Liszt discovered groupies a hundred years before Mick Jagger; It was adultery that consigned the amorous Amadeus to a pauper's grave and syphilis that left Schubert's symphony unfinished; Father of 20 legitimate children, Bach plainly did not use the rhythm method.
Notoriously impulsive and eccentric, the great musical geniuses have always commanded our interest as figures of extreme behaviour and ideas. Their music embodies mankind's most romantic yearnings, but what is really understood of the men and the inspiration behind their works? In this new edition of Sex Lives of the Great Composers, Nigel Cawthorne explores the private lives of the most celebrated composers to reveal how their sexuality inspired and fired their prodigious musical creativity.
From the rock stars of their day – Liszt and Chopin, to the tortured double life of homosexual Tchaikovsky, Sex Lives of the Great Composers leads its readers through the most intimate details of the musical world.
