These composers died tragically young, not from pestilence but from illness or disease:
Juan Chrisótomo Antonio Arriaga — tuberculosis, 10 days before his 20th birthday.
Augustin Barié (1893-1918), (1883 – 1915), was a French composer and organist.
Born blind; he had large hands which spanned an eleventh, allowing to play difficult works with relative ease.
Barié was a celebrated improviser, one of a long line of French Romantic virtuoso organists, composing mainy for the organ.
His career was cut short when he died of a brain hemorrhage aged 31, soon after his wedding.
Vicenzo Bellini — amebiasis — aged 34.
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), sister of the famous teacher Nadia, she was the first woman to receive the Prix de Rome.
Aged 2 she contracted bronchial pneumonia which her immune system was severely weakened.
For the remainder of her life she was almost always ill with passing infections with chronic intestinal tuberculosis which eventually led to her death, aged 25.
Antonio Casimir Cartellieri (1772-1807) — overwork.
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911), from pneumonia, in Pustelnik sanatorium, aged 35.
The Lithuanian painter and composer and perhaps the most famous Lithuanian artist of all time,
composing about 250 pieces of music and created about 300 paintings.
He contributed to symbolism and art nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch.
His works have had a profound influence on modern Lithuanian culture.
He was a synesthete; that is, he perceived colors and music simultaneously.
Many of his paintings bear the names of musical pieces: sonatas, fugues, and preludes.
He developed interesting theories of ‘tonal ground formations’ anticipating the serial methods of both Schönberg, who also painted, and Hauer.
The asteroid 2420, Čiurlionis, is named after him.
Violinist Josef Hassid — aged 26. Further information
Pianist William Kapell — aged 31. Further information
Guillaume Lekeu (1870-1894) — of typhoid — aged 24.
Pianist Dinu Lipatti — lymph cancer — aged 33.
Thomas Linley the younger — drowned — aged 22.Further information
Ernst Mielck (1877-1899), Finnish composer who studied under Max Bruch in Berlin - Tuberculosis - aged 21.
Ginette Neveu — in an aeroplane crash — aged 30. More information
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi — from consumption — aged 26. More information
Michael Rabin — aged 35. Further details
Josef Schmidt in a Swiss concenctation camp; More information
Heikki Theodor Suolahti (1920-1936) - Finnish composer, Sibelius praised his Sinfonia Piccola.
He died 6 weeks before his 17th birthday.
Japanese composer Rentaro Taki studied at Leipzig Conservatory,
but soon fell seriously ill with tuberculosis, returning to Japan.
He died at the age of 23. It is said that he laid the meaning of “regret” in the title of his last piece.
Karl Tausig, possibly Liszt’s greatest pupil — from typhoid at the age of 29.
Johann Hugo Voříšek — also from TB — aged 35.
Domenico Zipoli (1688-1726) — also from TB — aged 37.