Makten att begära och tvånget att försaka

Tourettesyndromets betydelse för Ludvig Normans liv och verk

Abstract

Being one of the absolute front figures in the musical life of Sweden in the second half of the 19th century, the comprehension of Ludvig Norman (1831–1885) as a person and as a composer is still quite ambiguous, or even contradictory. The recent discovery of him suffering from the Tourette Syndrome – a circumstance hitherto unknown to the public and to the scholars as well – helps us to understand his image as presented in the sources from his own time, including his own letters. This new knowledge may also be of great importance when judging his artistic aims and the character of his musical output. In particular this is valid regarding his oeuvre from around 1870 until his death in 1885.