eye strain were bouts of a severe, stabbing pain in the right temple that began in Russia before the first world war and increased every year in frequency and severity until in 1921 he spent time in hospital undergoing treatment, but without success. In Russia he had always attributed these pains to eye strain and continual bending over the manuscript while composing. After leaving Russia for the last time in December 1917 he was forced by this trouble to give up composition for three years,

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... he found relief from it only in his recital work. Both these problems, I suggest, were due to difficulties of accommodation and convergence resulting from myopia. Lastly, it would appear from photographs that Rachmaninov did not use reading glasses in his SOs and early 60s. Rachmaninov seems to have been free of the cardiovascular features of Marfan's syndrome. In fact, some 40% of those affected by the syndrome have normal cardiovascular findings on auscultation,3 although in almost all cases echocardiography will show abnormalities. In diagnosing Marfan's syndrome more reliance is placed on the presence ofhard manifestations (for example, subluxated lenses and aortic dilatation) than on the soft features (myopia, tall stature, lax joints, and arachnodactyly) on which my conjecture relies. This is not, however, to deny the possible presence of the hard manifestations in Rachmaninov, as in a substantial proportion of cases they can be established only with the aid ofthe laboratory tests ofslit lamp examination and echocardiography.3 Large hands and artistic genius Does entertaining this conjecture help at all in understanding the life of Rachmaninov? His life was plagued by minor illness, which had important consequences for his musical career both as a composer and as a performer. Thus, at intervals from his mid-30s, in addition to the eye strain and headaches, he suffered disabling back pain, stiffness ofthe hands, arthritis, and, for a while, a strange bruising of the finger tips while performing at the piano (a microvascular fragility, perhaps the result of connective tissue disorganisation arising from the syndrome), all of which seriously interfered with his work. The stoical manner in which he faced his final illness makes it unlikely that these were trivial complaints magnified by hypochondria; but when seen in terms of Marfan's syndrome they allow us to have a better appreciation of his difficulties. In conclusion, I should add that Rachmaninov's eminence as a pianist was founded as much on his interpretation of the music of others, especially Chopin, as on the extraordinary virtuosity he displayed in performing some of his own compositions. Undoubtedly, his hands contributed to his virtuosity; but for his interpretation ofothers' work it was artistic genius, not large hands, that made his performance so memorable. born on 22 October 1811, died on 31 July 1886. Too poor to visit his grave in Bayreuth but enriched beyond words by his music, let me commemorate the centenary ofhis death by winding a wreath of tropical flowers as a thank offering before the muse. The inmost array of the wreath shall be of jasmines, bestrewn with a dozen of another fragrant flower, the purple brunfelsia, to mark my gratitude for the 12 etudes, written by Liszt at the age of 15. These piano studies are excellent fare for amateur performers who lack the time or the talent to play concert etudes such as those of Chopin or the later Liszt. For me the 12 studies have been daily company for years, though numbers 5 and 10 remain difficult. In 1820, at the age of 9, Liszt gave his first public concert in his native land, Hungary. From then on he received international recognition as a prodigy. The Paris press called the 12 year old boy the eighth wonder of the world. Gall, the phrenologist, wished to make a plaster cast of the Wunderkind's head. The second whorl of my wreath shall be bright with the flower of the flamboyante to denote the young adult phase of Liszt, when he was virtuoso supremo in pianoforte performance, exerting a magical Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka V BASNAYAKE, MB, DPHIL, professor of physiology and dean Fran Liszt. (By permission of the Royal College of Music.) effect on his audiences. To this day Liszt is synonymous with the ultimate in piano virtuosity. His Transcendental Studies, which are a transmogrification of the aforementioned 12 studies, the Paganini Studies, and the Operatic Transcriptions of thius period are unapproachable except to virtuosos. But difficult pieces are often