241.—LONGEVITY OF MUSICIANS.
The fact that several of the more celebrated composers have died when in their prime, or in some cases even before they had reached their best years, has produced an opinion in the minds of some who have not scanned musical biography very closely, that the nervous and mental strain to which a composer or an artist is exposed is fatal to longevity. An examination of statistics does not prove this true. In fact, the burden of proof seems to be the other way.
True, some of the careers that have promised most brilliantly, and have been at the same time a fulfilment of it, have been cut short in the glory of their young manhood. So many have finished their career in their third decade of life that it has come to be known in this respect as the "fatal thirties." Pergolesi ended his short life at 28; Schubert died at 31; Bellini was 33; the brilliant Mozart was but 35; Purcell, the gifted Englishman, and Bizet, who might have been another Berlioz, 37; Mendelssohn died at 38; Chopin and Nicolai, 39; Weber, 40; Schumann, 46. In several of the above instances the untimely end was the direct result of a lack of public appreciation and support; but in few cases the end was hastened by the demands of the art itself.
Now to the other side of the matter. Out of a large list of the greatest names in musical history, I find 69 per cent. to have passed their sixtieth year, and this list included the "fatal thirties," which tended, of course, to reduce the average. But why should the musician not be long-lived? The very conditions of his work may be conducive of that result. Says a recent writer on this subject: "There is nothing demoralizing in deliberately and for a definite purpose putting one's self or others through the experience of a highly strung series of emotions. It is even a good and very healthy function of art to raise one's feelings to their highest degree of intensity. It is a part of a correct system of discipline, calculated to bring the emotions into high condition and healthy activity, and to keep them in good state—may I say?—of repair. The body is intended and suited at times to bear an extreme tension of its muscles. The athlete is perfectly aware that systematic exertion and exhaustion must be undergone in order to raise his physique to its highest form of power and health. The laws which regulate the life and health of the emotions are exactly similar, and these laws prescribe regular, steady exercise, rest, recreation, and sometimes tension. In itself the habitual exercise and discipline of the emotions in music has not an evil effect, but quite the reverse; it is the very condition of health."
But to return to our statistics. Out of the 100 most prominent musicians, composers, and performers, of all ages and countries, I find sixty-nine who have passed the age of 60, and eighty-nine who have passed 50 years. And this does not include those veterans who are still working, viz.: St. Saëns at 59, Brahms at 61, Joachim at 63, good old Verdi at 81, or Ambroise Thomas, now 83, who lately witnessed the 1000th production of his opera, "Mignon" the first circumstance of its kind in history.
In our select hundred, I find Hucbald reached 90 years; Auber, 89; Cramer and Fetis, 87; Lachner, 86; Zingarelli, 85; Cherubini and Dufay, 82; Matheson and Ockenheim, 83; Rameau, 81; Clementi and Palestrina, 80; Tartini, 79; Haydn, 77; Moscheles and Rossini, 76; Spohr, Liszt, and Gounod, 75; Lassus, Händel, Em. Bach, Zelter, and Pleyel, 74; Gade and Gluck, 73; Meyerbeer and Wagner, 70; Scarlatti, Czerny, and Berlioz, 66; John Sebastian Bach and Rubinstein, 65; Corelli and Raff, 60; Hummel, 59; Beethoven, 57; Paganini, 56; De Beriot, 50.
And, incidentally, we might note that some of the master works in musical composition have been composed after their authors have passed the span of life usually allotted to musicians. Händel was 56 when he wrote the "Messiah" and 61 when he wrote "Judas Maccabaeus;" Gluck composed "Iphigenia in Tauris" at the age of 65; Haydn penned the "Creation" in his 69th and the "Seasons" in his 72d year; Verdi at 79 produced "Falstaff;" while Auber wrote his "Reves d'Amour" in his 87th (some say 85th) year.
Of these hundred musicians, the average age was 65½ years. Another compiler of statistics finds the average of several thousand musicians to be 62½ years. He finds teachers to be the longest lived; then, following in the order given, writers, vocalists, wind instrument players, composers, organists, pianists, and, lastly, players of stringed instruments.