Stress caused by bitter rivalry led to premature deaths of leading 19th century composers, study suggests

Real jealousy, rivalry and bitter competition - the themes of some of the greatest classical music and opera - may have shortened the lives of leading composers.

Stress from having to compete with other composers, often living in the same city, led to early graves for many, according to new research.

Lifetime competition from just one extra composer working in the same city reduced longevity by more than two years.

A one percent increase in the number of composers reduced longevity by 7.2 weeks, say the researchers who analysed data on 144 composers born in the 19th century.

^Wagner,

^{complained that his opera rival, Berlioz, neither encouraged nor discouraged him (Lebrecht/Alamy)}

So fierce was the competition, including tussles over the use of scarce concert halls, that some composers, including Ravel, were driven to depression and nervous breakdowns, they say.

"Competition has a negative and significant impact on longevity," said Dr Karol Jan Borowiecki who led the research at the University of Southern Denmark.

"The concentrations of talent are likely to have had adverse effects in terms of health and well being, due to the continuous mental strain they went through in order to achieve their aspirations.

"The stress intensified when they were living in the same cities as their peers. It is likely, for example, that limited access to concert halls may have triggered increased stress levels, especially in cities with a greater number of other composers.''

^{Maurice Ravel was diagnosed with neurasthenia after the failure of his ballet ‘Daphnis et Chloe’ because, reserachers say, he was overshadowed by a concert 10 days earlier by Debussy (Rex Features)}

In the study, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, researchers looked at the effects of intense competition between prominent composers on longevity.

The clustering of competing composers, both in location and time, would have led to stresses that affected health and life.

By the beginning of the 19th century, most European and North American cities had a single concert hall and one opera house, leading to competition between composers for access.

Additional stresses and status anxiety would have some from unfulfilled expectations or lack of recognition by peers, especially among music clusters where the most skilled peers are located, making fame and success harder to achieve.

^{Chopin (right) and Liszt, once considered close friends, became “frenemies” (Alamy)}

Data used in the research include the average number of composers living in the same location and time, the amount of time each composer spends in each city, peer group size, and the quality of fellow composers based on quality indices.

Results show that 11.6 per cent of composers were based in the same city in a given year.

They spent 22 per cent of their life in one of the two main clusters, Paris and Vienna, but the number of composers located in the same city increased to 30 per cent with the addition of London, Moscow and Berlin.

Those working in Paris and Vienna, where up to 38 composers were based, had their lives cut short by an average six months.

An additional composer located in the same city throughout life reduces longevity on average, by 2.2 years.

An increase of one percent in composers’ population is associated with a decrease in longevity by 7.2 weeks.

A one percentage point increase in composers located at the same place and time throughout a composer’s life reduces his longevity by almost one year.

The researchers say their results are supported by the biographies of composers.

Wagner, for example, complains that his opera rival, Berlioz, neither encouraged nor discouraged him. The researchers say that Berlioz, for most of his life, withheld from Wagner the recognition that he craved.

Maurice Ravel was diagnosed with neurasthenia after the failure of his ballet ‘Daphnis et Chloe’, because, say the researchers, the performance had been overshadowed by a concert 10 days earlier of Debussy's ‘Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun’.

^{French composer Claude Debussy (Rex Features)}

Peer competition also turned friends to rivals. Chopin and Liszt, once considered close friends, became “frenemies”. Due to the competitive nature of the city, their relationship became unpleasant and vindictive, say the researchers.

"This study presents novel and robust evidence on the adverse effects of peer competition on longevity,'' say the researchers.

"Remarkably, the results imply little variation in the competition effect across composers covered, indicating that individuals’ background, including social standing or quality, may have minimal impact on mitigating the effect of experienced peer pressure.

"These results suggest that competition, besides the widely known economic benefits, may lead to significant negative health effects.''

Dr Borowiecki added: "Depression, which is reaching epidemic proportions, is typically associated with cities, according to research and media.

"In our digital, globally connected world it is however difficult to measure how detrimental geographic concentration and competition-related stress can be.

"Using historical data on famous music composers, allows us to study the fascinating and controversial hypothesis on whether and how clustering and competition is associated with increased stress levels, approximated here with longevity.

"Our findings indicate that peer competition incorporates a large negative externality in terms of a decreased state of health and premature death."