Is music just “auditory cheesecake” or can it provide deep insights into the workings of the brain and the evolution of language? From the New Zealand haka to raves and dancing birds, The Guardian’s James Randerson investigates why music evolved, how it is linked to language, how it is understood by the brain and how it can be used to treat patients. [Read more →]
Long before the clueless singers who clutter American Idol try-outs, there was Florence Foster Jenkins, a coloratura soprano who had little sense of rhythm and pitch yet managed to have a musical career between 1912 and 1944. Convinced of her greatness, she dismissed the laughter that came from audiences as coming from jealous rivals. She concentrated on standard opera repertoire and wore elaborate costumes that she designed herself. [Read more →]
Music and Nature was a one-hour radio program written by Philip Blackburn and produced by Minnesota Public Radio in 2005 that explored the connections between music and nature. In addition to a recording of the original program, the companion website offers interviews with artists, composers, scientists and researchers; streaming recordings of “environmentally friendly music”; a variety of links and resources; and a sampling of special features such as: [Read more →]
In Musicophilia, neurologist Oliver Sacks describes patients who experience musical hallucinations — noises like trolleys or bells, musical passages, endlessly repeated tunes — that are so strong and vivid that they seem to come from outside but are actually produced by the brain. These are not the same as the catchy tunes that sometimes get stuck in our heads; they have, in Sacks’ words, “the startling quality of actual perception.” [Read more →]
Sheila Weller has written a fascinating book about Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon and the journey of a generation. The book is filled with insights about what influenced their artistic temperaments and helped establish them as three of the most successful and respected female songwriters of the 1960s and 70s. [Read more →]
