Beethoven in Person His Deafness, Illnesses, and Death by Peter

J. Davies

A critical reevaluation of the causes of Beethoven's many illnesses, especially his

deafness.
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May 2001
Praeger
Pages 316
Volumes 1
Size 6 1/8x9 1/4
Popular Culture/Music and
Topics Performing Arts

 Hardcover
978-0-313-31587-9
$86.00
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 International Pricing
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.
Table of Contents
Reviews/Endorsements
Reviews
...not only detailed, technical coverage of all of Beethoven's medical problems but also
backgroound on medical practice and prominent physicians of Beethoven's time. the book is
thoroughly documented and draws on a wide range of primary and secondary musical and
medical sources. Recommended for large collections; all levels.—Choice
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.
Davies' book contains a great deal of valuable and interesting material, and one suspects that its
collection and assembly have been a labour of love carried out with great diligence and devotion
over a long period of time...a detailed and thoroughly referenced compilation of facts about
Beethoven's health interpreted cautiously and, probably, as correctly as it is possible to do so
long after his death. — Health and History
The illnesses and cause of death of the world's great composers have been a favorite subject for
the medical sleuth, who usually aims to explain their illnesses on the basis of a multi-system
disorder. In 1989 Peter Davies, an Australian gastroenterologist and medical historian,
published his authoritative work Mozart in Person R. Now he has turned his attention to
Beethoven and this new book will undoubtedly take its place as the definitive medical text
relating to this musical genius. — Journal of Medical History
Editorial Reviews
Review
"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.

..."not only detailed, technical coverage of all of Beethoven's medical problems but also
backgroound on medical practice and prominent physicians of Beethoven's time. the book is
thoroughly documented and draws on a wide range of primary and secondary musical and
medical sources. Recommended for large collections; all levels."-Choice

"Davies' book contains a great deal of valuable and interesting material, and one suspects
that its collection and assembly have been a labour of love carried out with great diligence
and devotion over a long period of time...a detailed and thoroughly referenced compilation of
facts about Beethoven's health interpreted cautiously and, probably, as correctly as it is
possible to do so long after his death."-Health and History

"The illnesses and cause of death of the world's great composers have been a favorite
subject for the medical sleuth, who usually aims to explain their illnesses on the basis of a
 multi-system disorder. In 1989 Peter Davies, an Australian gastroenterologist and medical
historian, published his authoritative work Mozart in Person. Now he has turned his attention
to Beethoven and this new book will undoubtedly take its place as the definitive medical text
relating to this musical genius."-Journal of Medical History

?...not only detailed, technical coverage of all of Beethoven's medical problems but also
backgroound on medical practice and prominent physicians of Beethoven's time. the book is
thoroughly documented and draws on a wide range of primary and secondary musical and
medical sources. Recommended for large collections; all levels.?-Choice

?Davies' book contains a great deal of valuable and interesting material, and one suspects
that its collection and assembly have been a labour of love carried out with great diligence
and devotion over a long period of time...a detailed and thoroughly referenced compilation of
facts about Beethoven's health interpreted cautiously and, probably, as correctly as it is
possible to do so long after his death.?-Health and History

?The illnesses and cause of death of the world's great composers have been a favorite
subject for the medical sleuth, who usually aims to explain their illnesses on the basis of a
multi-system disorder. In 1989 Peter Davies, an Australian gastroenterologist and medical
historian, published his authoritative work Mozart in Person. Now he has turned his attention
to Beethoven and this new book will undoubtedly take its place as the definitive medical text
relating to this musical genius.?-Journal of Medical History

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.

.,."not only detailed, technical coverage of all of Beethoven's medical problems but also
background on medical practice and prominent physicians of Beethoven's time. the book is
thoroughly documented and draws on a wide range of primary and secondary musical and
medical sources. Recommended for large collections; all levels."-Choice

Jeffrey Huntington

5.0 out of 5 stars The best I've seen

October 25, 2015
Format: Hardcover
This is a very good book--sober, expert, and nonpartisan--on a subject which has gotten a lot of
irresponsible ink. If Beethoven did have syphilis, which can't be proved one way or the other, it
probably didn't kill him or cause his deafness. There were heritable illnesses which could have
caused some of his miseries, but there is no obvious chain of inheritance. Even though
Beethoven's hair tested high for lead, his skull didn't, so lead poisoning was at most an
aggravating factor. (Beethoven used a lead-based hair dye.) The evidence from his
contemporaries is of limited value because of the march of science and changes in attitudes:
What his friends called a healthy appreciation of wine, we would call alcoholism. He had many
doctors and took great quantities of patent medicines, some of which were probably
dangerously toxic in themselves, but we have no way to evaluate them. (They were closely-
guarded secrets and probably had a high content of voodoo. And these were some of the
greatest doctor of the age.)

It was his liver which did him in, assisted by his kidneys. Alcohol is the prime suspect, though
hepatitis was very common in Vienna. Lingering aftereffects of typhus could have caused his
deafness, but typhus never goes untreated any more, to there aren't any modern data on its
sequelae. Sinusitis can cause deafness, too. Beethoven was often in pain and spent a lot of
time on the sick list, and I wish this book were more easily available to those who care.
The Character of a Genius: Beethoven in Perspective
Peter J. Davies

Greenwood Press, 2002 - 319 страница

CONTENTS

Chronological calendar-- childhood and adolescence-- religious beliefs and attitudes-- Beethoven's
religious music-- work habits and pastimes-- Beethoven's personality I - paranoid character -
Beethoven's personality II - other traits stresses humour and the eternal feminine-- Beethoven's
personality III - manic-depressive tendencies - the suffering depressive composer-- Beethoven's
personality IV - manic-depressive tendencies, upswings of mood, sanity, genetics, creativity.

(source: Nielsen Book Data)9780313319136 20160528

Beethoven's often-discussed dark side--marked by paranoia, narcissism, and obsession--is

brought into focus by Peter J. Davies, who examines both the composer's genetic roots and the
familial cruelty and neglect that defined his childhood. But this book is more than a biography,
eschewing facile psychoanalysis in favor of a real exploration of how Beethoven's character
shaped the work now universally regarded as among the best music ever written. Davies
acutely observes the ways in which suffering can bring, at the same time, both madness and
genius.

The author begins by tracing the medical history of mental disorders in Beethoven's family, and
then goes on to detail the composer's religious beliefs and attitudes, his daily work habits and
pastimes, and elements of his character including manic depression. Though the work does not
purport to be a musical analysis, it does consider the many ways in which the things that shape
an artist go on to shape his art.