Music and the Brain: Music and Memory

The past which is not recoverable in any other way is embedded, as if in amber, in the music, and people can regain a sense of identity. . . — Oliver Sacks

In our last two posts investigating the fascinating realm of Music and the Brain, we explored what drives our musical preferences and some of the human body’s physiological responses of listening to music. Today, we look into the connections between music and memory, and how music can serve as an agent of healing through helping sufferers of Alzheimer’s Disease deal with memory loss.

Saving His Music

In a past Thursdays @ Three broadcast, and in various events in the Portland area, pianist Naomi has shared the music of Steve Goodwin, a pianist and composer with Alzheimer’s. Through their project Saving His Music, Naomi has helped Steve write down and capture his music before it fades into the fog of his disease.

Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia, a chronic disorder that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. While the majority of people with Alzheimer’s are 65 and older, Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging and progressively worsens over time. Alzheimer’s begins in the early stages with mild memory loss, but in the later stages of the disease, a patient will experience symptoms that interfere with daily life, including disorientation, mood and behavior changes, and difficulty speaking.

Steve’s music, often inspired by nature, served as the soundtrack for his family’s life and easily flowed from his hands to the piano. Much of it was never written down, and early onset Alzheimer’s made it difficult for Steve to play piano. But by recalling moments from his songs, Steve has been collaborating with Naomi to fill in the gaps. His music, though he may struggle to get it out, still remains deeply instilled within him.

The connection between music and memory

Music has a profound connection to our personal memories. Listening to an old favorite song can take you back years to the moment that you first heard it. A 2009 study done by cognitive neuroscientist Petr Janata at the University of California, Davis, found a potential explanation for this link between music and memory by mapping the brain activity of a group of subjects while they listened to music.

Janata had subjects listen to excerpts of 30 different songs through headphones while recording their brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. The songs were chosen randomly from “top 100” charts from years when each subject would have been 8 to 18 years old. After each excerpt, the subject was asked to answer questions about song, including whether the song was familiar, enjoyable, or linked to a specific autobiographical memory. Janata found that songs linked to strong emotions and memories corresponded with fMRI images that had greater activity in the upper part of the medial pre-frontal cortex, which sits right behind the forehead. This suggests that upper medial pre-frontal cortex, which is also responsible for supporting and retrieving long-term memories, acts as a “hub” that links together music, emotions, and memories.

These findings were supported by an earlier study, where Janata found that this very same region of the brain was active in tracking tonal progressions while listening to music. This music-tracking activity became even stronger when a subject was listening to a song associated with powerful autobiographical memories. In this way, Janata describes that listening to a piece of familiar music “serves as a soundtrack for a mental movie that starts playing in our head,” calling back memories of a particular person or place.

Music therapy and Alzheimer’s

The medial upper prefrontal cortex “hub” also happens to be one of the last areas of the brain to atrophy from Alzheimer’s. This may explain why people with Alzheimer’s can still recall old songs from their past, and why music can bring about strong responses from people with Alzheimer’s, causing patients to brighten up and even sing along. In fact, a type of therapy called music therapy takes advantage of this very phenomenon.

Music Therapy is a type of non-verbal therapy that uses instruments and music to help people work through a range of emotional, cognitive, and social issues. Music Therapy can be a profound tool for healing through using the process of making and listening to music, providing people with a powerful channel for communication and expression.

How exactly does music therapy work? As we discussed in our previous post on physiological responses to music, music can act decrease anxiety and stress by affecting heart rate, breathing, and promoting the release of endorphins. But as we have discovered, music can also help bring back previously forgotten memories.

A recent study from Brown University School of Public Health found that the use of a music therapy program on long-stay nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s was associated with reductions in anxiety medication, as well as improvements in behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. The music therapy program used in this study, Music and Memory, provides patients with personalized listening devices stocked with playlists of their favorite music. If you’d like to learn more about Music and Memory, the program was featured in the 2014 award-winning documentary, Alive Inside. I also recommend the author and neurologist Oliver Sacks’s excellent book, Musicophilia, which explores the effect of music on the brain and the human condition through a series of portraits on people from all walks of life. Remember, wherever you are in life, music can be used as a power to heal and remember what matters to us.

