"Nicotine itself is clearly rather a good drug. An appetite suppressant and an antidepressant, it is also an aid to protracted creative thought — since Bach wrote 'So oft ich meine Tobackspfeife' (BWV 515a) in 1725 it is hard to name a single worthwhile piece of music written by a non-smoker."

Thus The Spectator's IT correspondent Rory Sutherland in this week's {4 Dec} issue of the magazine. Does anyone know, or can anyone guess, where he purports to get such a statistic from? And is it the general opinion on Mudcat that it is true? Anyone know for sure which composers have been smokers? & if so, how?

♥♫❤Michael❤♫♥