Know Your Composer
Mozart’s premature loss of life in 1791 sparked rumors of Salieri’s lethal envy, however a assessment of his signs, modern stories, identified medical practices, and fashionable analysis reveals no proof of deliberate poisoning in his ultimate sickness.
The notion that Antonio Salieri, a distinguished Viennese composer and trainer, poisoned his youthful modern Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has captured public creativeness for practically two centuries. Popularized by literary and theatrical works—most notably Aleksandr Pushkin’s 1830 brief drama Mozart and Salieri, Nikolai Rimsky‑Korsakov’s 1898 opera Mozart et Salieri, and Peter Shaffer’s 1980 play and 1984 movie Amadeus—the story has develop into embedded in cultural lore. However how a lot of this narrative rests on historic reality, and the way a lot is pure fiction?
Mozart’s Closing Sickness and Demise
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on December 5, 1791, on the age of 35. The parish register in Vienna data the reason for death as “extreme miliary fever,” a time period referencing a rash of tiny, millet‑seed‑sized bumps on the pores and skin however not pinpointing a selected illness. Mozart had endured a number of illnesses all through his life—smallpox, bronchitis, rheumatism, and extra—however in his ultimate weeks he suffered fever, swelling, and extreme ache.
Subsequent medical examinations of a cranium believed to be Mozart’s recommended doable persistent subdural hematoma from earlier falls, compounded by aggressive bloodletting on the evening of December 4, 1791, which may have precipitated a deadly hemorrhage. Different students have posited rheumatic fever, publish‑streptococcal glomerulonephritis, trichinosis, even vitamin D deficiency as contributing elements. But none of those hypotheses contain exterior poisoning; they relaxation as an alternative on Mozart’s identified well being historical past and the medical practices of the late 18th century.
Origins of the Poisoning Rumor
Mozart’s Personal Suspicions
In accordance with early biographers, in his ultimate days Mozart himself expressed concern that he was being poisoned. His spouse, Constanze, later recounted that he informed her, “I imagine I’m being poisoned”. Such statements, made by a hypochondriac composer in acute misery, offered fertile floor for hypothesis.
Literary and Operatic Therapies
The primary enduring literary remedy of the rumor seems in Pushkin’s brief drama Mozart and Salieri (1830), which portrays Salieri as envious of Mozart’s genius and plotting his loss of life. Nikolai Rimsky‑Korsakov tailored this narrative in his one‑act opera Mozart et Salieri (1898), cementing the thought in Russian cultural reminiscence. Over a century later, Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus—first on stage (1980) after which as Milos Forman’s Academy Award‑successful movie (1984)—reintroduced the rivalry to world audiences, dramatizing Salieri’s jealousy and alleged crime.
Evaluating the Proof
Regardless of its theatrical enchantment, the poisoning speculation collapses below historic scrutiny:
- Mismatch of Signs
Arsenic poisoning produces distinct gastrointestinal and neurological signs not recorded in Mozart’s ultimate sickness. Up to date physicians famous fever, rash, and edema—signs according to an infectious illness outbreak in Vienna on the time. - Lack of Post-mortem or Forensic Proof
No post-mortem was carried out, and no toxicological analyses existed in 1791. The parish register’s generic “miliary fever” entry would have captured indicators of poisoning had any been seen, but it didn’t. - Confessions and Denials
Salieri himself, after a interval of psychological misery late in life, allegedly confessed to poisoning Mozart whereas in an asylum. Nonetheless, he later recanted, insisting in “good religion that there is no such thing as a reality to the absurd rumor that I poisoned Mozart,” a press release corroborated by his servants. - Up to date Accounts
Mozart’s attending doctor, Dr. Closset, and different Viennese medical doctors handled quite a few sufferers throughout an epidemic with comparable signs and deadly outcomes. One doctor wrote, “this illness attacked at the moment an awesome most of the inhabitants…and never for just a few of them it had the identical deadly conclusions and the identical signs as within the case of Mozart”. - Trendy Scholarly Consensus
The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music flatly states, “He [Mozart] was not poisoned,” and Otto Deutsch’s seminal Mozart: A Documentary Biography dismisses the poisoning allegation as baseless. Likewise, Britannica notes “there may be additionally no basis for the assumption that Salieri tried to poison Mozart”.
Salieri and Mozart: A Sophisticated Relationship
Historic data counsel that Mozart and Salieri revered one another professionally. Salieri taught Mozart’s son Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart and devoted works in Mozart’s reminiscence. Whereas rivalry undoubtedly existed—widespread amongst composers vying for courtroom favor—it was not marked by outright enmity. Salieri’s later life was shadowed by the poisoning fantasy, which he vehemently denied and which contributed to bouts of melancholy and declining well being.
Why the Fantasy Endures
- Dramatic Enchantment
The trope of the envious mentor hanging down the star pupil resonates powerfully in storytelling. It embodies archetypal themes of jealousy, genius, and betrayal. - Lack of Definitive Medical File
Absence of concrete medical information invitations hypothesis. A generic loss of life report leaves house for imaginative narratives. - Cultural Reinforcement
Pushkin’s drama, Rimsky‑Korsakov’s opera, and the blockbuster Amadeus movie regularly reintroduce the poisoning state of affairs to new generations, cementing it as believable in in style consciousness.
Reality vs. Fiction
The poisoning of Mozart by Salieri stays firmly within the realm of fiction. Whereas Mozart’s personal fears and later dramatizations fueled the legend, neither modern accounts nor fashionable forensic and historic analysis assist the declare. As an alternative, Mozart’s loss of life aligns with an acute infectious sickness—probably publish‑streptococcal glomerulonephritis or problems of rheumatic fever—compounded by medical practices of the period. Salieri, removed from a villainous poisoner, was a revered composer and trainer who deeply mourned Mozart’s passing and spent his ultimate years below the cloud of a rumor he at all times denied.
