RECORDINGS OF OCTOBER 2008 NEWSLETTER
November 13, 2008 by Lynne
To listen to our first audio newsletter on the ways an ascending melodic line creates a positive feeling, use one of the following links:
For streaming audio:
http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/W2wGSYgQ
To download to MP3 player:
http://lynne.audioacrobat.com/download/MusicandHappiness-October2008.mp3
MUSIC PLAYED IN OUR OCTOBER NEWSLETTER
October 21, 2008 by Lynne
We like to give you, our newsletter listeners, specific information on the pieces we play and discuss each month. We choose recordings that Josh considers to be outstanding.
1. I’m a Cockeyed Optimist comes from Rogers and Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC, new Broadway cast recording on Sony BMG Entertainment 88697-30457-2.
2. Scherzo comes from Beethoven’s ARCHDUKE TRIO, from a compilation of complete piano trios on EMI 0777-763124-2.
3. Struttin’ With Some Barbecue is available as an iTunes download or as part of 1923-3The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1923-34, Columbia/Legacy 57176
We think you’ll enjoy hearing these classic performances of the whole works.
SING, SING, SING!
April 27, 2008 by Lynne
Josh and I went to see YOUNG AT HEART last night. This is a very enjoyable documentary movie about a group of elders–average age of 80–who travel the world from their home in Northampton, Massachusetts, giving concerts of Rock music.
It’s thought-provoking for several reasons.
As one group member says happily, ??????singing is good for you. It clearly makes him feel more alive. It also gives him exercise, since there’s always some choreography accompanying the songs.
It’s also challenging to the brain. The music director, a marvellous man in his early 50’s named Bob Cilman, expects his singers to work: to memorize songs, to grapple with music that is quite foreign to most of this age group (most of whose taste runs to classical music, they say), to sing the songs well.
One singer says ruefully–after being taken to task for not working hard enough at his solo–that Bob is tough, then adds with a grin that he himself is also tough and can handle the heat in this particular kitchen. The group is eclectic and inclusive. It even has room for a 92 year old who can’t really sing but can declaim words with a wonderful British accent. It’s apparent that everybody is having fun even while taking their performances seriously.
This is a perfect example of the power of music into old age. Singing Rock music forces him to stretch the boundaries of his taste, one man says, since he has never really understood its appeal. But when you see him sing with a sparkle in his eye, totally focused on performing, you know that his engagement with this music makes all the difference. It’s fun. It’s rhythmic. It’s loud. It taps the youngster inside each of us.
Several times during the movie the audience we were part of–made up of all ages, from little kids to their grandparents–spontaneously burst into applause, as if we were watching live theater. I’m surprised we didn’t all get up and dance!
Go see it. People can really surprise themselves in a wonderful way when they let down their hair and follow a playful, knowledgeable leader.
A NEW YEAR FOR MUSIC AND HAPPINESS
February 3, 2008 by Lynne
Have you noticed how many books are being published on the subject of Happiness these days? What it is. What it is not. Where to find it. How to actively create it. It is a central topic of Positive Psychology research. (See the list at the end of this post.)*
What does Positive Psychology have to do with music? One of the main researchers in Positive Psychology is Dr. Chris Peterson of the University of Michigan. Lynne has had the pleasure of taking some of his courses this past year through MentorCoach.
Speaking about the future of Positive Psychology Dr. Peterson emphasizes that the crucial contributions of the body and heart to human happiness have generally been neglected by Western psychology. He asks, What might be the Positive Psychology of such important aspects of life as music, dancing, poetry, food, sex….and so on? His delightful conclusion is that we would all benefit from getting more into our fingertips and toes, “which should be twitching and tapping….” and helping us feel more alive.
Other researchers are also looking into the value of self-expression and attention to all parts of our being to support continued healthfulness as we grow older. The term used for this is Proactive Wellness.
If you like music, you have an easy, natural way to foster wellness in your body, mind and spirit. Imagine a future for yourself where you consciously fill your life with sounds that stir you and encourage you to move your body, that stimulate your brain and improve your ability to relax or to take on challenges, that comfort you when hardship and loss occur.
