I note from a commentary in Science for July 28 that experts at the American Sleep Association have concluded that Johannes Brahms suffered from the common disorder known as sleep apnoea. This is commonly attributable to airway obstruction, less often to primary brainstem medullary failure resulting from neurological disorders. One of its obvious symptoms is heavy snoring. This arises as the result of anatomical abnormalities that obstruct the upper airway.
Brahms was a confirmed bachelor, without a wife who might report his snoring habit, but a singer who accompanied him on concert tours and sometimes shared his bedroom has described being kept awake by extraordinary noises. The composer was known to doze off at irregular times, even in cafes and theatres, and he was short-tempered and irritable, an indication that his sleep was disrupted.
Among risk factors that are known to have affected Brahms were overweight, heavy drinking and thickness of the neck. Late in life he may have suffered a stroke. He had fairly fixed habits, brewing strong coffee at about 5am and drinking it to the accompaniment of a strong cigar, the first of many during the day.
According to the pulmonologist Mitchell Margolis, of the University of Pennsylvania, the somnolence and irritability that rendered Johannes Brahms socially persona non grata may have enabled him to concentrate all his attention on the creation of his music. This is a previously unrecognised cultural advantage of sleep apnoea.