Volume 215, Issue 4, May 2015, Pages 240–243
Humanities in Medicine
The enigma of Mozart's death
El enigma de la muerte de Mozart
Introduction
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was born in January 27, 1756, at the third floor of
Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg, and died in December 5, 1791, in Vienna. He
was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. Mozart is the Austrian
musician who represents the climax of the late 18th century Viennese
classical style; the huge quality of his talent in opera, symphonies,
church music, piano and violin concerti, vocal and chamber music has
turned him the greatest genius composer of all time.1
During more than 250 years of Mozart research, details of his short
life have been studied, classified and incorporated into the worldwide
literature, but the final moments of his life still remain unknown.2 The Mozart's output produced in the last year is shown in Table 1.
- Table 1. Mozart's last worksa, all produced in 1791.
Place Date Work Prague September 6 La clemenza di Tito (Titus) (K.621) Vienna Summer Quartet (K.620,b) Prague Middle September Aria: Io ti lascio, o cara, addio (K.621,a) Vienna September 30 The Magic Flute (K.620) Vienna October 7 Clarinet concerto (K.622) Vienna November 15 Kantate: Lob der freundsch (K.623)
Lied: Lasst uns mit …Vienna July to November Requiem (K.626) -
- a
- Summary of all works produced in 1791: Operas (3), Arias (3), Lied (1), Kantate (1), Concert (1), Quartet (1), Mass (1): Requiem.
The tragic ending
Solemnly opened in November 18, Mozart conducted the Eine Freimaurer Kantate
(K.623), a true masterpiece, which was the last to be included in his
Köchel catalog and completed 3 days before, and just 48 h later he
became seriously ill with high fever. Mozart's first biographer, George
Nikolaus von Nissen (1761–1826), who got his information from Constanze,
wrote, “His mortal illness, during which he was bedridden, lasted
15 days. It began with swelling in his hands and feet, which he was soon
unable to move”. His rheumatic disorder was extremely painful and disabling. Sophie Weber, Mozart's sister-in-law, described a “night-jacket which he could put on frontways, since on account of his swollen condition he was unable to turn in bed”.
The disease was progressing, although the severity of signs and
symptoms varies from patient to patient, depending, at least in part, on
the level and rapidity of deterioration of kidney function. In Mozart's
time, no therapeutic procedures were available and the prognostic
outcome was irretrievably lost. 3 and 4
The cause of death
Thousands
of pages have been written concerning Mozart's death and burial,
probably more than any other circumstance of his biography. Of course,
not all of them offered the same diagnosis. The “investigations” have
focused mainly on the “theatrical” aspects to satisfy a given public
with little inclination to know the real historical facts; when a young
genius died it gave rise to any kind of suspicion. Several medical
conditions have been postulated as the cause of his decease. The first
was the poisoning theory with many variations. It opens a wide
field of speculation: If Mozart was poisoned, two questions must be
postulated: who was the assassin, and which was the motive? These
interesting queries have been recently discussed: London, May 17, 1983.
The conclusion of murder was reached at the music Festival in Brighton;
the majority of the “jurors” (250 spectators) declared that the composer
was killed. The identity of the culprit was Franz Hofdemel, the jealous
husband of one of Mozart's disciples. “Judge” Michael Hutchinson, who
chaired the proceedings, declared that in this particular case a “charge of homicide against a person or persons unknown”
should be kept in mind. The second source for the poisoning theory is
coming from Franz Xaver Niemetschek's biography (1798). “… Mozart
began to speak of death, and maintained (he was writing the Requiem for
himself …) someone has surely poisoned me! I cannot free myself from
this thought”. However, Niemetschek's origin for this anecdote is unclear. The third reference points out to Antonio Salieri 5; this idea, the most doubtful of all, appeared more than 30 years after Mozart's death. Leipzig, in May 25, 1825, Allegemeine Musikalische Zeitung, stated: “Our
worthy Salieri just won’t die as the popular expression goes. His body
suffers all the infirmities of old age, and his mind is gone. In his
distorted fantasies he actually claims to be partially responsible for
Mozart's death – a bit of lunacy which surely no one but he, poor,
delirious old man believes”. Salieri never confessed to having poisoned Mozart. The Italian hardly refused this accusation: “… I am mortally ill, I assure you in good faith that there is no truth so that absurd rumor. It's malice nothing but malice”. In summary, the murder theory is coming from three points: from Prague (Musikalisches Wochenblatt); from the Mozart's biographer; or by assassination (Allegeine Musikalische Zeitung,
1825). Another suspicious man was Franz Xaver Süssmayr, the lover of
Mozart's wife, Constance, who often spent holidays with her. Possible
cause of Mozart's death is mercurial poisoning. He could have
taken a sub-lethal dose in the summer time, and a lethal dose in the
middle of November. In this way, that could explain that Mozart would
perform in public the 18 of this month; he conducted a Kantate and died few days later. “My
mind is upset. My ideas are confused, and I can’t take my eyes off the
image of that unknown person”. “I constantly see him in front of me,
asking me, and requiring me my work …” “I’ll finish what I started once; it's my own Requiem”.
However, the poisoning
theory is clearly untenable, because there is no evidence of the
physical manifestations that, of course, appear in such clinical
disorders. In summer 1791 (6 months before his death) he felt ill, and
he was impressed with the horrible idea that someone had poisoned him.
One day, Mozart came to Constanze; he complained of a great pain in the
lumbar region and a deterioration of his general state of health. He
believed that someone of his enemies gave him a deleterious mixture that
would have caused his death. Hypothetically, the composer was poisoned
with aqua toffana made up of arsenic, lead oxide and antimony. 5
