Blame culture!

[Peter]

An article in the Beethoven Journal, published by San Jose State University's Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, lays the composer's death at the feet of Dr. Andreas Wawruch and his bedside remedies:


"SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Ludwig van Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, after four months of misery on a dirty straw mattress in Vienna. What brought on that downward spiral? Lead poisoning accidentally caused by his own doctor, says a journal article published Friday.

For musicologists, the very idea that Beethoven's death was an accident, and that his life might possibly have been extended, is shocking: "What else could he have composed?" asked William Meredith, director of San Jose State's Beethoven center, the only research center in North America devoted to Beethoven. "Because if you can extend Beethoven's life by a year, you could have had two more string quartets. He was working on a string quintet when he got sick. And then there are the famous sketches for his Tenth Symphony."

[susanwen]

They've said similar about Napoleon. Lead poisoning was quite common at the time. The bottles that wine and medicine were kept in had high lead content, plates and mugs did also, and the dangers weren't known at the time.

[Joy]

Apparently it was not only humans who suffered either. Here's something I read on the subject concerning birds and animals. "Lead poisoning has been recognized as a mortality factor in waterfowl since the late 1800's. Lead poisoning cases today are either the result of ingestion of spent lead shot or fishing sinkers and jig heads during normal feeding activities. When the lead reaches the acidic environment of the gizzard (ducks, geese and swans) or the ventriculus (loons), it is worn down, dissolved, and absorbed into body tissues. Once the lead reaches toxic levels in the tissues, muscle paralysis and associated complications result in death.

Ducks, geese, swans and loons are the animals most commonly affected by lead ingestion, however, upland game birds including mourning doves, wild turkeys, pheasants, and quail are occasionally affected. Lead poisoning has also been noted in small mammals (raccoon) and raptors, presumably from the ingestion of lead contaminated prey. In ducks, geese and swans, lead poisoning is most commonly seen during migration in the late fall and early spring. In heavily contaminated areas, cases may be seen at any time of year."

[Peter]

They've said similar about Napoleon. Lead poisoning was quite common at the time. The bottles that wine and medicine were kept in had high lead content, plates and mugs did also, and the dangers weren't known at the time.

Yes I know, but it's not so much the lead theory I'm getting at, rather the singling out of an individual as though he killed Beethoven - with the state of medicine at the time no doctor could have saved him, and most of the treatments probably hastened the end! The lead theory itself I find unconvincing since it would surely have applied to everyone in Vienna?

[Michael]

Yes I know, but it's not so much the lead theory I'm getting at, rather the singling out of an individual as though he killed Beethoven - with the state of medicine at the time no doctor could have saved him, and most of the treatments probably hastened the end! The lead theory itself I find unconvincing since it would surely have applied to everyone in Vienna?

Yes, that's the kind of angle you would expect from the "News of the World", not the "Beethoven Journal".
However, a good case for the lead theory is made in the book and film "Beethoven's Hair". If the sample of hair is indeed from Beethoven (and its provenance is extremely convincing) then tests showed that his hair contained something like twelve times the normal amount of lead. All this came out five years ago so I wonder why it is making headlines again.

[Hofrat]

Dear Susan;

During Beethoven's life time, the practice of "plumbing wine" was stopped because of the ill effects that it had on those who drank it. Beethoven would have to ingest quite a few mugs in order to reach a lead level 12 times the Vienna average. Since Beethoven did not eat his crockery, the lead was ingested elsewhere.

One of the symtoms of acute lead poisoning is a sharp loss of hearing. Napoleon did suffer a sharp loss of hearing during his St. Helena days. This symtom would have been unnoticed during Beethoven's final days because he was already stone deaf! However in 1817, Beethoven had a severe loss of his residual hearing which suggests possible acute lead poisoning then.

[Peter]

Dear Susan;

During Beethoven's life time, the practice of "plumbing wine" was stopped because of the ill effects that it had on those who drank it. Beethoven would have to ingest quite a few mugs in order to reach a lead level 12 times the Vienna average. Since Beethoven did not eat his crockery, the lead was ingested elsewhere.

One of the symtoms of acute lead poisoning is a sharp loss of hearing. Napoleon did suffer a sharp loss of hearing during his St. Helena days. This symtom would have been unnoticed during Beethoven's final days because he was already stone deaf! However in 1817, Beethoven had a severe loss of his residual hearing which suggests possible acute lead poisoning then.

For Beethoven to have 12 times the average lead we do indeed have to consider how this can be. Spa water has been suggested, but this was a very common form of treatment (Baden itself being no distance from Vienna). Medication seems also unlikely to me as surely most people would have been exposed in their lives to this? I'd be interested to know when the plumbing of wine actually stopped and the reason not everyone was seriously effected by the practice, after all for a long time then, thousands of people were drinking this including probably Haydn who lived to 77!

[gardibolt]

At a Beethoven conference in 2005, the fellow who did the Beethoven's Hair documentary indicated that the same doctor who Beethoven references in the Heiligenstadt Testament also wrote a medical journal article recommending lead as a treatment for a variety of ailments, including stomach problems (which Beethoven suffered from as a young man). This old article only just recently surfaced. Did this doctor use LvB as a guinea pig and feed him lead, thereby causing his a) deafness b) mood swings (both symptoms of lead poisoning) and c) his eventual death? Could be. Because he's mentioned by name by Beethoven, obviously he knew the doctor and likely was treated by him. Since there's no link, I don't know if this is what the article in the original post is referring to.

[Michael]

This is fascinating. So this poor doctor, who meant well but slowly poisoned Ludwig van Beethoven, is now victimised.
Perhaps he should be canonised. If Beethoven had not gone deaf and suffered from many bodily ailments, would he be the great composer we all revere today? Many people believe that the threat of imminent deafness caused Beethoven to pull himself up by his own bootstraps and become the greatest composer of all. What I am trying to say is this: if Beethoven had not suffered, would his music have suffered?