“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; The motions of his spirit are as dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus: Let no such man be trusted.”
Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Music has been linked to health and healing in ancient traditions for more than 30.000 years, long before the formally organized music therapy field developed in the 20th century. Its effect on our brain, body and soul is undeniable. The answers to many of questions about music now provide a scientific basis to explain how music affects mental clarity, emotional balance, creativity, and personal effectiveness.
Music is one of the few activities that involves using the whole brain. From the perspective of neuroscience, listening to music is one of the most complex things one can do. The effects are instant and long lasting. Not all types of music have favorable effects but for the most part, exposure to classical music has beneficial effects not only for improving memory and focusing attention, learning language, but also for physical coordination and development, relaxation, and stress relief.
EuMuse is a global knowledge project founded with a simple, but powerful mission – to help people access, understand and benefit from scientific breakthrough in music.
How do we learn to listen to music, something that seems so obvious we take it for granted?
Beauty (like truth) cannot be forced on anyone; it cannot be angry or antagonistic. The Good, the True and the Beautiful are their own best arguments for themselves, by themselves, and in themselves.
When one loves beauty, ideas, and truth one desires to learn and to understand the world.
The point isn’t to be “right” or “wrong, “smart” or “dumb”, – it is to incessantly want to know more than you do. Socrates’ main point. A life without curiosity doesn’t count.
The Greek word kalokagathia (kalos = beauty + agathos = good) was a natural combination in the Greek context. It was used not only for the descriptions of beautiful things, but also morally admirable character and conduct, and technically useful things.
EuMuse has a task of turning energy into matter – the energy of music ideas, of imagination, of purpose, of vision - into things that matter in people’s lives.
Music is a time-art. There is no listening in the future and there is no listening in the past thus mindful and goal-oriented music listening (GoML) helps us to consciously accumulate present moment awareness.
In harmony with Simone Weil’s idea that the sole purpose of education is to nurture attention; “attention is the disposition of the subject that is open and available to the reality of other people, ourselves, objects, customs and traditions, ideas, and words such as good, truth, beauty and God.” - EuMuse concept is at once simple and obvious, yet complex and profound. We want to bring greater awareness around the connection between sound, music, brain, and body, and to source simple solutions to complex problems. For when you go from a principle to execution, things are much more complicated: the output is simple to the outsider, the process is hard seen from the inside. Indeed, it takes years of study and practice.
Ambition is about more – Vision is about all
If this is an age of transitions, there is an even greater need to reflect on all that is timeless, and eternal, and what is not.
Billions of people the world over want to know how to be healthier and happier. And while there is plenty of research and writing about economic developments, AI, and inequalities there is insufficient inquiry about cognition and knowledge gaps.
Perhaps leaders of today need a musical capacity, to be creative and pro-active in a way a group of jazz musicians improvises together. A number of separate individuals, all making their own decisions, act together as a whole. Choices are made from moment to moment both by the group as a whole and by the individuals within it. For jazz musicians to improvise together, they need to listen attentively, while expressing their individuality in a way that contributes to the overall sound.
Art and Science in service of Beauty
In June 1919, Romain Rolland, French dramatist, and art historian who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915., published a remarkable text titled Declaration of the Independence of the Mind (Déclaration de l’indépendance de l’Esprit). Signed by hundreds of most prominent intellectuals, including Albert Einstein, Rabindranath Tagore, Hermann Hesse, Upton Sinclair, Bertrand Russell, and Alfred Stieglitz - it was a call to use the power of art and science to bring world together.
A hundred and three years later it may serve as a reminder that art and science should embody the noble goal to enrich the humanity in the face of any threat – be it by weapon or censorship.
What if next giant leap in human evolution may come not only from new fields like artificial intelligence or genetic engineering, but from appreciating our ancient brains as well?
Perhaps in this fusion of what some consider two distinct, incompatible entities – art and science – lies the healing and betterment of humanity.
Marina de Moses