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Tune Your Life with Music

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Physicians and Musicians: What’s the connection?

April 29th, 2015 · Healing Music, Music in Antiquity, Physicians and Musicians

Longwood SymphonyIn ancient Rome and Athens, many of the physicians were not only physicians, they were also musicians!  They knew the healing powers of music, sound, rhythm, and harmony and they often were quite skilled musicians themselves. Yes, physicians and musicians seem to have a lot in common!   You’ve all heard of the Greek God, Apollo?  He was the God of both music and medicine and was recognized for that for centuries.  In ancient times, music was often prescribed and administered by the physician whether it was playing a lyre, a flute, a panpipe, or perhaps singing to the patient in a specific mode.

Today, we are coming full circle and physicians are again recognizing the power of music as medicine and as a therapy.  The orchestra above is the famous Longwood Symphony, located in Boston, MA.  It is comprised entirely of physicians and other medical personnel.   Each concert focuses on a specific disease or disability, such as leukemia, diabetes, breast cancert and so forth.  The fields of nursing, music therapy, music medicine, as well as many specialties in medicine, have now conducted and published dozens of scientific studies, documenting the many and varied benefits of music in the field of medicine.

In addition, physicians are either already skilled in playing instruments, or are learning to play instruments for their own relaxation or self-nurturing.  There are orchestras springing up around the country that are comprised entirely of physicians.  I’m most familiar with one in Boston is the Longwood Symphony.  This wonderful ensemble performs several times a year and there is always a charitable cause that benefits from their concerts!  What a great idea!

Another interesting story comes from New York:

“When New York City physician, teacher, writer and editor Danielle Ofri took up the cello in 2006, it was to encourage her daughter to practice the violin: The girl’s teacher had told her that seeing a parent practice was the best way to make a child want to do the same.

Ofri, an associate professor of medicine at New York University, thought that practising would be a chore, she observed in a 2009 article in The Lancet — a responsibility, in the way that looking after patients, teaching, writing and editing are chores for her. (Her word.) But it turned out to be something she truly wanted to do.

She looked forward, “almost to the exclusion of all else,” each evening to practising the Bach suite she was working on — no matter how tired she was.

The fatigue dissipates for Montreal family physician Johanne Thibaudeau, too, when she picks up her violin: playing is a form of meditation for her. “When I start to practise, I can be very tired — and, after half an hour, I’m not tired anymore,” she said. “I can go for an hour and a half.

And with music in my life, I have the feeling of being a better person — perhaps because I have done something to nourish a part of myself. I am very relaxed. — Johanne Thibaudeau

Thibaudeau has observed that many doctors are serious amateur musicians and she wonders: Is it that music speaks to them? Or are they simply highly motivated people who have an easy time learning new material?”

I’ve known for years that physicians are often talented musicians, and they are definitely wonderful supporters of the arts both by their presence and their financial support.  Let’s hope that this partnership and connection lasts as long as civilization lasts!

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Can Movie Music Be Healing?

July 18th, 2012 · Genres of healing music, Movie Music, Music and the Mind-Body

This is something that I’ve always wondered.  Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I heard lots of wonderful movie music.  Some of my favorites were “Theme from a Summer Place” “Moon River” from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”  lots of cowboy movie music and of course all the Disney movies that came out during my childhood like “Alice in Wonderland,” “Pinnochio” “Cinderella” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Mary Poppins.”

I adored everything on the Mickey Mouse Club and later “American Bandstand.”  All of the above music provided the soundtrack to my childhood and listening to any of it transports me there immediately.  It doesn’t necessarily make me wish that I were back there, because I happen to love 2012 too and today’s music, my children, grandchildren, students and friends.  But listening to the movie and TV music of my childhood, transports me to a different world faster that any sci-fi time machine ever good.

If I’m feeling worried, sad, overworked or anything negative, I can listen to this music online or just listen to it in my head, and poof!  I feel much better and I feel better within 5-10 minutes!  Now what else to you know that can do that legally, safely, and for free??  Music is the best medicine and it’s really whatever music affects you in a positive way!  Next time you want to change your mood and do it quickly, think of some favorite movies, to to YouTube and listen to songs from that movie.  It’s an amazing time to b alive!

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What’s the most healing music?