Our goal this year, in addition to our in-person workshops, is to bring you programs you can use in your own home in a consistent way, with online support. We can become partners in a new venture to make you more resilient and your life happier–from the inside out.
*Here are some of the books we like, written by psychologists and philosophers who are exploring Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived today:
Martin Seligman: Authentic Happiness
Christopher Peterson: A Primer in Positive Psychology
Jonathan Haidt: The Happiness Hypothesis
Sonia Lyubomirsky: The How of Happiness
Robert Emmons: Thanks: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier
Tal Ben Shahar: Happier
Dan Gilbert: Stumbling on Happiness
Gene Cohen: The Mature Mind
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR HOLIDAY LISTENING
December 16, 2007 by Lynne
Music, as Josh has written elsewhere on this blog, is solidly rooted in memory. (See under Music and Memory.) Holiday music combines social memory–that background music playing everywhere you shop, every time you turn on the radio–and personal memory–your associations with particular music that brings up past holiday celebrations, especially when you were young.
We are old enough to remember a time when Muzak didn’t exist. If we heard Christmas carols, they were being sung in church or in neighborhood caroling by live people. Hanukkah songs were part of family and synagogue life, along with latkes. Nothing was piped in anywhere.
Josh: Handel’s Messiah was, and is, the symbolic music of this season. But do you know how it actually came to be written? It turns out that this oratorio was premiered on April 12, 1742 in Dublin as a blockbuster fundraiser. Handel had been invited by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on behalf of three local charitable organizations. As the announcement of the premiere put it:
For the relief of the prisoners in the several gaols, and for support of
Mercer’s Hospital in Stephens Street, and of the Charitable Infirmary
on the Inn’s Quay, on Monday the 12th of April will be performed at
the Musick Hall in Fishamble Street, Mr. Handel’s new Grand Oratorio,
called Messiah, in which the gentlemen of the choirs of both cathedrals
will assist, with some concertos on the organ by Mr. Handel.
How it came to be associated with Christmas is a whole other story!
Maoz tzur (”Rock of Ages”–not to be confused with the Christian gospel song of the same name) has a similarly complex history. Although traditionally sung at Hannukah, its roots actually lie in the German ghetto of Martin Luther’s day, if not earlier. In fact, its opening phrase is known to have been lifted, note for note, from a chorale melody with the unlikely title of “Rejoice now, you dear Christians.”
That is, these familiar melodies are not necessarily sacrosanct musical fixtures of the Christmas - Hanukkah season.
What’s our point? As you know, we are proponents of awareness, taking nothing for granted. Sometimes Holiday songs are comforting, a powerful link to early positive emotions. But sometimes they are just background sound and have lost their power to move or connect us to anything.
So…why not consider listening to new music this year? Some suggestions from Josh:
Billy Strayhorn, Nutcracker Suite ( a jazz adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s famous score, made for the Duke Ellington orchestra)
Albert Collins, “Snowed In” (an hilarious blues about a car stuck in the snow)
Arcangelo Corelli, “Christmas Concerto”
Vivaldi, “Winter” from The Four Seasons
(For fun, try listening to Chloe Agnew’s pop version, called “Rain,” which is the slow movement of “Winter.”)
J.S. Bach, “Badinerie” from Suite no. 2 in b minor
Beethoven, Larghetto from Symphony no. 2 ( a selection of deeply inspiring serenity dating from around the time that Beethoven was contemplating suicide because of the symptoms of deafness)
Debussy, “Fetes ” from Nocturnes
Juan Tizol, “Conga Brava.”
And…how about consciously selecting your own personal holiday music to start your own living tradition? If you have already developed your own special collection of uncommon holiday music, let us know about it so we can add your choices to our list for other readers to try out.
Happy Musical Holidays from us to you!
MUSIC AND MINDFULNESS
November 18, 2007 by Lynne
I had a fascinating experience the other night which just proved to me once again what a powerful effect music and sound have on the human nervous system for good or ill.
