By Katherine Harmon Jan 25, 2011
Whether incited by handicap, illness or drug use, the romantic movement was full of ghastly imaginings—such as those painted by Francisco de Goya—and fantastic scenes—as described in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan." At least one great music mind of the time might also have been influenced by more than a general malaise, report the authors of a new paper published online January 24 in Medical Humanities.Polish-born Frédéric Chopin, who died in Paris at the age of 39, is thought to have suffered from various ailments—both diagnosed and undiagnosed during his life—including pulmonary infections, frequent fever and possibly cystic fibrosis. Many experts speculate that his "melancholy" was a result of bipolar disorder or depression. A pair of Spanish researchers now reports that the 19th-century composer also might have endured a form of epilepsy.
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