Physician Musicians Through History . . .
Their Stories
Jamie MacLean, MD
Class of 2005
Physicians throughout history have influenced and been influenced by music and its rewards and power of healing. Some were musicians first and physicians to a lesser degree, some attained a “balance” between music and medicine, some were clearly off- balance. Their stories illustrate the struggle that can occur between the creative drive and the demands of a life in medicine.
Christian
Albert Theodur Billroth
Christian Albert Theodur Billroth was born in 1829 in Bergen, on the
island of Rügen, Prussia and is largely acknowledged to be the father of
modern abdominal surgery. One of the most famous surgeons of his day, he
performed the first oesophagectomy, laryngectomy and gastrectomy for
stomach cancer. A passionate violinist and a music critic, he was one of
the few close friends of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and frequently held
soirées and concerts in his Vienna home as a
venue
for Brahms to “try out” his unpublished works and meet high society, and
potential patrons, of the day.
The young Brahms was a frequent guest at the
Billroth home, and remained close to Billroth until quite late in the
surgeon’s life. Brahms dedicated his string quartets Opus 51 to Theodur
Billroth in 1873.
Hector
Berlioz
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was born to a physician-father who insisted
he go to medical school despite early evidence that he had some gift for
and great interest in music. The 18-year old Hector was appalled and
actually physically sickened by anatomical dissection and the stench of
the anatomy rooms. He quickly fled the medical school scene, eventually
was effectively disowned by his father (this later stance was mollified
after the son’s success in music) , and achieved through music that
which alluded him amid the carnage of 18th century French medicine.
Albert
Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) was born the son of a Lutheran pastor in
the region of Alsace, at that time part of Germany. His first vocation
was to the study of theology and took a degree in 1899. Albert’s family
was genetically musical- both grandfathers were organists and at an
early age he showed great talent on that instrument.
Despite his growing reputation as an eminent theologian, musician and interpreter and biographer of Bach, Schweitzer was moved by an account he read of the heath needs of Africans, and began the study of medicine in 1905. He established his famous hospital in the village of Lambaréné (French Equatorial Africa) from which he reached out and traveled the world, preaching his philosophy of Reverence for Life.
Great honours were accorded him, including the Nobel Peace Prize of 1952. He continued his music throughout his life as a medical missionary and died shortly after his 90th birthday, and is buried in Lambaréné.
Aleksandr
Porfiryevich Borodin
Borodin was born the illegitimate son of a Russian prince (Luka
Gedevanishvili) in 1833 in St. Petersburg. His mother was a servant in
the employ of the nobleman, and he saw to it that his son received the
best education possible. This included music, and young Aleksandr showed
early talent.
He entered the Medico-Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg where he studied mainly chemistry but eventually was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine even though he never really practiced. He established the first medical school for women in Russia, and was highly respected internationally for his work in chemistry. All his life he struggled to balance the demands of science, academics and teaching, and music composition.
Early on in his academic career his professor warned him that he could not “hunt two hares”- music and science- and that both would eventually suffer. Borodin was unable to heed the advice and burned the candle at both ends and in the middle. But his modest musical output is still celebrated and his name is revered as one of the “Russian Five”- composers who shaped and gave a native colour to 19th century Russian music. His Symphony in E-flat was composed in 1867 and On the Steppes of Central Asia in 1881.In 1869 he began work on his only opera, Prince Igor, but his output was slow and it was never finished. It contains the suite Polynesian Dances- perhaps his most familiar melodies. While at a costume ball in 1887 Borodin collapsed and died, likely from rupture of a long-standing thoracic aortic aneurysm.
As an unusual testimony to Borodin’s talent for tunes and “staying power”, in 1954, he was awarded a posthumous Broadway “Tony Award” for his music upon which Wright and Forrest composed songs for Kismet, a successful musical of 1953. These pop melodies are still sung today: Baubles, Bangles and Beads (based on String Quartet in D), Stranger In Paradise (Polovtsian Dances ) and And This Is My Beloved (String Quartet in D) among others.
