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© Richard Kogan
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Music: Schumann performed by Richard Kogan
PSYCHIATRY AND ART
Richard Kogan has led a distinguished career as both a professional pianist and as a
physician. While studying medicine at Harvard, Dr. Kogan was encouraged to continue
his music career along with his medical education. In later years, he began to merge
these two fields and now explores the role of music in healing and discusses the impact
of psychological and mental illnesses on the creative genius of well-known composers.
Schumann: bipolar disorder and the creative process
Tue, 10 Oct 2017
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17:00– 18:30
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Hall B
The great 19th century German composer Robert
Schumann (1810– 1856) represents one of the best ex-
amples of the complex relationship between creative
genius and mental illness. A prominent figure in music's
Romantic era, Schumann ignored traditional styles and
wrote compositions that were based purely on a desire
to express his inner state of mind. While it is challenging
to do retrospective psychiatric diagnoses on historical
figures, Schumann wrote letters and kept detailed dia-
ries which strongly suggest that he suffered from bipo-
lar disorder.
Psychiatrist and pianist Richard Kogan will trace the
course of Schumann's psychiatric illness and will ex-
plore:
»
»
How Schumann composed voluminously during
hypomanic periods but stopped writing completely
toward the end of his life when a severe depression
culminated in a suicide attempt and eventual self-
starvation in an insane asylum.
»
»
How Schumann used musical composition to soothe
his intrapsychic distress.
»
»
How Schumann wrote powerful music at the urging
of inner voices but was ultimately tormented by his
auditory hallucinations.
Kogan will perform some of Schumann's most mag-
nificent piano music to illuminate the discussion. He
will analyse how extreme fluctuations in mood can be
both potentially beneficial and harmful in the creative
process, explore Schumann's fascinating relationship
with his wife the virtuoso pianist Clara Wieck and will
describe the nightmarish conditions in 19th century
psychiatric hospitals and contrast this with 21st century
treatment practices.