References

“What Is Alzheimer’s,” Alzheimer’s Association, Web. https://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp
Crystal, Howard. “Alzheimer’s Disease,” MedicineNet.com. Web. https://www.medicinenet.com/alzheimers_disease_causes_stages_and_symptoms/article.htm
“Music Therapy,” University of New Hampshire, Office of Health Education and Promotion. Web. https://www.unh.edu/health/ohep/complementaryalternative-health-practices/music-therapy
Thomas, KS et al. “Individualized Music Program is Associated with Improved Outcomes for U.S. Nursing Home Residents with Dementia.” Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2017 Sep;25(9):931-938. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28483436
Henriques, Carolina. “Music and Memory Program Decreases Medication Use and Improves Dementia Symptoms, Study Finds.” Alzheimer’s News Today, Web. https://alzheimersnewstoday.com/2017/06/07/music-therapy-helped-alzheimer-symptoms/
Greensfelder, Liese. “Study Finds Brain Hub That Links Music, Memory and Emotion.” UC Davis, Web. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/study-finds-brain-hub-links-music-memory-and-emotion
“About Us.” Saving His Music, Web. https://www.savinghismusic.com/

Winter Songs by Ola Gjeilo

One of the highlights in our recent, four-day Festival of Carols, was this new recording by Norwegian-born composer, Ola Gjeilo (YAY-lo). Mr. Gjeilo’s inspiration is varied, going back to his youth: classical, jazz, film music, and also non-musical inspiration, such as architecture. “Winter Songs” is to some extent a “Christmas” album, but not exclusively. To me, it is really more a meditation on the season of winter, and how it is a period of rest and transition between Autumn and Spring. A quieter time, and more contemplative, and with unique beauty. The crisp air, and the occasional surprise of snow can be felt in Gjeilo’s music here. Some pieces are inspired by women poets such as Christina Rossetti, Emily Brontë, and Hildegard Von Bingen. Gjeilo creates a journey through a wintery landscape with traditional carols, original choral works (sung by the Choir of Royal Holloway), and pieces for piano and strings (played by the composer and 12 Ensemble). Many of our listeners responded so favorably to the inclusion of “Winter Songs” in the Festival, and I’m sure they’ll delight in hearing them more as we journey through the season of winter. Ola shares more in my conversation, posted on this page.

Winter Songs – Ola Gjeilo
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Avital Meets Avital

Avi Avital is an Israeli mandolinist, and Deutsche Grammophon artist, who is most accustomed to playing classical works such as those of Vivaldi (in 2015, I interviewed Mr. Avital about his Vivaldi in Venice CD, which can still be heard on the Music Blog page). With this latest release, Mr. Avital branches out, but also looks inward, to his Moroccan roots (where his parents had emigrated from in the 1960s), and beyond classical into jazz. Well, a kind of jazz, because as Avital explains in our conversation, he and his fellow musicians found it difficult to choose just one genre name for these original compositions. It’s more that they are an amalgamation of styles from different cultures, the result of their individual and collective experiences, and beautiful collaboration. Something the world certainly needs right now.

Avital Meets Avital
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Fantasia (violinist Anne Akiko Meyers)

American violinist Anne Akiko Meyers has long loved the works of Finnish composer, Einojuhani Rautavaara. For years, Meyers dreamed of commissioning a work from him for her instrument. In 2014, she reached out to the composer, who responded almost immediately and set to work. What Meyers soon received was a beautiful, haunting, and evocative work titled Fantasia. She even visited the composer and his wife in their home, which overlooks Helsinki’s harbor. The sheen of Northern sunlight, combined with being in the presence of the composer, only added to the magic of the work. His reaction to hearing his new piece played by Meyers, in his studio, was “I wrote such beautiful music!” And so he did.

Fantasia – Anne Akiko Meyers
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The Beauty of JOY

While working on my blog post series that discusses events and organizations who are dedicated to bettering our community through classical music, I am inspired yet again by a project All Classical Portland has taken on. This weekend we officially launched the JOY (Joyous Outreach to You/th) and the three initiatives that are devoted to making classical music accessible to all:

Young Roving Reporters

All Classical Portland has just selected six individuals between the ages of 15 and 21 to serve as reporters within their community. Each of them will receive training and mentorship from the on-air team here to produce their content, and they will emerge as ‘arts ambassadors in their communities’. Through this initiative, the young reporters will learn relevant story-telling skills, gain in-depth knowledge about the field of broadcast journalism, and have a platform through the radio station with which to share their content.

