Top British music conductor and his wife die in Switzerland's suicide clinic...

One of Britain's greatest conductors and his wife have taken their own lives at the Swiss assisted suicide clinic, Dignitas.

Sir Edward Downes, 85, and his 74-year-old wife Joan travelled to Switzerland to end their lives, his family said in a statement.

Sir Edward, who was Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 1980 to 1991 had suffered with near blindness for the past 15 years and was going deaf. 

Lady Downes had terminal cancer and 'he could not go on living without her', said Sir Edward's agent Jonathan Groves. More...

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