The composer with a crippling fear of the number 13, who died on Friday 13th...

13 September 2024, 14:09

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

Today, on Friday 13th, we remember that for one classical composer this widely-feared date would result in a cruel twist of fate...

Today is Friday 13th, and for many around the world, that means it’s the unluckiest day of the year. While some may scoff at the notion of a doomed date, others may decide to spend the day hiding indoors, away from black cats and wobbly ladders.

The superstition surrounding Friday 13th has been around since as early as the first half of the 19th century – and there are all kinds of theories as to why the day is particularly wretched.

The number ‘13’ has been considered unlucky for centuries. In Christianity, Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the thirteenth diner to sit at the Last Supper. And throughout history works of literature, entertainment and pop culture have reinforced myths around the number.

But it seems that American-Austrian composer, Arnold Schoenberg, may have found this day more stressful than most, after suffering from a life-long phobia of the number 13.

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Known as triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13 is linked to 12 being a number of perfection, there being 12 months in a year, 12 hours on a clock and 12 zodiac signs.

Schoenberg, a music theorist, teacher, writer and painter, is widely considered to be one of the most influential and respected classical composers of the 21st century. But he would go out of his way to avoid the number 13.

It has been suggested that he even deliberately misspelt his opera, Moses und Aron, as the correct spelling would have made the title exactly 13 letters long.

But before you laugh at Schoenberg’s eccentricities, read on – because on Friday 13, July 1951, Schoenberg’s fear was finally realised.

The then 76-year-old composer had spent the day in bed, feeling unbearably anxious and believing the worst was about to happen... and it did.

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His wife, Gertrud, recalled: “About a quarter to twelve I looked at the clock and said to myself: another quarter of an hour and then the worst is over.

“Then the doctor called me. Arnold’s throat rattled twice, his heart gave a powerful beat and that was the end”.

Coincidence? If that wasn’t enough to send shivers down your spine, it turns out the digits in Schoenberg’s age also added up to 13.

Schoenberg of course was not alone in his superstitions. Many hotels today are designed without a room numbered 13, and some restaurants refuse to have a ‘table 13’. It’s why you also won’t see a 13th row on Ryanair and Lufthansa flights.