Mental "illness" as Portrayed in Western Concert Music

Abstract: This paper examines representations of supposed mentally "ill" and mad characters from Claudio Monteverdi's Lamento della ninfa, Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Arnold Schoenberg's Erwartung, Peter Maxwell Davies's Eight Songs for a Mad King, and my own work Christopher. It argues that none of these characters are mentally "ill" and criticizes their being labeled as mad. Furthermore, this writing submits that treatment of the mentally "ill" is strongly correlated with their specific representation in western art music.