Composers' Dirty Laundry

[matti]

Fattest composer might be Dussek, whose weight was legendary. Perhaps rivaled by Scarlatti (towards the end of his life, just as Dussek), who reputedly could not cross his arms to play certain harpsichord sections, due to his bulk.

Closely followed by Leif Segerstam who has been self ironic about his big belly and confessed he needs a mirror to see his c**k.

[Florestan]

Drunkards, gamblers, womanizers, sexual perverts, homosexuals, paedophiles... these are not vices specific to composers, but universal human vices and I doubt that the percentage of paedophiles among composers is larger than that of the society at large.

Great art comes not form mental or emotional distress, but from talent / genius and hard work. Not every pacient of an asylum is a Schumann or a Hoelderlin; not every drunkard in a slum tavern is a Mussorgsky or a Faulkner; and not every brothel-going chap is a Baudelaire or a Van Gogh.

The artists are not superhuman types, beyond good and evil, to whom ordinary moral laws do not apply. On the contrary, they are human, only too human: their art is an expression of their full humanity and their behaviour is subjected to the same moral injunctions as that of any other mortal.

Mussorgsky is no excuse for drunkenness; neither is Mussorgsky being a drunkard an indictment of his artistic output (Rimsky-Korsakov meddling with it notwithstanding )

[schweitzeralan]

ok, maybe I should have asked, "Which Russian composer was NOT  a drunk?"...

...and the reason I didn't ask, "Which composer's mother wore army boots?" is because I get the feeling there is one.

C'mon, it's Saturday night!!!

We know about Mussorgsky...Sibelius...what about the addicts (Berlioz?...Merikanto?...no more???)? Americans in Paris???

What is it about artists like Vivier and Pasolini that gets them murdered by male prostitutes? Kinkiest composers?...Szymanowski?

(So...technically if you like Rachmaninov's best work you have Glazunov to thank? Interesting!...poor Rachy...)Yes, more stories like that.

Maybe I've seen too much TMZ?..."and I'm a lawya'"...arrrgh

Maybe a better question would be, "Which composer was also a lawyer?" but I think we all know the answer to that.

I fear where this thread might be by mid week. Get the clampdown ready, boys...

What was Merikanto's problem? An alcoholic?  Not unlike Sibelis, befre he recanted.

[matti]

What was Merikanto's problem? An alcoholic?

Morphine addiction.

[Bunny]

Boulez only changes his underwear once a week.

How often does he change his socks?

[DavidRoss]

Closely followed by Leif Segerstam who has been self ironic about his big belly and confessed he needs a mirror to see his c**k.

Gosh, given the size of Segerstam's belly I think he might be better off if he were to see his cook less often, mirror or no.   

[matti]

Gosh, given the size of Segerstam's belly I think he might be better off if he were to see his cook less often, mirror or no.   

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Great art comes not form mental or emotional distress, but from talent / genius and hard work. Not every pacient of an asylum is a Schumann or a Hoelderlin; not every drunkard in a slum tavern is a Mussorgsky or a Faulkner; and not every brothel-going chap is a Baudelaire or a Van Gogh.

Dude, tell me about it. I tried all these things; they still didn't make me into a genius 

[Florestan]

Dude, tell me about it. I tried all these things; they still didn't make me into a genius 

[DavidRoss]

Dude, tell me about it. I tried all these things; they still didn't make me into a genius 

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. 

[eyeresist]

Gosh, given the size of Segerstam's belly I think he might be better off if he were to see his cook less often, mirror or no.   

"It is only a waffeur-thin mint!" (for Karl)



Yeah, I had a friend who went out of his way to admire alcoholic writers as (I strongly suspect) justification for his own immoderate habits.