July 15th, 2012 · Genres of healing music, Music Healing

Music as Medicine

Chantdoc

So many people want to know which type of music is the most healing!  This is a question that I get almost every time I go out to speak to a group of people, or a company, university, or hospital.  To answer that, you must understand the difference between the “genre” of music and the “components” of music.  You also need to determine if you’re using music literally to “heal” a situation or simply to improve your mood.  Are you physically sick or are you simply needing to calm down, energize yourself, or forget a painful break-up or perhaps an unpleasant interaction with a friend, family member or stranger.

I believe that most of us rely heavily on our intuition to choose the music that will help us the most.  For example, you would NOT choose to play loud, lively music, with lots of percussion, for someone who was in a lot of pain, or giving birth, or having surgery.  So you must consider the condition of the patient as well as their mood and their receptivity to hearing music at any given moment.

The components of music include such ingredients as melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, timbre, ostinato and texture.  Generally speaking, the sicker the person, the softer, lighter texture the music should be.  For someone who is really ill, a slow and steady pulse is beneficial.  Something familiar is often quite welcome and effective.  Often a solo instrument like piano, harp or flute has a positive effect.  Always get the permission of the patient or the patient’s family before playing music.

Theoretically, any music can be considered healing or therapeutic.  It is helpful to know the musical taste of the person.  If that person is you, what kind of music do you reach for if you’re feeling sad, angry, tired, happy, excited, grateful?  I often suggest that people look at their CD collection or their Ipod playlists and organize them according to the moods they create or the moods they enchance.  It really doesn’t take that long, usually, and helps you to choose the perfect music next time you’re in a mood you either want to change or enhance.

If the patient is a friend or family member, it’s good to ask them to bring some of their favorite CDs in or give you access to their library.  Rarely does someone who is ill or feeling very depressed want to experiment with a new genre of music.  Familiar music to the suffering person is usually what works best.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about different genres of music and different medical situations that can benefit from healing music or music medicine.

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What the Ancients knew about music and mathematics

November 4th, 2011 · Ancient beliefs about music

This fascinating information can be found at http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/greek.music.html.  The following is an excerpt:

Archaeological evidence and written accounts, both historical and literary, show that music was vital to ancient Greek culture. Choruses in the Greek plays were sung, and music was central to religious and state ceremonies and to social rituals such as weddings, funerals, banquets, etc. The Homeric epics were probably “sung to formulaic melodies” (Bonds 4). But memorization was key to performance, not written notation, so only about 45 pieces of music, mostly fragments, survive from the time in bits of papyri and marble, and in documents copied in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

More material survives regarding music theory than actual music. Pythagoras supposedly discovered the connection between music and mathematics — that the intervals of octave, fifth, and fourth are “perfect consonances” because they can be expressed (and replicated) by the ratios 2:1, 3:2, and 4:3, respectively. Later Pythagoreans credited him also with the notion of the “music of the spheres” — the idea that the rotation of the planetary spheres creates an inaudible harmony. Music was part of the quadriviumin the liberal arts, primarily because, along with arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, music’s mathematical nature could be emphasized. “Practicing musicians, although widely admired for their performances, were not considered among the intellectual elite: they could entertain, but they could not edify their audiences” (Bond 12).

The belief that music could govern the human soul and had power over behavior is illustrated in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, in the story of Odysseus and the Sirens, and elsewhere. This “doctine of ethos” — the “belief that music has the power to elevate or debase the soul” (Bond 10) — led Aristotle to note the moods created by various modes and Plato to recommend restrictions to certain modes of music on the part of youths. Music in the Dorian mode bolstered courage and in the Phrygian mode fostered thoughtfulness (an early form of Mozart for infants). Plato even warned about the politically subversive potential of music (and he was right — look what happened with the jitterbug).

 

Works Consulted

Bonds, Mark Evan. A History of Music in Western Culture. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.

Musique de la Grèce Antique. Atrium Musicae de Madrid. CD. Arles: Harmonia Mundi, 1979. HMA 190101015.

Palisca, Claude V., ed. Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume I: Ancient to Baroque. 4th ed. NY: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., 2001.

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Another story of music’s power with Alzheimer’s patients

June 5th, 2011 · Music in the News!, Music Medicine, Music Research, Music with Alzheimer's patients

by Steve Toll and Linda Bareham

What better “medicine” than a “treatment” that has only positive side effects and “therapy” that is actually enjoyable? That is the “miracle of music” when applied with intention. Music is shown to have the ability to help organize the brain; especially vital to those who are afflicted with Alzheimer’s.