The positive effects of young individuals being exposed to the arts is a subject that continues to be thoroughly studied, with a wealth of scientific research stating that music exposure and music education is an incredibly powerful tool for “attaining children’s full intellectual, social, and creative potential” (The Royal Conservatory, p.1). It has been proven that music speeds the development of speech and reading skills, trains children to focus their attention for sustained periods, and helps children gain a sense of empathy for others. Daniel Joseph Levitin, an award-winning scientist, musician, record producer, and 3-time bestselling author, wrote in one of his book titled This is Your Brain on Music, “musical activity involves nearly every region of the brain that we know about, and nearly every neural subsystem.” (p.299). Even Albert Einstein credited much of his success to his music education; “The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music is the driving force behind this intuition. My parents had me study the violin from the time I was six. My new discovery is the result of musical perception,” (The Royal Conservatory, p.5). In this world of constant stimulation, classical music study leads to lasting changes in young brains, increasing their capacity to perform tasks that require sustained attention and careful listening and reading. And to top it off, the additional skills these young reporters will learn will give them a step up in their eventual search for a future career.

Where We Live Series

In line with All Classical Portland’s mission to shine a spotlight on those who are helping to enrich our cultural community, this series will highlight the local groups and organizations who are provide service-oriented programs in the realm of art, music, and theater which explore the intersection of art and social issues.

Music has always had the ability to bring people together, whether it is a rallying call to inspire action, or simply a call for peace. The emotional aspect behind every silence and sound is able to unify large groups of people with a feeling of solidarity and communal understanding. The power of music is an incredible thing, and it is All Classical Portland’s mission to bring forward groups in our community who choose to use this power for good.

Night Out

This initiative is created for music-lovers within our community who are challenged by personal circumstances to attend live arts events. Because they recognize the importance of availability and accessibility in the arts world, All Classical Portland will provide tickets and transportation with the goal being to share the joy, beauty, and sense of belonging associated with experiencing the performing arts in person. Continuing the conversation about the power of music, the positive impact is not limited to the influence on a listener’s mental being. For more information about the positive physical effects music has on its listeners, please go to All Classical Portland’s Office Manager, McLane Harrington’s blog post titled “Music and the Brain”, in which she discusses why certain musical sounds elicit a physical response.

The Beauty of JOY

Exposure to great art can only benefit us, and every initiative set forth by JOY is designed with the belief that classical music should be available and accessible to everyone, regardless of circumstance in mind. People who are engaged in the world of music benefit greatly mentally, physically, and socially. What drew me to music study in the first place is my passion for the connection between the effects music has on individuals and its ability to be utilized for positive social change. I am beyond thrilled to see the results of All Classical Portland’s newest endeavor, and cannot wait to see what inspiring work this organization will do next.

Sources used:

“Dr. Daniel J. Levitin — Neuroscientist ◦ Musician ◦ Author”. Daniellevitin.Com. 2016. Accessed November 3, 2017.

“Introducing JOY!” All Classical Portland. November 2, 2017.

Levitin, Daniel J. This Is Your Brain on Music : The Science of a Human Obsession. New York,N.Y.: Dutton, 2006.

“Your Child’s Development: Music Study may be the Best Tool.” The Royal Conservatory. April 2014. Accessed November 3, 2017.

Tomás Cotik: Piazzolla Legacy

Violinist Tomás Cotik (toh-MAHSS ko-TEEK), Assistant Professor of Violin at Portland State University, was born in Argentina. But that doesn’t mean that he grew up loving the tango. It took living in another country – Germany, to be exact – to develop that love for his home country’s signature musical style. Mr. Cotik chats with music director John Pitman about his latest CD, “Legacy” which celebrates Argentina’s native son, Astor Piazzolla.

The conversation incorporates some scintillating selections from “Escualo” (which means shark, or Dogfish), Vardarito (dedicated to a musician who greatly influenced the young Piazzolla), and the Argentine composer’s Four Seasons in Buenos Aires, as much a depiction of the people and culture of that “megopolis” (Tomás’s word for his native city), as it is the times of the year. A thrilling follow up to Mr. Cotik’s earlier Naxos CD, “Tango Nuevo”.

