Carlos Gesualdo was a 16th Century Italian prince who murdered his child, wife and her lover. His life and music inspired Shakespear, Wagner and Debussy.
Carlos Gesualdo was obsessed with writing madrigals. His music was centuries ahead of its time. He was also a paranoid and jealous husband. He caught his wife in bed with another man so he stabbed them, shot them, and hung their bodies in the courtyard. He rocked his baby to death on cords of silk. He then escaped to a castle and chopped down all the trees so that he could see if anyone was coming for him (as did Macbeth, which was written 10 years later).
His music inspired Wagner, and Debussy labelled him "the crank of chromatism".