Strangely, just yesterday I was asked what my choice would be if I could have the music of only one composer to study and perfom. Without hesitation my answer: Bach. There is something about the music that pleases me on so many levels. I always feel like I learning from Bach, and my hands love following the various twists and turns. There is a very strong physical component to it. Something I can't quite pin down. The best I can say is that it simply pleases the hand and delights the readers mind. And maybe there's a very good explanation.
"Robert Schumann cured himself of a severe episode of mental illness by studying Bach's counterpoint, setting himself a task of composing six fugues on the composer's name. Neuro-musicologist Arthur Harvey, of the University of Hawaii, claims: "Bach's music consistently makes the brain work in a balanced way better than any other." link.
and this:
""Of all the music we tested in medical school with patients, colleagues and others, Bach's music consistently made the brain work in a balanced way better than any other genre," said Arthur Harvey, who is also an internationally known neuromusicologist." link
2 comments:
Fascinating!
Wow. That's actually very interesting to me. My personal internal emotional life is quite chaotic, so perhaps that not only explains my love of Bach, but also why I like writing counterpoint so much.
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