Long Life and Satisfying Work

A WORLD-RENOWNED symphony conductor signed a five-year contract with a major record company to make four recordings a year. That may not sound unusual. But the conductor, Leopold Stokowski, was 95 at the time and the contract would have kept him busy at his demanding job until 100! He died in his 96th year.

That is not an isolated instance. The concert stage seems to be particularly crowded with octogenarians and nonagenarians. Pianist Artur Rubinstein is now 95, violinist Jascha Heifetz is 80, and guitarist Andres Segovia is 88, to name just a few of the most famous. Among musicians of the past, Arturo Toscanini, the paragon of conductors, remained active to age 90, Arthur Fiedler led the famed Boston Pops orchestra until he died only last year at 85, and Spanish cellist Pablo Casals remained the director of the Casals Festival until age 96.

In compiling a list of 35 deceased conductors, Dr. Donald H. Atlas, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at San Diego, noted that their average age was 73.4 years. In comparison, the average life span of American men, according to Dr. Atlas, is 68.5 years. The doctor commented that “since I have not been able to find a single death in this group at an age younger than 58, I firmly believe that these men were protected by some undetermined factors from the modern scourge of early fatal ischemic vascular disease.”

Perhaps shedding some light on those “undetermined factors” were the findings published by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in a 1973 report entitled “Work in America.” The report suggested work satisfaction and general happiness as two leading contributors to longevity.

Some 3,000 years ago, wise King Solomon observed: “I have seen that there is nothing better than that the man should rejoice in his works [enjoy his work, The New English Bible], for that is his portion.” (Eccl. 3:22) Contrary to popular opinion that “taking it easy” may be the secret of long life, the foregoing studies and examples seem to indicate that meaningful and satisfying work can contribute to longevity. Dr. Atlas added: “I hope that the apparently fulfilling life pattern of conductors will show us how to add life to years as well as years to life.”