The Magic of Music Philosophy and Science

1
The Magic of MusicPhilosophy and Science

• Jessica Leigh Taylor

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Music in Paleolithic Times

• Music was utilized to cure those ailments lacking
  overt physical causes
• Drums, flutes, and bows produced musical sounds,
  viewed to be the residual spirits of the
  materials from which they were made

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Grecian Philosophizing

• Pythagoras, already known for his mathematical
  theories, believed in the power of modal scales
  to influence affect
• He and his followers would listen to paeans
  (songs of triumph) to alter their moods some
  for despondency and vexation, others for passion,
  rage, etc.

4
The Dark Ages

• The Bishop of Paris, William of Auvergne,
  dedicated an entire chapter to music as
  medicine in his treatise, for its curative value
  for insanity, melancholia, and other mental
  disturbances
• Even at St. Augustines Abbey, music, which was
  forbidden, was used in its infirmary halls in
  hopes of healing

5
Enlightened Renaissance

• Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) was the predominate
  philosopher in terms of music therapy, combining
  his knowledge of ancient text, music, medicine,
  and astrology
• His astrological model lasted until the end of
  the18th century, until replaced with neurological
  and mechanical explanations

6
Romanticism

• Franz Anton Mesmer, known for Animal Magnetism,
  believed sound strengthened magnetic fluid, and
  musical activity was a part of his sessions
• During the Mid- 1800s, there was a large movement
  in central Europe to incorporate music into the
  treatment regimens for those individuals in
  asylums

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Women of the Early 1900s

• Eva Vecelius, who used musicotherapy to treat
  insomnia,fever, and other ailments
• Margaret Anderton, who assigned specific pieces
  for specific illnesses (I.e. Sousa marches for
  the terminally ill)
• Juliette Alvin, whose model of music therapy is
  still used today, started her career by using
  music to reach young children afflicted with
  such diseases as Muscular Dystrophy and Cerebral
  Palsy

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Various Models of Today

• Guided Imagery and Music- The Bonny Method
• Analytically Oriented Music Therapy- The Priestly
  Model
• Creative Music Therapy- The Nordoff-Robbins Model
• Free Improvisation Therapy- The Alvin Model