That Jealous Demon, My Wretched Health

Disease, Death and Composers

Jonathan Noble

Boydell ISBN 978-1-78327-258-7

510pp (hb) £25.00

This book might look like a pretty sombre read; but though the matter is serious, Jonathan Noble manages to bring to it lightness of touch and even humour. He is well qualified to tackle the subject, as he knows a good deal about music, and as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Surgeons his understanding of illness, injury and medicine is profound.

He selects 70 composers for medical examination – some relatively brief, others in depth – researching accounts of the illnesses they suffered, and which in many cases claimed them, from a careful reading of biographies and other historical records. His conclusions sometimes contradict received knowledge – much of it inexpert or based on diagnoses that have been superseded. Schubert, for instance, did have syphilis but died from gastroenteritis. Schumann probably didn’t, but suffered from schizophrenia. Tchaikovsky didn’t commit suicide but genuinely caught cholera. Britten simply had heart disease – once again the suggestion of syphilis doesn’t stand up. One learns a good deal about medical progress: nowadays many of these individuals could have been cured. George Hall ★★★★