It’s not the first time there has been a pandemic, and it’s not the first time humans have faced it with music. Music helps to maintain social bonds (a necessity for every human) in a time where physical distancing is essential. So get out on your balcony, start a choral, and assist in the fight of music against the pandemic!
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.theguardian.com
In 2020, a duel is going on: music against the pandemic. So far, the music industry has been severely hit – more than 50% of its revenue, made during live tours, was cut because of the interdictions on gatherings. However, and not for the first time, music keeps on spreading (humorous) messages of hope and solidarity – and that’s actually a knock against the virus! Singing of hope might seem odd during a pandemic, but as the musicologist Remi Chiu said: « Music is proving to be a true antidote to fear, just as Renaissance doctors claimed. « And with reduction of fear and anxiety, our immune system is less prone to weakness. So music can really help with defending against diseases.
“You’ll Never Walk Alone,” a cover of a ‘60s song by Captain Tom Moore, went viral, representing one win in this fight of music against the pandemic. In Italy, in Spain, and in Wuhan also, inhabitants joined together in a improvised choral for a few songs from the safety of their balconies. But it’s not the first time this happened. In 1576, when the plague devastated most of the North of Italy, all the inhabitants of Milan (about 300,000 at that time) sang from their windows.
This isn’t the first time that music has been used to sustain our bodies by making our minds stronger. During the Renaissance, doctors believed in the theory of “humors” – four building blocks (phlegm, black bile, yellow bile and blood) that would cause the illness in a body when imbalanced. Patients were encouraged to draw, joke around, compose, play an instrument. Actually, one of the earliest person who is known to have studied music as a science, Pythagore, used the therapeutical virtues of his lyre to calm drunk troublemakers.
In Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Babylon, music was used for spiritual healing and to foster social connections. And when plague hit Sparta, Lesbos and England, the poet Thaletus, the poet Terpander, and Henry VIII’s organ player became of foremost importance.
Dr Chris Macklin, former professor of musicology at Mercer University, writes that “Music was not a luxury in times of epidemic uncertainty – it was a necessity.” It’s great we have so many musical resources easily accessible nowadays. That’s one point for us in the fight of music against the pandemic!
If you want to read more about the use of music against the pandemic, visit the source information on The Guardian website.
Canyon Entertainment Group also works against the pandemic by entertaining Canadians with live streams and supporting and promoting musicians. For more information, contact us at info(at)canyonentertainmentgroup.com.