Usually after twenty minutes of music, there are observable effects, such as singing, foot tapping, and clapping. Studies have shown that the results of a musical therapy session last for several hours afterward. Positive results include elevated mood, increased socialization and appetite and reduction in agitation. These benefits are attributed to the stimulation the brain receives during a music therapy session, a sort of “cognitive workout” inspiring us to coin the phrase, “What exercise is to the body, music is to the brain.” The power of music often inspires physical movement and can be used in combination to encourage gentle exercise.

As speech, writing and traditional forms of communication are compromised, music provides an alternative means of maintaining a connection, thereby helping to normalize interaction between caregiver and patient. Music used therapeutically creates an environment where the patient can be nurtured and cared for in a way that is safe, gentle and appropriate. Music is central to maintaining human bonds when those with dementia have lost the ability to initiate communication or to respond verbally.

The powers of music when focused and used therapeutically are many. Critical to maintaining quality of life for those with Alzheimer’s is management of emotions and preserving the connection with others. Music is conducive to keeping those connections strong as long as possible while helping the participant to focus, increase awareness and orient to the environment. A number of research studies have looked at music therapy as an important adjunct to medical treatment and findings suggest a possible link between the use of music and slowing the progression of dementia.

From the rhythms of the heartbeat experienced in the womb to the stirring sounds of a marching band, rhythmic patterns and music surround us. Language itself has a musical quality to it and from the beginning of mankind, as expressed through chanting and drumming, resembled music more closely than speech. Music is primal to life and expressed by each of us every day whether through dancing to a favorite tune, keeping rhythm with a pencil or remembering a special time when hearing a forgotten melody. It is central to our lives and is embedded in our culture, defining how we acknowledge milestones, rites of passage and celebrations as well as providing comfort, transformation and inspiration. Music links us to our world and provides a pathway back to our past.

You don’t need to have any special musical training to institute a therapeutic music program. You will need to select appropriate music, however. This music consists of familiar tunes from the 30s, 40s and 50s with more contemporary music included, depending on the preference or age of the participant. Before you invest in any CDs, check in your own home for possible sources of music. Your local library is a good source. Consider individual preferences and select music that is singable and upbeat.

Steve Toll, a professional musician and trainer, and his wife Linda Bareham, a writer and researcher in the area of alternative therapies for seniors with dementia, formed the company Prescription-Music. Mr. Toll is on the Speaker’s Board for the National Alzheimer’s Association and trains professional and family caregivers in the development of music therapy programs where his intent is to spread the word of the healing power of music for those afflicted with Alzheimer’s.

Click here to purchase music for Alzheimer’s

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Healing Music Enterprises NOW has a Mobile App!

October 6th, 2019 · Music Healing

Our preloaded headphones for surgery and dental work have been available for over a decade now and we have helped thousands of patients around the world get through surgeries and dental work! ANYTHING that can be done to reduce anesthesia and pain medication is always a plus, but then we thought of something else! We need to have Mobile App, so that people can stream our healing music and use their own Bluetooth headphones or AirPods!

Now that dream is a reality and you can purchase 5 UNIQUE apps in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Just go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/buyanapp. We wanted to make it as affordable as possible, so the app is only $9.99 for the download and this is a one-time fee for a lifetime of soothing, healing, comforting music.

There are five distinct playlists:

Classical Blend

Smooth Jazz

Celestial Reiki New Age

Lullabies for Mother-Baby Bonding

Music for Memory Care (for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients)

If you’re interested in reviewing any of the apps for the App Stores, let me know and I’ll send you a free coupon for a download! Let me know ASAP please!

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Healing Music Enterprises NOW Has 5 Mobile Apps of Music for you!

October 3rd, 2019 · Music Healing

Do you believe in the healing power of music?

As of a few days ago, the Mobile Apps that we’ve been working on for 18 months are now ready for you in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.  This means that we are again first in the surgery space, to have a mobile app that reduces anxiety and pain perception while offering patients a choice of genre and style. 

Our first app is the Classical Blend playlist that has been used by thousands of surgical patients around the world and still is the favorite of many.  

