The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #144322   Message #3337645
Posted By: Scabby Douglas
13-Apr-12 - 06:12 AM
Thread Name: The Restorative Power of Music
Subject: RE: The Restorative Power of Music
Can I recommend two related books?

One is by Oliver Sacks, who appears in the video clip of the elderly man in the care home.

It's called "Musicophilia"

http://musicophilia.com/

"In Musicophilia, he examines the powers of music through the individual experiences of patients, musicians, and everyday people--from a man who is struck by lightning and suddenly inspired to become a pianist at the age of forty-two, to an entire group of children with Williams syndrome who are hypermusical from birth; from people with "amusia," to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans, to a man whose memory spans only seven seconds--for everything but music"

The other is by Daniel Levitin, and its name is "This Is Your Brain On Music"

This is Your Brain On Music

"Think of a song that resonates deep down in your being. Now imagine sitting down with someone who was there when the song was recorded and can tell you how that series of sounds was committed to tape, and who can also explain why that particular combination of rhythms, timbres and pitches has lodged in your memory, making your pulse race and your heart swell every time you hear it. Remarkably, Levitin does all this and more, interrogating the basic nature of hearing and of music making (this is likely the only book whose jacket sports blurbs from both Oliver Sacks and Stevie Wonder)...."

Both the books are thought-provoking, intriguing, at times moving, and often inspirational, and very readable.