Name: 300 Years of Surgery: Marin Marais and a Musical Perspective on the Medical Humanities
Start: 2023-10-25T19:30:00
Location: University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee College of Music

In the early 1700s, French Composer Marin Marais had surgery to remove a urinary bladder calculus, a kidney stone that had descended into his bladder. Terrifyingly, he appears to have been awake during the entire procedure and composed a piece of music, Le Tableau de l’Opération de la Taille (1725), that depicts his horrifying observations during the surgical process, with his stress and mental health during the procedure prominently depicted in the music. Musical depictions of the human experience are– common. Musical depictions of the human medical experience are less common. A collaboration between the UT College of Music, UT Psychological Clinic, and UT Medical Center, this concert and discussion combines a musical performance with descriptions of the surgical process, use of anesthesia, stress and mental health preceding and during a surgical procedure, and ways that these processes are depicted in the music itself.  