Our second playlist is the Smooth Jazz that was commissioned about a year ago by the famous Mike Tracy trio and is already a best-selling download.  For those that love jazz, this playlist still relies of the power of rhythmic entrainment to synchronize the heartbeat and the breathing with the tempo of this music, which was composed to maintain the rhythm of the healthy, resting heartbeat.

Our third surgery playlist is the New Age playlist, composed and given to us my the Grammy-nominated New Age composer, Jonathan Goldman.  This beautiful synthesized piece will also relax the patient and transport them to a place of peace and serenity.  It’s call Celestial Reiki and we are so proud to have it as a mobile app for surgical patients to use.

Our fourth downloadable playlist is the Lullaby playlist, originally issued as a CD called “Lullabies for Monther-Baby Bonding.”  This can certainly be used for surgery and especially by children or infants, but was recorded before I knew the power of rhythmic entrainment.  Still, it’s been known to put countless fussy babies (and some adults) straight to sleep!  I listen to it myself fairly often and really love it.

Our fifth and final playlist (for now) is the Memory Care music download.  This also was originally a CD that I recorded for Alzheimer’s patients and has 23 songs that people born in the 1920’s-1950’s would definitely remember.  Patients that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease eventually lose their cognitive abilities and often get to the point that they don’t recognize their loved ones or know where or even who they are.  But miraculously, the “doors” in the brain that perceive music, stay open right to the end.  Patients “light up” when they hear these songs!  

Each of these playlists is $9.99 and this is a one-time charge for a life-time of use!

Here’s the link:  www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/buyanapp!  Don’t wait!

Now remeber, if you don’t have a Smartphone, it won’t work, but if you do, go now:

https://www.SurgicalSerenitySolutions.com/buyanapp

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Downloading the Surgical Serenity Music

April 5th, 2018 · Music Healing

    Downloading the Surgical Serenity Music has never been easier.  Have you wondered about downloading the Surgical Serenity Music?  Since 2005, when Surgical Serenity Solutions was created as a separate company from Healing Music Enterprises, we have offered not only our Surgical Serenity pre-programmed headphones, but also a download of our soothing, proprietary music.  We’ve always believed that it is the combination of our serene music and its delivery through our cordless headphones, that creates the best possible experience, but there are always people who truly want to download our music onto their device, whether it be an iPod, and iPhone, or a different kind of MP3 player.

Downloading the Surgical Serenity MusicFor my taste, all of these devices will require listening through something that has a cord attached and that is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.  In any event, I want to make sure everyone knows that it is possible to simply download our music if that is what you want to do.

Now let’s review the benfits of uploading the Surgical Serenity music to use during the perioperative period.  There are dozens of studies documenting the following benefits for the patient listening to calm, soothing music before, during, and after surgery.

BEFORE:

  • Lowered anxiety levels, resulting in less need for anxiety medication
  • Lowered pain perception, resulting in less need for pain medication
  • Greater calm and sense of control, resulting in less need for nursing interaction
  • Decreased awareness of sounds of other patients, also awaiting medical procedures

DURING:

  • Decreased pain perception
  • Masks sounds of surgery, especially with orthopedic surgery
  • Masks conversation of surgery staff, which can be upsetting
  • Masks the doctor’s chosen music, which is often upbeat and opposite of what patient needs
  • Help maintain homeostasis, thanks to rhythmic entrainment

AFTER:

  • Increased orientation to time and place
  • Less nausea and vomiting
  • Less dizziness and “brain fog”
  • Faster recovery because of less medication and side-effects

SOoooo, after seeing all of these proven benefits, why would you not want to download our proprietary music right away?  HERE is the button:

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New service added to Surgical Serenity Solutions

January 27th, 2018 · Music Healing

When we created Surgical Serenity Solutions back in 2009, our goal was to provide the very best calming, soothing music to engage rhythmic entrainment in the patient undergoing surgery.  Surgery is a frightening experience for the majority of patients and fear and anxiety can be truly terrifying.  As a psychotherapist and a music medicine practitioner, I hear patients fears that they will feel excruciating pain, wake up during the procedure, or, worst of all, not wake up at all!

Our goal was to choose music that would not only calm patients, starting the day of the surgery, but would engage the well-documented procedure of rhythmic entrainment, that synchronizes the patient’s heartbeat and breathing to the tempo of the music.  For that reason, after years of listening to hundreds of thousands of pieces of music, I chose a customized playlist that has proven to do this in a dependable and repeatable way.

