Abilities of Piano Composers with Disabilities

 Many classical piano composers lived with disabilities. Their diverse challenges like sensory loss, physical impairments, and neurological conditions influenced their creative process and output, often leading to innovation and deeply personal musical expression

Classical Composers:

• Ludwig van Beethoven composed masterpieces like the Ninth Symphony even as profound deafness took hold, transforming his style.
• Maria Theresia von Paradis was a blind 18th-century pianist and composer for whom Mozart and others wrote concertos; she also founded a school for blind girls.
• Frederick Delius suffered from paralysis and blindness due to syphilis, but still managed to compose poignant works like A Song of Summer.
• Robert Schumann struggled with mental illness, including depressive episodes and hallucinations, which influenced his emotionally intense music.
• George Frideric Handel experienced paralysis, rheumatism, and depression, yet continued composing. 

 

20th Century Composers:

• Maurice Ravel’s later works were affected by a progressive neurological disease, potentially Alzheimer's or a similar condition.
• Darius Milhaud suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, which impacted his ability to play and compose.
• Leon Fleisher lost use of his left hand due to focal dystonia but later returned to two-handed playing and composed for it.
• Molly Joyce, an American composer who had an impaired left hand from an accident, but incorporated her experience into her work.

 

Scaramouche

At Tomoko’s recent concert at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music she played Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche as a duet with one of her favorite students Linda Poligono.

Darius Milhaud was a French composer associated with 1920s avante guard. Growing up in the Provence region, he heard country airs and café music, which complemented his musical household experiences. His Italian mother had a lovely contralto voice, and Darius started playing piano duets at age three with his father. He also studied violin, although he knew early on that he preferred composing music. Nevertheless he performed his own music as an adult, and was considered an excellent conductor.

As an attaché in Brazil during World War I, Milhaud was taken with Brazilian popular music and tropical tones. When he returned to Paris, Darius came into contact with the jazz scene and several famous musicians: Honegger, Schoenberg, Webern, among others. As a Jew, Milhaud left Europe and settled in California to teach – and keep composing.

In the 1930s Milhaud created much film music, which led to his concert work Scaramouche, opus 165b for duet, written in 1937. Milhaud wrote four versions of Scaramouche. The first drew upon his incidental music piece for Moliere’s “Le médécin volant”/ “The flying doctor.” His second movement was based on an overture from Spilville’s Bolivar. This composition reflects a commedia dell’arte spirit. But Scaramouche’s true musical roots harken back to Milhaud’s years in Brazil, with its dance rhythms and syncopation. The first movement is quick and syncopated, recalling Brazilian urban popular dance. The second movement has three lyrical melodies that merge at the end. The third movement is a lively samba.

Scaramouche was the last piece played at Tomoko's fall concert, and was a joyful way to end the afternoon musical event.