The doctor will serenade you now: surgery prescribes tunes as tonics

Share this post

People in Ambleside, Cumbria will be offered ‘musical paracetamol’ in trial that tries to use power of song to lift mood

For someone feeling depressed, the prescription might be an uplifting poem about spring, set to music by the 19th-century composer Gabriel Fauré. For insomniacs, it’s Sleep, an operatic song by the early 20th-century poet Ivor Gurney. And for anyone feeling anxious, it’s An Evening Hymn, Henry Purcell’s musical version of an obscure 17th-century religious poem.

In an experiment that attempts to use the transformative power of poetry and music to improve mental health and wellbeing, people in the Lake District town of Ambleside will be offered these unusual remedies at a special “song surgery” being tried courtesy of the opera singer Bibi Heal.

Continue reading…

This post was syndicated from Health | The Guardian. Click here to read the full text on the original website.


Share this post

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply