<\/p>
The 19th century in classical music was the golden age of the Romantic composer<\/a><\/strong>: passionate, sensual, untrammelled in their desires. Composers such as Hector Berlioz<\/a><\/strong> and Franz Liszt<\/a><\/strong> gaze out at us from their portraits \u2013 wild-haired, defiant, the very essence of the unchecked Romantic hero.<\/p> It\u2019s an unfortunate fact, however, that another of the Romantic era\u2019s key signifiers was the rampant spread of the sexually transmitted disease, syphilis. In some cases, the passionate, bohemian lifestyles of these iconic composers caught up with them, as they succumbed to this widespread disease and its disastrous, debilitating effects. The likes of Robert Schumann, Scott Joplin, Frederick Delius and Jean Sibelius are all believed to have suffered from syphilis, and its effects influenced their health, relationships, and ultimately, their compositions.<\/p> Here, we look at how this virulent disease affected the physical and mental wellbeing of eight great composers<\/a><\/strong>, and the ways in which their suffering may have shaped some of their most poignant and enduring works. We end with two great composers around whom rumours of syphilis have circulated \u2013 but we can\u2019t say for sure.<\/p> A chronic and infectious disease, syphilis is primarily transmitted through sexual contact. If left untreated, it can cause severe long-term health problems affecting the brain, heart, and nervous system. The disease has had a major impact on human history \u2013 in particular before the discovery of antibiotics, when it was often untreatable and led to debilitating physical and mental conditions.<\/p> In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many prominent composers, writers and artists were believed to have contracted syphilis. The disease\u2019s long-term effects \u2013 mood swings, hallucinations, paralysis, and dementia \u2013 blighted the later years of many of the composers on our list.<\/p> During the early 1820s, the young Franz Schubert<\/a><\/strong> was at the centre of a tight-knit circle of artists and students who fathered together for salons and musical performances. It was a slightly different sort of evening, sometime in the late summer of 1822, that saw the 25 year-old Schubert and his friend Franz von Schober out on the tiles in Vienna.<\/p> This, however, was the ill-fated evening when, it is believed, Schubert may have contracted syphilis during a visit to a brothel. (Von Schober noted that at this time, \u2018Schubert became increasingly dissipated, visited seedy districts, hung out in bars \u2013 and also composed some of his most beautiful songs<\/a><\/strong> in them, of course.\u2019)\u00a0<\/p> On March 31, 1824, Schubert wrote miserably to a friend: \u2018I feel myself to be the most unhappy and wretched creature in the world. Imagine a man whose health will never be right again, a man whose most brilliant hopes have perished, to whom love and friendship have nothing to offer but pain (\u2026) Each night, on retiring to bed, I hope I may not wake again, and each morning but recalls yesterday\u2019s grief.\u2019<\/p> Tragic stuff. In fact, however, Schubert\u2019s syphilis remained latent for the next three years, and the diary accounts from his friends describe a young man in good form and near the top of his powers. During the summer of 1827, however, Schubert began experiencing recurring headaches. By that autumn, the syphilis had taken hold again.<\/p> Schubert\u2019s mental and physical health was declining, as can be heard in the beautiful but heartbreaking song cycle\u00a0Winterreise<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (\u2018Winter Journey\u2019), composed that autumn. His friend Johann Mayrhofer believed that Schubert wrote the cycle feeling that \u2018life had lost its rosiness and winter was upon him\u2019.<\/p> What is syphilis?<\/h2>
Seven composers who succumbed to syphilis<\/h2>
1. Franz Schubert (1797-1828)<\/strong><\/h3>
‘Each night, on retiring to bed, I hope I may not wake again’<\/h6>