Last year, as I was speaking in hospitals and universities around the globe, many physicians, anesthesiologists and  music therapists, came to me and asked if they could buy the headphones from us, either programmed with our music, or with THEIR chosen music on the headphones.  They pointed out that for patients undergoing chemotherapy, Parkinson’s disease, childbirth, and so many other procedures, they music might be different in terms of tempo and other characteristics.

It has taken some serious research into not only the best music, but obtaining musical permissions for other music.  What we have discovered is that if YOU provide the music, we can load the headphones with that personal music.  We just cannot sell someone else’s music!

And so, for an additional fee of $57.00. we can load YOUR preferred music onto our patient model headphone, or the hospital model headphone.  This service should be available in the next week, so let us know what music you would like, or just buy the headphone not loaded and add your own!  This opens up WORLDS of possibilities and help for medical/dental patients.

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Ancient Spring Rituals Involving Music and Rhythm

March 30th, 2016 · Ancient beliefs about music, Music Healing

Yes, the ancient Spring rituals probably included chanting, drumming, dancing/movement.  Many anthropologists and ethnomusicologists believe that early humans’ attempts at what we now call music, came from their attempts to imitate the sounds of nature.   The wind through the pines and the palms, the waves lapping the shore, the babbling brooks, and the gentle rain.  Then there are the beautiful bird songs, the crickets chirping, and all of the cicadas.

117Recently, I’ve been marvelling once again about the glorious beauty of Spring, and how a few little bulbs can keep coming up year after year after year!  The flowers and trees in Louisville, KY have truly outdone themselves this year and everytime I step outside my home, my breath is taken away by the beauty of the white Bradford pear trees, the golden forsythia, and the gorgeous tulips and daffodils.  I’m assuming that these plants have been popping up for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but did you know that music, singing, dancing, and rhythm have also been an integral part of Spring festivities?

For thousands of years, people have celebrated the return of Spring.  After hard and cruel winters, in ancient times, many people could not and did not survive.  With the first green leaf, and the first sighting of a robin, it’s not hard to imagine that people were quite ecstatic.  How did they celebrate?  We know from drawings on cave walls that ancient people played drums, flutes, sang and danced!  We can imagine that this was done both individually as well as in small groups and large groups…just like now!   One of the most famous pieces of Western classical music in the 20th century is Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”  The story goes that people were so enraged at the dissonance in the composition that they literally rioted in the concert hall that night!  Of course “The Rite of Spring” is now a staple in the modern concert repertoire.

One of the most ancient symbols of Spring is the egg, probably one of the reasons that the Easter bunny brings beautiful, decorated eggs!  Legend has it that on the day of the Spring equinox, somewhere between March 19-21, is the only day of the year that an egg can stand up on its end!  That is definitely not true.

Again, legend has it that the phoenix earned its famous immortality by refusing to eat from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. Every 500 years, the bird is said to create a nest of herbs and spices, rest on it, and set itself on fire. After the fire dies down, an egg laid by the phoenix is found among the ashes. The egg hatches, and the phoenix emerges, resurrected.  However you choose to celebrate Spring, be sure to enjoy some music as an integral part of it! Spring Legends

 

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Incorporate Healing Music into your day: 3 Easy Tips

March 6th, 2016 · Benefits of using music intentionally, Music Healing

Catie.violinAre you wondering about how to incorporate healing music into your day?  Good news!  I’ve got 3 easy tips for you! First of all, how do you define healing music?  Composers have been writing music specifically designed for healing or soothing/calming purposes for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.  Then again, there is music that has been written for many other reasons, that millions of people find to be healing, calming, comforting and soothing.

As you probably know, when we are feeling stressed out, our bodies produce a substance called cortisol.  Cortisol is very damaging to the body and causes damage to organs and all of our body systems.  When we listen to soothing music, our bodies begin to relax and natural healing processes take over.  After all, our bodies are naturally designed to heal themselves.  If you get a scratch or a cut on your body, you don’t need to do anything to make it heal, although putting a little Neosporin on it will prevent infection.  But that doesn’t actually cause the healing.  It probably just speeds it up and prevent your cut or scratch from getting infected.

