After all the rumours and speculation since his death in 1791, it seems that the prosaic truth about the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s death has been revealed – he died of an 18th century version of the ‘superbug’, MRSA.

C. difficile

Forget Antonio Salieri (who according to the film seemed to have it in for old Wolfy from the first note of ‘The Marriage of Figaro’), it seems the genius simply died at the age of 35 thanks to a Viennese version of C. difficile.

Jean Baptiste Lully died in 1687 of gangrene in the leg after he stabbed himself with a 17th century version of a conductor’s baton4BR

Infection

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph today from the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, Mozart died of something approaching a bacterial infection that looked liked ‘dropsy’, making his body swell up with fluid.

Top 10 weird deaths

Still – not as good as this top 10 of weird and wonderful ways for composer’s to shed their mortal coils…

1. Anton Webern (died 1945): Shot dead by an American soldier after lighting up a cigar after curfew.

2. Wallingford Riegger (died 1961): Head injury caused by tangled dog lead.

3. Alban Berg (died 1935): Stopped breathing after trying to perform self surgery on insect bite to the face.

4. Bedrich Smetana (died 1884): Died in a lunatic asylum of syphilis.

5. Allesandro Stradella (died 1682): Stabbed to death by an assassin hired by a disgruntled noblemen after he allegedly ‘dishonoured’ a lady.

6. Enrique Granados (died 1916): Drowned after the ship he was on was sunk up by a German U-Boat. He had a fear of water.

7. Pyotr Tchaikovsky (died 1893): Contracted cholera after drinking a bottle of unboiled water.

8. Jean Baptiste Lully (died 1687): Gangrene in the leg after he stabbed himself with a 17th century version of a conductor’s baton.

9. Giacomo Puccini (died 1924): Throat cancer in a Brussels hospital bed.

10. Gustav Mahler (died 1911): An uncanny connection to Mozart. Died in Vienna of streptococcal infection of the blood. His last words were reported to be ‘Mozart!’

Has any brass band composer bettered these we wonder?