Sex Lives of the Great Composers

Prion’s internationally bestselling Sex Lives series presents lighthearted accounts of the sexual escapades of major figures in history, politics, religion, the arts, and film. Irreverent and gossipy, the books are packed with carnal tidbits and eye-opening revelations. Liszt discovered groupies 100 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. In 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.