APA
Newmark, J. (2026). The Sound of Syphilis: The Case of Bedřich Smetana. In P. L. Pearl & S. Arfaie (Eds.), Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press.
CHAPTER 11 · Medical Problems of Musical Masters
The Sound of Syphilis: The Case of Bedřich Smetana
Abstract
The great Czech composer Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884) died of tertiary neurosyphilis after a long illness. After Beethoven, he is the most famous composer to become totally deaf. Smetana’s initial symptom of tinnitus was, although not recognized as such, an early symptom of his neurosyphilis. He recognized it as the harbinger of his deafness. In his autobiographical first string quartet, which he subtitled “From My Life,” he grippingly described the onset of his tinnitus in musical terms. Just as in Smetana’s actual life, from this point on, the music takes a completely different, darker turn. Smetana’s quartet is one of the great chamber works of the 19th century, but it is also one of the great examples of artistic self-reflection and musical depiction of a neurological symptom. Keywords: Bedrich Smetana, deafness, neurosyphilis, string quartet, deafness
Keywords
- Bedřich Smetana
- deafness
- neurosyphilis
- string quartet
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Cite this chapter
Chapter references below omit unverified page ranges and chapter-specific DOIs.
AMA
Newmark J. The Sound of Syphilis: The Case of Bedřich Smetana. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, eds. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press; 2026.
Vancouver
Newmark J. The Sound of Syphilis: The Case of Bedřich Smetana. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, editors. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2026.
Chicago
Newmark, Jonathan. “The Sound of Syphilis: The Case of Bedřich Smetana.” In Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity, edited by Phillip L. Pearl and Saman Arfaie. Cambridge University Press, 2026.
BibTeX
@incollection{chapter11_2026,
author = {Newmark, Jonathan},
title = {The Sound of Syphilis: The Case of Bedřich Smetana},
booktitle = {Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity},
editor = {Pearl, Phillip L. and Arfaie, Saman},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
year = {2026}
}Harvard
Newmark, J. (2026) “The Sound of Syphilis: The Case of Bedřich Smetana”, in Pearl, P.L. and Arfaie, S. (eds.) Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.