# Why did Mozart die so young?



## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

He didn't even make it to his 36th birthday-did he dies of illness or something? I mean, 35 can't be death by old age...


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## RockyIII

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart


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## Merl

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> He didn't even make it to his 36th birthday-did he dies of illness or something? I mean, 35 can't be death by old age...


Back in those days 35 would be considered old. :lol:


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## DavidA

Merl said:


> Back in those days 35 would be considered old. :lol:


Middle aged certainly based on life expectancy. We don't know the exact cause of death but no doubt one of the diseases in those days which could carry people off very suddenly.


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## KenOC

Wiki has a very detailed article with facts and theories about Mozart's death.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Classical composers in general die early, Mendelssohn and Schubert for example(s); why?


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## KenOC

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> Classical composers in general die early, Mendelssohn and Schubert for example(s); why?


I've never had the impression that composers died, in general, any earlier than their contemporaries in other walks of life. Before the 20th century, people quite often died prematurely from diseases that we can treat today - syphilis and tuberculosis being examples. Greatly reduced infant mortality, the development of water disinfection and improved sanitation, and of course the rise of modern medicine along with the invention of antibiotics have all contributed to longer average lifespans.

Here are a few famous composers with long lives:

95 years: Francois Gossec; Gustave Charpentier
93: Charles Widor
91: Josef Jean Sibelius
90: Aaron Copland
89: Daniel Auber
88: Igor Stravinsky
87: Heinrich Schutz; Giuseppe Verdi
86: Georg Philipp Telemann; Camille Saint-Saens


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

KenOC said:


> I've never had the impression that composers died, in general, any earlier than their contemporaries in other walks of life. Before the 20th century, people quite often died prematurely from diseases that we can treat today - syphilis and tuberculosis being examples.
> 
> Here are a few famous composers with long lives:
> 
> 95 years: Francois Gossec; Gustave Charpentier
> 93: Charles Widor
> 91: Josef Jean Sibelius
> 90: Aaron Copland
> 89: Daniel Auber
> 88: Igor Stravinsky
> 87: Heinrich Schutz; Giuseppe Verdi
> 86: Georg Philipp Telemann; Camille Saint-Saens


In modern times, yes, but in the past the point still stands; were they just emotional people?


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## Becca

One theory not mentioned so far which seems to fit quite a few of the knowns is that he died from trichinosis, a parasitic infection resulting from eating inadequately cooked meat, often pork. The symptoms match and one of his letters written not long before his illness & death mentions having had pork cutlets for dinner ... and the time between the letter and his symptoms and death does match the disease progression.


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## Becca

P.S. I think I'll have soup & salad for dinner :O


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## wkasimer

Becca said:


> One theory not mentioned so far which seems to fit quite a few of the knowns is that he died from trichinosis, a parasitic infection resulting from eating inadequately cooked meat, often pork. The symptoms match and one of his letters written not long before his illness & death mentions having had pork cutlets for dinner ... and the time between the letter and his symptoms and death does match the disease progression.


But even without treatment, trichonisis is rarely fatal. I've always favored the theory that Mozart died from post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. That was a fairly common cause of serious illness and death before the advent of antibiotics.


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## wkasimer

Becca said:


> P.S. I think I'll have soup & salad for dinner :O


Be sure to wash the lettuce well!


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## jenspen

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> He didn't even make it to his 36th birthday-did he dies of illness or something? I mean, 35 can't be death by old age...


It's interesting to speculate and hundreds have. My take is (expanding on what others have posted):

In what is now the United States, the average age of death in Mozart's era was 36 (and for males, slightly less). Life expectancy in Europe in 1770 was 35.3 years. Add a few years to the averages to account for a child mortality rate of, I'm guessing, at least 25 percent of live births before the age of 5. Then take years off again because:

Mozart lived in a densely packed walled city, the deadliest environment at that time. And he "died of a fever". It's hard for us to realise how fragile life was before people became aware of the germ theory of disease. Even the antibiotics needed to treat infections did not become generally available till after the Second World War.

PS I've been reading Steven Pinker's "Enlightenment Now" on the subject.


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## Bwv 1080

Be careful - total life expectancy during Mozart's day was around 35 years, but that reflects the average lifespan at birth and something like half of babies died in childhood. If you lived to age 20 you could expect to live into your 50s or 60s

https://www.infoplease.com/us/mortality/life-expectancy-age-1850-2011


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## haydnguy

I read in a book that he was originally buried in a paupers grave. I wondered how that could have happened since he was so active in Freemasonry. It seems like they would have made sure that didn't happen.


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## Red Terror

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> He didn't even make it to his 36th birthday-did he dies of illness or something? I mean, 35 can't be death by old age...


Did he not die due to consuming expired pork cutlets from Giant?


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## realdealblues

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> Classical composers in general die early, Mendelssohn and Schubert for example(s); why?


Simplest explanation, medical care and hygiene. They didn't have the technology we have today. It had nothing to do with being emotional people. The only reason you hear about them is because they were famous. For every famous bloke who died there were 10's of thousands who died at the same age who were not famous. They caught diseases whether by sexual contact, contaminated food or water, bad genetics, etc. just like everyone else.

My brother's sister's husband didn't feel good and he went to bed early, the next morning she found him dead in bed. He was like 38 years old. They couldn't find any cause of death, he just died. I had a friend in high school who had a stroke when he was 22. Teenagers in basketball games get hit in the chest and die. A co-worker's wife went to bed one night and she never woke up, she had a brain aneurysm and was 40 years old. My grandma died at age 40 of colon cancer.

My point, there's no rhyme or reason. Stuff happens and it happens to famous people and it happens to common everyday people. Back then they didn't have medical care and proper hygiene and water care like we have to day so you were more likely to die at birth especially, but people of all ages die for all sorts of reasons. You only heard about those deaths back then because they were famous.


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