illustration by Thomas Fuchs

There seems no end to scientists trying to tie all the abstract loose ends of music into a neat little bow. The latest efforts explore the ways music can take the place of medicine. The idea is to have specific pieces composed not for aesthetic merit, but instead:

…to deliver specific stimuli ‚Äî dosages of rhythm, harmony or dissonance and timbre ‚Äî at the appropriate time and in an effective sequence.

It’s an interesting conceit to consider that we composers–not doctors–have the power to deliver a dose of medicine!

The article references, for instance, SourceTone Interactive Radio, “the world’s premiere music health service.” The whole phenomenon is reported by Matthew Gurewitsch in the New York Times. Click here for the full article.

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