Cause of Death?!

Recently I had the opportunity to read the play Amadeus by Peter Shaffer. It's been awhile since I sat down with this particular book, but I was waiting for a delayed plane, and so I could read, uninterrupted, for awhile.

It's good theatre, and it ends, of course as we know, with Salieri attempting suicide in a last attempt to be remembered, confessing that he murdered the musical genius, his rival, Mozart. The play won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1981.

Though Shaffer demonstrated a good deal of artistic license about Mozart and Salieri's lives as well as the musician's death, one thing is clear. Mozart did die, all of 35 years of age, and we really don't have a clear picture of what happened to him. There are not detailed records, and so it allows for a lot of conjecture.

Mozart had health issues throughout his life. He had smallpox, tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, typhoid, rheumatic fever and gum disease. Wow! We know, because he wrote extensive letters.

His sister-in-law said he died because of malpractice by his doctor, Dr. Closset. She wrote this in 1825.

In a medical journal, in 1908, the cause was attributed to Vitamin D deficiency. He was also thought to have taken medicines containing antimony to reduce fever. Here's some quackery going on!

In 1994, Neurology Magazine suggests he died of subdural hematoma. A skull believed to be his indicates some fractures from falls that he experienced in his last years, headaches and fainting spells. Bloodletting didn't help the situation.

In 2009, British and Viennese researchers concluded he died of streptococcal infection, leading to kidney failure and its effects.  

Of course, his body was never found (the skull thing is dubious), as he was put in a common grave with other poor folk, so there could never be a proper autopsy. Nevertheless, the his loss is profound. The play is worth the read, even it is mostly fiction. It's quite entertaining. Too bad it's not currently in any theatre. The great Paul Scoffield played Salieri on the London stage. it would have been wonderful to see him in the role.