D. T. Phi wrote:

>The music critic and journalist Stephen Pedersen of Halifax replied to my
>query on Dr. Georg Tintner's death and has allowed me to circulate his
>response.

Tanya Tintner saw this and has asked me to post a clarification of the
situation for her, as there have been some errors in the many newspaper
reports, as always happens.

   === From Tanya Tintner ===

   Date sent:  Fri, 8 Oct 1999 08:51:15 -0300 (ADT)
   Subject:     Re: The Classical List

   Georg Tintner had an aggressive form of melanoma (but not skin cancer)
   which was incurable but had been controllable, for the last six years.
   As the disease kills 90% within five years, he had done extraordinarily
   well, a combination of a fine immune system and will-power.

   This year the pain had increased significantly.  He underwent an
   experimental procedure in summer which left him in considerable pain
   and despite his belief that he could withstand any amount of pain he
   was obliged to start taking pain relief, much to his disappointment.
   Unfortunately he found that the medications caused debilitating side
   effects while providing little relief, though he tried all the
   available drugs.

   Quite recently he had a second operation to remove some residual
   tumour and for a skin graft - he was rehearsing four days later.
   However, the cancer had not metastasised beyond the local area and
   was not (as far as is known) in any vital organ, so there is no basis
   whatsoever for the claim that he had perhaps six weeks to live.

   Much has been written about how he decided to kill himself once he
   realised he couldn't read his scores.  This is also not correct.  I
   might note that he did an excellent concert five days before he died.
   He had evidently been contemplating ending it all for some time.  He
   had always said that he did not want to live at any price, but while
   he had something to give he wanted to do so.  Nevertheless, he found
   the continuous trips in and out of hospital and the clinic visits
   and the treatments and the tests and all the rest of it just did not
   represent how he wanted to live his life - it was not life as he
   understood it.  He knew that all of it was just delaying the inevitable.
   No criticism is implied here of the doctors and nurses treating him,
   who did their very best.

   He decided about two weeks before he died that this is what he wanted
   to do.  Some of you may have seen relatives will themselves to die
   (or perhaps stay alive); I think this is what he did.  The day after
   he told me he wanted to die, he began to lose words, confusing one
   word with another, and being unable to finish sentences.  He became
   disoriented, and found he could not read or concentrate or study his
   scores.  I am trying to make it clear here that this happened as a
   CONSEQUENCE of the decision to die, and was not a precipitating factor
   in his decision as everyone assumes.  The morphine was contributory
   to the disorientation, but probably not a cause.  The weight loss
   was also a consequence, because there was no obvious reason why he
   should be losing weight; he was eating well enough that it should
   not have been happening, and as noted already there was no vital-organ
   metastasis.

   His decision to jump, however, I am sure was entirely rational, and
   not the result either of disorientation or morphine.

   Statements that have been made claiming that he killed himself because
   he had cancelled two concerts are incorrect and simple-minded.  But
   in the larger picture it is true that the prospect of his not being
   able to give any more, to make music any more, made living with the
   pain and suffering no longer worth it.  He did not want to just
   "crumble away", a burden to himself and others.

   He died as he lived, a man of principle.

   === End of note from Tanya Tintner ===

"Andrys Basten" <[log in to unmask]>