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Posts: 1025
Joined: Oct. 14 2009
From: New York City
Do musicians live longer?
Think about these famous musicians – Vladimir Horowitz was performing in his nineties; Arthur Rubinstein in his nineties; Jascha Heifetz died at eighty-six: Yehudi Menuhin in his eighties; there are others, not to mention Segovia himself performing in his nineties.
What got me thinking about it was I was recalling an incident a couple of years ago. I was at Luthier Music, the biggest guitar store in New York, chatting with the owner, Tony Acosta, when he got a phone call. When he finished he said to me, “That was Juan de la Mata. Do you know him?”
I was astounded. Did I know him? Juan was my first teacher, of both flamenco and classical guitar. But that was in the seventies, and Juan was clearly already a middle-aged man at the time. I naturally assumed he was long dead. But no – Tony told me Juan was alive and well and ninety-two years old.
By strange chance, not much afterward I was talking to Beverly Maher, the owner of The Guitar Salon, and I mentioned that Juan was still alive. She told me she had recently spoken to Juan, and he had told her that he had stopped playing the guitar. When she asked him why he said, “I’ve been playing the guitar for eighty-five years!”
As far as I know Juan is still alive, and would be ninety-five.
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: Do musicians live longer? (in reply to Ramon Amira)
Well, since musicians tend not to be working construction on high rises or fighting fires or getting shot at for a living, perhaps there is something to that.
But when I think of the subset of musicians called "flamencos", I don't think of longevity.
But when I think of the subset of musicians called "flamencos", I don't think of longevity.
Quick cross-reference to the thread (the last two or three postings) "About to Quit the Smoke," concerning smoking and flamencos.
Cheers,
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 357
Joined: Dec. 5 2008
From: New Jersey USA
RE: Do musicians live longer? (in reply to Ramon Amira)
I've often marveled at the same phenomenon, the longevity of many, many musicians. Part of it, probably most of it, must be due to a profoundly satisfying, rewarding way of communicating with other people. Yet, when one contrasts those whose role is almost entirely performance with those who are/were the great composers, the contrast is striking. When one considers that, with few exceptions, the great composers were also prodigious instrumentalists--Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Bartok--very few lived to be even 70, with many dying in their early 60s, and others even earlier. Liszt stands out, as does Saint-Saens and a few others, but between the stress of composing and our old friend syphilis, many of the rest were harvested early.
RE: Do musicians live longer? (in reply to Ramon Amira)
Flamenco guitar players are often smokers, and they kick the bucket in their mid sixties or earlier from lung cancer a lot. It's not rocket science to figure that one out.
Posts: 357
Joined: Dec. 5 2008
From: New Jersey USA
RE: Do musicians live longer? (in reply to el carbonero)
Carbonero, I think you're right--that how you live is the key determinant. I think my notion about the longevity of performers vs. composers may be valid only in the area of classical musicians. A hypothesis would be that performers (of classical music) receive so much satisfaction from their art that use of drugs, nicotine, alcohol, and the development of unhealthful habits just don't find root in their psyches, and they are therefore more immune. Composers, as tortured souls, not so much.....
Posts: 1712
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
RE: Do musicians live longer? (in reply to Ramon Amira)
I suspect that doing work that you love is very healthy, especially for the heart, whereas the stress of a job that you don't love is the worst thing for the heart.
RE: Do musicians live longer? (in reply to Ramon Amira)
I believe science figured out musicians at least are less vulnerable to get diseases like alzheimer. A specific chemical compound of cannabis is also believed to have a positive effect on alzheimer..... not sure if a combination of the 2 is the perfect remedy to prevent/delay alzheimer ..... or just makes you die before the problem occurs.
RE: Do musicians live longer? (in reply to Ramon Amira)
I would say the opposite, considering the lifestyle man musicians have they will be at risk more than the average person, (don't forget the 27 club). But as all things in life its just pure luck.
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