/hearing- beethoven-part- ii-the-medical-conclusion/
That's a awful lot of illness for one man -- almost sounds like they're trying to cover something up. Lead was added to wines to "sweeten and refresh" them - - and I don't remember ever hearing he had a drinking problem? I'm fine with however the poor man died..... and am sure if he could speak today, he'd say it's sure hard being a genius.
All the greats were alcoholics, except perhaps Johann Sebastian Bach, who no doubt liked his beer, but had to keep a steady hand on the tiller as a precision organist.
#7. To: randge (#6)
All the greats -- quite a sweeping statement!
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#2. To: NeoconsNailed (#1)
Beethoven was likely the father of his nephew Karl, and his notoriously cruel treatment of his sister-in-law that of an aggrieved or jilted lover.
#3. To: Ada (#2)
#4. To: NeoconsNailed (#3)
#5. To: randge (#4)
#6. To: NeoconsNailed (#5)
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