That Jealous Demon, My Wretched Health

Despite much triumph in adversity, illness fuelling composition is a misconception.

The health - and especially deaths - of composers excite controversy. Was Mozart really poisoned? Did Tchaikovsky commit suicide? How did Beethoven lose his hearing? Much good previous scholarship has been sullied by unsubstantiated views, and many composers'' reputations have been unfairly tarnished by scandalous c...