Piazzolla: Legacy – Tomás Cotik, Tao Lin
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TROIKA: Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O’Riley

Cellist Matt Haimovitz has never been content to just “be quiet and play the music”. That statement, often fired at musicians when they express their opinions, has been heard with greater frequency in recent years. One could argue that a musician is paid to play; but it can also be argued that music as an art form, exists to express ideas as well as emotions. Mr. Haimovitz lets the music speak for itself, and convey some sense of the times in which we live. “TROIKA” anchors itself on three great 20th century Russian composers, each of whom composed great works for cello. The “iconic triumvirate” is how they describe Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and Prokofiev, whose monumental cello sonatas form the main structure of the 2-CD set. The program is political in the sense that these works are documents of a country that has seen tremendous change in its 100 years since the Bolshevik Revolution.

Haimovitz is joined by pianist Christopher O’Riley (the two are known for their critically-acclaimed CD of Beethoven sonatas played on period instruments), and the two are natural musical partners. Chris and Matt also create compelling programs, as TROIKA doesn’t just present three Russian cello sonatas and leave it at that. They incorporate their own arrangements of shorter, popular works by these Soviet-era giants, as well as more contemporary songs by Russian pop singers Viktor Tsoi (“Kukushka”), and the Russian feminist band Pussy Riot’s song about Vladimir Putin. TROIKA has music that documents the past as well as the present, but above all, is excellently and passionately and creatively performed by Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O’Riley.

TROIKA – Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O’Riley
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Alma Espanola: Isabel Leonard and Sharon Isbin

This is a special recording on a number of fronts. In the first place, it’s the premiere by these two artists, both of them winners of multiple Grammy awards, recording together after collaborating for several years in concert. Second, this is the first recording in about 40 years devoted exclusively to Spanish songs for voice and guitar. An expected part of this recording are the Siete canciones populares españolas (Six Popular Spanish Songs) by Manuel De Falla; less expected, and a wonderful surprise, are songs composed by the great Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca (1898-1936). It’s little known, also, that Lorca recorded his own pieces, but did not write them down, so Ms. Isbin and singer Isabel Leonard felt great freedom in presenting their interpretations of this music, infused with the knowledge each of them possesses, as well as inspiring each other in the best way to tell the stories in the songs.

Alma Espanola — Leonard, Isbin
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Sampling Classical Works in Modern Songs

To some, classical music may seem like something of the past, yet many artists have sampled classical music, bringing the music to the present.

Yet, the issue remains of where one song ends and another begins. It is always smart to give credit to musicians for inspiring a song.

Sampling is the process of taking one snippet of a song and using it to form a new song. Key elements of a song, such as a melody or a beat, can be manipulated to form a new song. The new song can distort the elements of the old song, blurring the lines as to where one artist’s work becomes another.

Sampling is a gray area. Individuals are allowed to use another artist’s music as the basis for their own, without asking for permission. But if the music is too similar it can go to trial. Or the parties settle the case beforehand. Of the few issues that have gone to court, less have ended in victory for the artist.

A way around getting sued for sampling by copyright infringement is the United States fair use law, which allows copying from copyrighted work for reason of criticism, commentary, and re-contextualization.

A clear cut option is to use music from the creative commons, which is an online portal where musicians have chosen to release their music under the Creative Commons License. Anyone who uses music from CC can sample as long as it is okay under the CC license it’s under. Some tracks are listed under CC noncommercial license, which means the artist can use the music but cannot use it for commercial purposes.

One of the earliest debates over music copyright was with Czech composer Dvorák whose melodies from his New World Symphony were taken from Native and African American

folk songs. This brought up the issue of race. His symphony was written in the 19th century. The verdict is unknown.

It is one thing to be inspired by an artist and create artistic work from said artist, but it is another to use the work of another artists’ for your own song. One of Robin Thicke’s songs, When I Get You Alone is based off of Walter Murphy’s A Fifth of Beethoven which is sampled from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

Mozart, one of the most well-known composers, has been sampled over 113 times. The rapper Ludacris sampled Mozart’s Dies Irae in his 2002 single Coming 2 America. David Bowie also sampled Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture in his song See Emily Play. I wonder how he’d feel knowing his work inspired contemporary songs.

Sometimes, a sampling case ends in victory for an artist. Eric Carmen’s All By Myself and Never Going To Fall In Love Again ripped off Sergei Rachmanioff, a Russian composer. Because the work was not in the public domain, Rachmanioff’s family sued and now gets 12 percent of royalties.