I attended a monthly meditation group led by a highly respected oncologist in New York City. Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, who has made many CDs and written numerous books on the healing power of sound and clearly is passionate about the subject. Dr. Gaynor is unusual in combining mainstream and complementary medicine for his patients.
Being with people who have come together with their doctor in a setting other than his office or the hospital is a rare enough experience; watching him expertly play singing bowls as he chanted in (I believe) Hindi as well as English was mind-blowing. Then he asked all of us in the gracious livingroom of the Manhattan apartment to chant OM five times at whatever pace was right for us. At this point chanting truly became singing, since everybody chanted at a different pitch. The sound built and resonated in our ears and bones in that room filled with people.
Some of them were current cancer patients. Others have been, and are not now. Others never have been. Dr. Gaynor focuses on prevention as well as treatment. Does music prevent cancer? That’s not the right question. Instead, do certain kinds of sound and music promote mindfulness, which is a state of quiet in which the immune system can renew itself?
We say yes. We know people with heart diseases who also attend Dr. Gaynor’s group, and we would guess that people with autoimmune diseases that are exacerbated by stress would benefit from this kind of experience too. The focus, peacefulness, and optimism which were present in that room are hard to come by in everyday life.
I think there is special power in group experiences of this sort. Just as groups can engage in mindless violence, so coming together to make “joyful sound” can increase individual mindfulness. But mindfulness is a quality we need to practice daily by ourselves as well.
With that in mind, Josh and I recently bought a crystal singing bowl to play as we listen to certain pieces of music. Our bowl is pitched to B. The chakra is the top of the head. The element is thought or understanding. The color associated with it is violet, my favorite color.
This was a surprise, since when we bought the bowl–we had few choices at the store and were mindful of cost–we were told it was pitched to C, which resonates at the base of the spine and relates to physical needs. But the bowl knew better than we did what we truly wanted, and it’s given that to us.
DANCING TO CLASSICAL MUSIC? WHY NOT?
October 26, 2007 by Lynne
In today’s New York Times, Daniel Levitin writes on a topic we have already discussed in these posts, because it is fundamental to our workshops. His take on it is worth reading. He calls it “Dancing in the Seats.” (Click on his title to read the original article.)
Levitin, who is a professor of psychology and music at McGill University in Montreal, studies the many aspects of music’s effects on our brains. He points out that “The ancient connections between music and movement show up in the laboratory. Brainscans…make it clear that both the motor cortex and cerebellum–the parts of the brain responsible for initiating and coordinating movements–are active during music listening, even when people lie perfectly still. Singing and dancing have been shown to modulate brain chemistry, specifically levels of dopamine, the “feel good” neurotransmitter.”
The bottom line is his strong belief that we would all have more fun in the concert hall if we could get up and move to the music. He recommends–tongue in cheek perhaps–that when Lincoln Center is renovated, some of the seats should be ripped out to give listeners room and permission to move to the beat of Ravel or Mahler or even Bach.
Try this in your own livingroom: put on a piece of classical music that you love and move to the music in any way that feels “right.” If you can’t actually move around safely, conduct the music or at least sway your body and tap your foot to it from a chair. As`Levitin says, “Music can be a more satisfying cerebral experience if we let it move us physically.” The more open you are to this, the more you’ll get from it.
WHAT DOES MUSIC HAVE TO DO WITH HAPPINESS?
July 26, 2007 by Lynne
What does music have to do with happiness?
The simple answer is that music is part of our DNA. When we don’t make music, we are incomplete and unhappy.
The more complex answer is that music has power to connect us to our deepest selves, our greatest sense of purpose, and transcendent beauty.
Music is a democratic art, available to everyone. Even tone-deaf people love music. Even deaf people can feel the vibrations of music in the reverberations under their feet.
Think of human life without music. You can’t.
The awareness of music’s–and other arts’–central importance in our lives opens up many areas of possibility that we want to explore in these pages.
For example, how do different types of music affect us and why?
How can we use music to enhance our moods in more than temporary ways?
What questions would you like us to explore for you?