University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, October 20, 2000 Page: 4 of 6
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University Press • Friday, October 20, 2000 • Page 4
Heavy metal no new thing for musicians
Lead poisoning may have caused Beethoven’s illnesses, erratic behavior
ARGONNE, 111. (AP) — An
analysis of a lock of Ludwig van
Beethoven’s hair suggests lead poison-
ing could explain the erratic genius’
lifelong ailments, his strange behavior,
his death, maybe even his deafness.
The four-year analysis of the hair
— apparently snipped after the com-
poser’s death at age 56 in 1827 — has
turned up a concentration of lead 100
times the levels commonly found in
people today, according to researchers
at the Health Research Institute in
suburban Chicago, where the hair was
tested.
That means it is all but certain that
the composer suffered from lead poi-
soning, also known as plumbism, the
researchers said.
“It was a surprise, but it stood out
like a sore thumb in the analysis,” said
William Walsh, director of the insti-
tute’s Beethoven research project.
Scientists initially were searching
for mercury, a common treatment for
syphilis in Beethoven’s day. The ab-
sence of mercury supports the recent
consensus of scholars who believe
Beethoven did not have syphilis.
In rare cases, lead poisoning caus-
es deafness, but scientists remain un-
sure if that was what caused Beet-
hoven’s hearing loss.
“So that’s really the million-dollar
question,” said William Meredith,
director of the Center for Beethoven
Studies at San Jose State University.
He said he hopes further testing
will be done on other locks of hair
from the Beethoven house in Bonn,
Germany, which has several strands
that were taken five or more years
before he died.
Lead poisoning may also explain
what some described as dramatic
mood swings on Beethoven’s part.
“If you asked friends, they’d say
he could be gruff but he had a great
sense of humor,” Meredith said.
“Others say he was unpredictable —
very erratic behavior ‘— that you’d
never know what to expect when
you’d visit him.”
Beethoven was given to towering
rages, and sometimes had the look of a
wild animal, with his long hair
unkempt and his appearance filthy. He
was known to bicker with waiters and
stroll the streets of Vienna in an over-
size top hat and a coat that extended
almost to his ankles, humming off-key
and scribbling in a notebook.
The Health Research Institute sci-
entists said that Beethoven’s le'ad
exposure came as an adult but that the
source of the lead is unclear, though
one possibility is the mineral water he
swam in and drank during his stays at
spas.
The conclusions were based on
chemical analysis by the McCrone
Research Institute in Chicago and
images taken at Argonne National
Laboratory using an electron accelera-
tor that creates the most detailed X-
rays available today.
Many mourners took hair from
Beethoven while the body was on view
in the Vienna apartment where he
died of pneumonia and complications
of abdominal problems, which are a
common symptoms of lead poisoning.
“He was shorn. He was practically
bald when he was buried,” said Ira
Brilliant, founder of the Center of
Beethoven Studies.
Brilliant and Alfredo Guevara, a
surgeon from Nogales, Ariz., bought
the hair in 1994 for $7,300 at Sotheby’s
auction house in London. In all, there
were 582 strands — 3 inches to 6 inch-
es long — that were gray and two
shades of brown.
The analysis did not find drug
metabolites, which indicate Beethoven
avoided painkillers during his long and
painful death.
“This implies that he decided to
keep his mind clear for his music,”
Walsh said.
Even Beethoven himself wanted
to know what had made him so ill since
his early 20s. He wrote a letter to his
brothers in 1802 asking them to have
doctors find the cause of his abdomi-
nal pain after his death.
“We feel that we’re fulfilling part
of his wishes, albeit 199 years later,”
Walsh said.
WlTTRY TO CONDUCT
Beethoven’s ‘Ninth’
IN FAREWELL CONCERT
The Lutcher Theater, in conjunction with the
Symphony of Southeast Texas and The Symphony
of Southeast Texas Chorus, will present
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Oct. 28 at 7:30
p.m.
The work, which includes the well-known
“Ode to Joy,” which Beethoven based on the
German philosopher Schiller’s work of the same
name, is being performed for the first time by the
symphony.
The concert will be the final performance of
Diane Wittry.’s tenure in Southeast Texas. Wittry
has been director of the symphony for nine years.
Guest soloists with the chorus will be soprano
Jean Wilkinson, mezzo soprano Blythe Gaissert,
tenor John Priddy and baritone Doug Rogers.
The “Ninth” is considered one of Beethoven’s
last supreme achievements by most critics.
Tickets for the concert are $7, $12.50 and $15.
The Lutcher is located at 707 W. Main in Orange.
For information and tickets, call 409-745-5535.
LU Academic Lecture Series
to present Mangione concert
in Montagne Center Friday
Chuck Mangione, Gram-
my-winning musician-compos-
er-conductor, will perform to-
day at Lamar University as a
presentation of Lamar’s Aca-
demic Lecture Series. The con-
cert, to begin at 8 p.m. in the
Montagne Center, is open to
the public without charge.
The doors open at 7 p.m.,
and early arrival is recom-
mended. High-school football
games are scheduled to be
played at Cardinal Stadium.
Mangione has been a star
on the jazz and pop scenes for
four decades, with his brand of
symphonic jazz. His “Children
of Sanchez” album earned one
of his two Grammys, and his
“Chase the Clouds Away” and
“Feels So Good” instrumentals
and albums topped the popular
music charts.
Mangione was last seen
and heard at Lamar in a 1980
concert in McDonald Gym-
nasium.
Mangione’s appearance
marks the third annual event in
Lamar’s Academic Lecture
Chuck Mangione
Series. Programs rotate accord-
ing to college, with Mangione’s
performance being hosted by
the College of Fine Arts and
Communication. The concert
also will feature the Chuck
Mangione Quartet.
Russ Schultz, dean of the
college, has known Mangione
since the late 1960s when the
two musicians played together
at Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, N.Y. Mangione was
a faculty member and director
of the jazz ensemble at
Eastman. Schultz, who plays
trombone, was a graduate stu-
dent at Eastman, as was violin-
ist Kurt Gilman, Lamar music
professor and director of string
activities. Gilman also per-
formed in Mangione’s studio
orchestra, including stints with
his touring ensemble.
“At Eastman, I was always
friendly with the jazz players,
and that’s how I got involved in
with Mangione’s group,” Gil-
man said. “When he looked for
fiddle players in the string sec-
tion, he wanted musicians who
enjoyed jazz. It was my intro-
duction to the jazz scene at the
professional level, and it was
great fun.”
Schultz was part of the large
professional band that Man-
gione used for performances in
the Rochester area. Later, the
dean was involved in the first
large studio orchestra perfor-
mance Mangione produced — a
session that introduced many of
the pieces for which the artist is
famous today.
“Personally, he was always
fun to work with. His music was
interesting, and it was enjoy-
able to perform with the many
fine musicians he assembled for
his groups,” Schultz said.
Additional information
about the concert is available
at (409) 880-8137.
Rings now starting
at $249
mam
■■
mm
IIP
Every great
achievement
deserves
recognition!
Visit with Art Carved
Setzer Student Center Lobby
Oct. 23 and 24
9:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Sponsored by
Wallace’s Lamar Bookstore
www. artcarved. com / college
pllpllf*
ijaMpi
■■
11
i?w
ympnonij
of Southeast Texas
Bringing gou music begond tbe notes.
Beethoven’s
Ninth” Symphony
with the
Symphony of
Southeast Texas
Chorus
Thursday, Oct. 26,
7:30 p.m.,
at the
Lutcher Theatre
Orange
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Cobb, Joshua. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, October 20, 2000, newspaper, October 20, 2000; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500711/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.