One such band had one hit single and subsequently broke up. Apollo 100 used Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as inspiration for their instrumental pop song. There is a fine line between plagiarism and inspiration.

The rapper Nas sampled Beethoven’s Fur Elise theme and turned it into a hit rap.

While the issue of sampling is hazy, more artists are giving the original composers recognition via songwriting credits, which help the issue. In contrast, it is irksome when an artist rips off another artist’s work in an obvious and uncredited way.

With the popularity of sampling, listeners are becoming more curious as to where they’ve heard a piece, which gives the previous artist more credibility and relevancy.

Sampling continues to be a trend, and old songs get a rebirth. It will be interesting to see how the trend continues, and if new and clearer laws emerge.

Works Cited

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/songs-on-trial-10-landmark-music-copyright-cases-20160608/robin-thicke-vs-marvin-gaye-2014-20160608

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/24/what-pop-music-owes-classical-masters

http://www.vh1.com/news/51263/10-modern-songs-written-by-classical-composers/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(music)

http://www.whosampled.com/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart/sampled/

https://creativecommons.org/about/program-areas/arts-culture/arts-culture-resources/legalmusicforremixing/

2017 Solar Eclipse Soundtrack, Body of the Moon

In August 2017, Oregon experienced its first total solar eclipse since 1979, and with it was a first for the station! All Classical Portland commissioned a piece of music to accompany this magnificent moment of totality: The Body of the Moon by composer Desmond Earley.

Aptly titled, The Body of the Moon, Earley’s new composition incorporates letters of Galileo, reflects the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and speaks to the universality of this magnificent occurrence. Scored for choir, cello, and bass drum, performers include Portland’s outstanding choir the Resonance Ensemble, Oregon Symphony Orchestra principal cellist Nancy Ives, Chris Whyte of the Portland Percussion Group, and improvisational pop vocalist Erick Valle.

If you would like to relive the moment, you can listen to it here.

Earley comments: “The landscape of Oregon is so inspirational in and of itself, and I knew I wanted to capture the spirit of the region in the piece. Also, this amazing astronomical event calls for a piece of music that will match the once-in-a-lifetime experience that it’s going to be. My decision to feature a vocal pop artist stems from a desire to connect with the individual experience of witnessing the totality of the eclipse. The choir comments on the experience while the cello represents the soul of humanity. The bass drum adds palpable depth and resonance, pointing to the vastness and mystery of outer space.”

The Body of the Moon
Commissioned by All Classical Portland
(c) Desmond Earley 2017
(p) RMR Publishing 2017
Rod Evenson (Recording Engineer)
Leb Borgerson (Session Plotting)
Justin Phelps (Sound Mastering)
Master use with thanks to All Classical Portland

Credits:
Resonance Ensemble
Nancy Ives (violoncello)
Chris Whyte (percussion)
Erick Vallé (vocals)
Katherine Fitzgibbon (conductor)
Desmond Earley (composer)

“The eclipse soundtrack rising up from the waterfront as I watched on a deck enhanced the entire experience – it was exquisite!” – Nan of SW Portland

“Thank you so much for the beautiful music chosen to accompany today’s eclipse. Listening while viewing was thrilling and continuing to listen after the event has helped me prolong the magic of today’s event. Thank you, again.” – Jill of NW Portland

“Thank you 89.9 for making this eclipse a shared event across the globe via the gorgeous music we’re all listening to. We need this global community now more than ever!” – Rebecca of SW Portland

“So happy that you are helping to make this celestial event a feast for the ears as well as for the eyes. Thanks for being there for us. I am at work, so will see the eclipse from Portland this morning, so no totality, but your musical accompaniment will complete the eclipse for me!” – Kent of Warren, OR

“I’m listening here at work in Memphis, TN… I’ll be headed out to the parking lot at 1:23 PM local time with my phone and earbuds (and solar glasses of course) to hear the new piece to be debuted by All Classical! Thanks for the great music this morning!” – Robbie of Memphis, TN

“Not sure how much obscuration will occur this close to the Mexican border (6 miles) but we’re outside watching…and listening! Thanks so much for the eclipse soundtrack!” – Coyote & Steve of Patagonia, AZ

“We are out here in far eastern Oregon on a ranch near Richland and listening to your eclipse soundtrack. What a marvelous experience! Thank you!” – Joy of Hillsboro

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