Robert Bakos, MD: Six Dead German Composers

A retired neurosurgeon walks into the Eastman School of Music...and stays for twelve years of lectures. That's really how this episode's book got its start. Robert Bakos, M.D. joins Mark Perzel to talk about "Six Dead German Composers and How They Got That Way,"—a look at what the letters and diaries of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Mendelssohn reveal about their health, from the syphilis that shadowed so many 19th-century lives to the still-debated cause of Schumann's ruined right hand, a diagnosis that happens to sit squarely in Bakos's old surgical specialty. Bakos, who studied violin under the legendary Joseph Gingold before choosing medicine over music for college, talks about teaching himself enough German to work through primary sources, the one thing he regrets leaving out of the finished book, and why he was determined never to let the medical details get in the way of a good story.

LISTENER DISCOUNT CODE: Receive a 25% discount on this title when purchased from McFarland's website by using the code BESTPART at checkout: mcfarlandbooks.com/product/six-dead-german-composers-and-how-they-got-that-way

FEATURED TITLE: Six Dead German Composers and How They Got That Way. McFarland, softcover (2026) ISBN: 9781476698991 mcfarlandbooks.com/product/six-dead-german-composers-and-how-they-got-that-way

BOOK DESCRIPTION: Why did Ludwig van Beethoven go deaf? What forced Robert Schumann to give up playing the piano? What possible familial trait caused Felix Mendelssohn’s final illness? This volume examines the lives and deaths of these composers as well as Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, and Clara Schumann. By exploring the medical conditions that led to their deaths within the context of their musical output, it presents a more integrated understanding of how health and creativity intersected in the lives of these composers.

Drawing from historical records as well as recent medical scholarship, the book bridges the gap between musical biography and medical literature. Through its exploration of suffering and resilience, it highlights how illness influences innovation and how personal adversity often coexists with artistic triumph. Through this multidisciplinary lens and a physician’s insights, the book invites readers to contemplate art in the context of human fragility.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Robert Bakos, M.D. is a retired neurosurgeon and professor emeritus of neurosurgery at the University of Rochester. He lives in Pittsford, New York.

ABOUT MCFARLAND: McFarland, a leading independent publisher of academic and general-interest nonfiction books, is perhaps best known for the serious treatment of popular culture. Founded in 1979, McFarland is recognized among authors and readers as adventurous in range and a reliable source of worthy books that other publishers overlook. They have around 8,000 unique works for sale and publish about 350 new titles a year. Meeting high library standards has been a major focus since the company began, and many McFarland books have received awards from the academic-oriented (Choice Outstanding Academic Title, ALA Outstanding Reference Work) to the mainstream (Hugo, Edgar, Stoker, and Eisner, among others). mcfarlandbooks.com

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