Description:
This critical reevaluation of the causes of many of Beethoven's illnesses offers detailed accounts of the treatments applied by his physicians and a comprehensive rendering of the composer's final illness, death, and burial. Separate chapters discuss the causes of many of Beethoven's illnesses, his autopsy and the exhumations. Following the rediscovery of the original Latin autopsy report in 1970, the author has discovered two faulty translations, which he argues contributed to errors in earlier medical assumptions. New evidence disputes earlier assertions that Beethoven's deafness resulted from syphilis. This fascinating account of Beethoven's ailments should appeal to Beethoven enthusiasts and to both the medical and music communities.
Brief description:
PETER J. DAVIES is a retired Consultant Physician in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. He is the author of Mozart in Person: His Character and Health (Greenwood, 1989).
Review Quotes: "Dr. Davies makes a most valuable contribution in this book by helping us to gain a greater understanding of Beethoven, the man and his music- and, at the same time, providing an excellent account of the state of affairs in medicine in Vienna during the composer's lifetime. He also illuminates the interaction between illness and creativity, and the extraordinary progress that medicine has made in the past 150+ years. Medical historians, students in music and medicine, physicians, and music lovers will all enjoy this book."-Bull. Hist. Med.