Monday, April 11, 2005

Mental Illness and Composers

An interesting article that looks at the relation between mental illness and creativity as exhibited in composers. Of course, it's highly suspect work since all these folks are long since dead and can't really be asked to lie down on the couch and answer questions. Still it makes for food for thought. Consider this:

"Schumann, Kogan explained, wrestled with wild mood swings, throwing himself into the Rhine River and dying in a mental hospital. "He had bursts of creativity that alternated with suicidal depression. I read about that and realized I'd seen this behavior in my patients. You look at (Schumann's) music, and he has instructions like, 'Play fast,' followed by 'Play this faster.' His thoughts were often racing - and you find that in his music."

Read the rest
here

2 comments:

peter said...

This scares all the academics to death because they are all normal, well adjusted, and happy people with absolutley nothing to say, and who will never be remembered. Art is not the language of "I payed my bills today, everybody loves me, and I'm a very responsible young conservative..."

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