Fun_People Archive
29 Oct
Blind composers

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 99 11:33:23 -0700
To: Fun_People
Precedence: bulk
Subject: Blind composers

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From: Todd Larason

David Helder wrote:
>
> A friend told me the other night that 3 composers were blinded in botched
> surgeries by the same eye doctor.  One of the composers was Bach.  The
> story is fascinating, but is it true or urban legend?  Anyone know?

I can't find anything related in the alt.folklore.urban archives or the
related websites.

According to
  http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1186.htm
Bach was already mostly blind when the doctor (John Taylor) operated twice;
Taylor is credited with finishing off the last of Bach's sight and with
killing him.  Handel also underwent surgery from Tayler, with unspecified
poor results.

Another page,
  http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/handel.html
says that that both Bach and Handel suffered from cateracts, and died "from
sepsimia induced as a consequence of un-sterile instruments employed to push
the cataract covered lense back into the eyeball" following surgery
performed by John Taylor.

The FDA chimes in, in
  http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/995_glaucoma.html
with a diagnosis of acute glaucoma rather than cateracts, and adds a claim
that for a few days following the first surgery, Bach had his eyesight back.

Not very conclusive, but might give some more pointers for research.

© 1999 Peter Langston