Today’s Crazies Have Nothing on These Nutty Composers of the Past
“I’m looking at you. No, I really am. You just don’t know it.”Iggy Pop. Keith Moon. Keith Richards. Yes, they’re all loons–but they’re pikers when compared to some of these classical composers.
Carlo Gesualdo was a murderer. Bach carried around a sword in case he had to dole out some punishment. Beethoven became a peeping tom. Chopin ordered that his heart be preserved in cognac. Tchaikovsky regarded his gayness as “cursed buggermania.”
See what I mean? There’s more at the Huffington Post.
But wasn't the guillotine and burning people alive an acceptable form of punishment back then also?
Hector Berlioz attempted suicide in the middle of an argument with his girlfriend's father over whether or not they would be allowed to marry. Having seen how passionate (or crazy) he was, they revived him and the two were married.