A leading international medical journal has posited the theory that Poland's beloved pianist was suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy, which would explain his bouts of vivid hallucinations.

 

The new theory was advanced  this week in Medical Humanities by Dr Manuel Vazquez Caruncho and his colleague Dr Francisco Branas Ferandez. The two Spanish  medics led an investigation in Lugo to determine whether epilepsy was a valid explanation for the composer's feverish visions.

 

Owing to the exalted spirit of the Romantic era, and the indulgent nature of subsequent historiography, Chopin's hallucinations were often treated as the expression of an artistic soul, a quaint detail befitting a nineteenth century pianist.

 

The composer was gripped by visions throughout his short life, as he recorded in letters to friends and family:

 

“A strange adventure befell me while I was playing my Sonata in B flat minor before some English friends,” Chopin wrote in 1848.

Cursed creatures

“I had played the Allegro and the Scherzo more or less correctly. I was about to attack the March when suddenly I saw arising from the body of my piano those cursed creatures which had appeared to me one lugubrious night at the Chartreuse [Majorca]. I had to leave for one instant to pull myself together after which I continued without saying anything.”

Studying material relating to Chopin's visions, the doctors saw that the hallucinations varied in length, sometimes occurring for a few seconds, at others for several minutes.

However, they believe that that the vivid character of the hallucinations was consistent with the condition of temporal lobe epilepsy. Other symptoms, including anxiety, fear and insomnia in the lead-up to seizures are cited as further evidence of the illness.

It was not until several decades after Chopin's death in 1849 that a breakthrough was made  in the understanding of epilepsy.  Thus, the Spaniards argue, doctors would have been unable to fully grasp the matter at the time.

It has been noted that Chopin was partial to sugar cubes laced with laudanum, a popular 19th century opiate that was prescribed for medical purposes.

The pianist used the drug as a palliative for his other ailments, of which there were many. However, Dr Caruncho believes that opiates would not trigger visions of the vividness that Chopin experienced. (nh)