Disablities In Composers, Term Paper Example

Introduction and Background

There are many great classical composers who have been faced with disabilities.  Despite this setback, they have become great achievers  in the field of classical music composition.  Composers who have faced such hardships have included Mozart, Beethoven, Sentana, Glennie and Perlman, to name but a few.  The types of disabilities are  wide ranging, from that of blindness, deafness and autism. This article reviews a number of these famous composers and examines the disabilities and  challenges that each had to overcome in their musical careers.  Today we have a medical system that can help in the treatment of such disabilities.  But in the 18th century, these were not available and it rested  very much upon the individual characters and their self determination to succeed.

Disabilities and the Great Composers

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) :  A German composer and pianist of the classical romantic period. Despite being one of the greatest composers of all time he suffered from a hearing impairment.  The cause of this was unknown and he eventually lost his hearing around 1796.  At the time of his death an autopsy was carried out and it was found that he had a distended inner ear. “(Beethoven’s) finest works are also the finest works of their kind in music history: the 9th Symphony, the 5th Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Late Quartets, and the Missa Solemnis. And he achieved all this despite being completely deaf for the last 25 years of his life”  (Jay K)

Jacqueline du Pre’ OBE  : A British  cellist most associated with Elgars cello concerto in E Minor and a legend in the interpretation of classical music and composition for the cello. Her career was cut short at an early age by multiple sclerosis which led to her death at 28 years of age.

Itzhak Perlman : Considered one of the greatest young virtuoso violin players. ” one of the youngest virtuoso violin players of many great talents. He contracted polio at age 4 but made a quick recovery, speeding into his career as one of the greatest treasures in the world of classical music. He walked with crutches and now he generally uses a scooter to get around. He has been playing the violin for quite sometime now and have been given the title of “Sir” in recent times.”  (Administrator)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  1756-1791 : One of the greatest Austrian classical composers to have ever lived.  It has been speculated that Mozart had either ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, or a combination of the two because of his uncontrollable motor hyperactivity and verbal outbursts. This has never been confirmed as these are relatively modern illnesses and formal diagnosis would not have been possible during this period.

Bedrich Smetana 1824-1884 :  Born in Czecholsovakia and considered a child prodigy he played in a string quartet at the age of 5.  He became an accomplished pianist and composed several compositions dedicated to Liszt. Towards the end of his life he coped with mental illness. During his period as a composer he coped with tinnitus and deafness.  Medical attempts to help him failed and in 1874 he became completely death.

Evelyn Glennie : Was born in Ellan, Aberdeenshire in July 1965. She performs over 100 recitals and concerts each year. In 1989 she was awarded a Grammy for the best Chamber music. In 1993 she obtained an OBE for her services to music.  Her achievements as a professional percussionist are remarkable given her deafness. Glennie stated that ” being deaf was irrelevant as music is the role of therapy and communication”  (Richmond.)

Andrea Bocelli :  Famous for bring the world of classical music to the forefront in modern society.  Despite being blind he has managed countless stage performances and is an accomplished musician ” (born 22 September 1958) Andrea Bocelli had become blind at the age of 12 years old following a football accident in which he was hit in the head. At 6 years old Bocelli was taking piano lessons before also learning the saxophone and the flute. His family would always ask him to sing, bocelli once said “I don’t think a singer decides to sing, it is the others who choose that you sing by their reactions”. Bocelli has sung with other great singers such as Pavarotti and has only been further admired due to his blindness.”  (Disabled World).

George Frederick Handel — A great composer perhaps most noted for his composition of the “Water Music”, he suffered from epilepsy. ” (Friday 23 February 1685 – Saturday 14 April 1759) was a German-born Baroque composer who is famous for his operas, oratorios and concerti grossi. Since the 1960s, with the revival of interest in baroque music, original instrument playing styles, and the prevalence of countertenors who could more accurately replicate castrato roles, interest has revived in Handel’s Italian operas, and many have been recorded and performed onstage.”  (Disabled World)

Peter Tchaikovsky — Another classical composer believed to have suffered from Epilepsy. ” Russian composer of the Romantic era. Tchaikovsky, is believed to have had epilepsy. Pyotr began piano lessons at age five with a local woman, Mariya Palchikova within three years he read music as well as his teacher. Tchaikovsky died on November 6, 1893, nine days after the premiere of his Sixth Symphony, the Pathtique. His death has traditionally been attributed to cholera, most probably contracted through drinking contaminated water several days earlier.”  (Disabled World)

Aaron Copland — Considered as one of the great American classical composers suffered with dementia ” Copland learned to play piano from an older sister. By the time he was fifteen he had decided to become a composer. His first tentative steps included a correspondence course in writing harmony. In 1921 Copland traveled to Paris to attend the newly founded music school for Americans at Fontainebleau. He was the first American student of the brilliant teacher, Nadia Boulanger. After three years in Paris he returned to New York with his first major commission, writing an organ concerto for the American appearances of Madame Boulanger. His “Symphony for Organ and Orchestra” premiered in at Carnegie Hall in 1925.”  (Chew)

One of the difficulties in understanding the nature of disabilities in the early classical composers was that many of the illnesses were not fully understood at the time.  ” the term autism did not even come into use until the mid 19th century”  (Neil William Lerner).  It is important to have a degree of empathy for the disabled composers and integrate them more into the overall setting ” I watched a physical disabled composer sat immobile in a wheelchair whilst a dance company danced to the music”  (Benjamin).

Beethoven had no modern hearing aid to help or assist him with his deafness. Instead he wandered around with a giant amplification tube.  He was often seen walking around the streets of Vienna mumbling to himself.  Often the sign of an eccentric  but he was also found to have arsenic traces in his hair and this toxin would have acted as a slow poison. There was no real explanation or reason for this at the time.  (Viegas)

Works Cited

Administrator. 12 World Famous Musicians with Disabilities. 3 3 2010. 26 6 2010 <http://topics.dirwell.com/info/12-world-famous-musicians-with-disabilities.html>.

Benjamin, Adam. Making an entrance: theory and practice for disabled and non-disabled dancers . New York : Routledge, 2002.

Chew, Robin. Aaron Copland. 11 1995. 27 6 2010 <http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/copland.html>.

Disabled World. Disabled World. 2010. 27 6 2010 <http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-blind.shtml>.

K, Jay. 10 Famous Musicians with Disabilities. 14 2 2010. 28 6 2010 <http://listverse.com/2010/02/14/10-famous-musicians-with-disabilities/>.

Neil William Lerner, Neil Lerner, Joseph Nathan Straus. “Sounding off: theorizing disability in music .” Neil William Lerner, Neil Lerner, Joseph Nathan Straus. Sounding off: theorizing disability in music . Oxford UK: Routledge, 2006. 201.

Richmond., Eric. Evelyn Glennie Biography Aberdeen Percussionist. 2010. 26 6 2010 <http://www.aboutaberdeen.com/evelynglennie.php>.

Viegas, Jennifer. Beethovens World. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2008.