Most of us, without even thinking, turn on some kind of music first thing in the morning.  It’s usually something that we really like, but not necessarily.  It can actually be something that we just “tolerate,” waiting for something better to come on.  So my first tip is:

  • Become intentional about what you listen to!   Think for just a minute, before you turn on your radio, or phone app, or even YouTube, exactly what you’re in the mood for.  Are you looking for energy and some sonic caffeine; or are you looking for something that will calm you and help you start your day with relaxed focus.

Are you wanting to connect with people that will uplift you and make you feel”apart of” and not “apart from?”  This leads us to tip #2:

  • Join a community chorus, band, or drum circle.  If you played an instrument in the past and would like to again, please dust off your old instrument.  If you always wanted to but couldn’t, sign up for some lessons at the local community college or music store.  You will be so glad you did.  With or without training there are groups you can join today and sing or play a percussion instrument.  It will lift your spirits and make you feel a part of something bigger than you!

And finally tip #3:

  • Have you even been to hear a live professional symphony orchestra, ballet, or opera?  Look in the newspaper for a live, upcoming performance by one of your local performing arts groups.  Invite a friend, or several friends, plan dinner before, read a little about what the performance will be about, and make a fun evening of it.  Who knows, a whole new world may very well open up to you!

And now a Bonus Tip! 

We now have a mobile app of 5 of our healing music playlists!  Just go to www.Surgicalserenitysolutions.com/buyanapp .  For only $9.99 you can one hour of scientifically curated and sequenced music to soothe, calm and comfort the anxieties of your life!

 

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Music with Alzheimer’s Patients: another story

February 9th, 2016 · Music with Alzheimer's patients

The power of music with Alzheimer’s patients is well-known in 2016.  I think we humans have known intuitively for years that music with our elderly parents or grandparents is much-loved and appreciated, but now we have the research, the clinical studies, and even full-length documentary films that chronicle the lives of elderly patients who no longer know their family members and lifelong friends.

Growing old is hard enough.  Experiencing the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s is unbelievably cruel.  Can you imagine not know where you are, or what year it is, or even who you are?  Can you imagine not recognizing your children, your spouse, or your friends?  My friend and mentor, Joel Elkes, MD,  described it this way:  When you have Alzhiemer’s disease it’s as though all of the “doors” to cognition in the brain, close.  But there is one door that remains open, and the door is the door to music.

I have seen people in Alzheimer’s units who had no idea where they were or why they were there, and basically they sat in the wheelchairs all day, not speaking, and barely eating.  But when I started play the old familiar songs from their “Courting Years,” songs such as “Tip-Toe Through the Tulips” and “Let me Call you Sweetheart,” they not only showed signs of recognition, but they sometimes would sing along, smile, and tap their fingers or toes in time to the music!

I even made a CD of music specifically for elderly with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.  It’s called “Music for Memory Care” and has familiar old songs from approximately 1900-late 1050’s.  They are all played on a grand piano by me and come with a download of all the lyrics.

If you have a friend or relative with dementia or Alzheimer’s, try to find out what music they loved and responded to when they were teenagers or twenty-somethings!  You can probably find these songs on YouTube at the very least!  If you are able to sing them with the individual, that’s even better!  Let me know if I can help!  😉

 

 

 

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The Power of Movie Music: Golden Globes 2016

January 10th, 2016 · Movie Music, music and emotional release, Music Healing

As I sit here watching the Golden Globes and seeing all the awards being presented for movies and TV shows that I’ve mostly seen, I’m struck again by the power of movie music.  The power of movie music is geared to its ability to enhance the plot and the audience experience, but some composers are better at that, for my needs.

Yes, music is so very personal and individual, but for me, music from Westerns has always struck a very soft and tender place in my heart.  I have no idea why that is, but there always seems to be a sad, yearning quality to it, that just goes straight to that tender spot and often makes me just want to sob!!

Last week, I went to see the new Quentin Tarantino film, “The Hateful Eight.”  While it had a fine score, commissioned from Ennio Morrecone, the music that really got me, was at the very end as the credits were rolling.  I had never heard it before, and was somewhat surprised to see that it was a song by the country singer Roy Orbison.  Take a listen and see what you think? It was just the perfect song to end this movie.

Just to give you a heads-up, this is a very violent film with lots of (fake) blood and stabbing and shooting.  I don’t really understand why Tarantino loves blood and violence so much, but it is a great yarn and I’d recommend the movie.  Just be preprared!

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