Music Therapy

Most of us by now have probably heard the news about 7-year-old Charlotte Neve who came out of a coma earlier this month in England when she heard Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” This may seem rather fantastical to some, however, the use of music as a medical treatment has been prominent since just after the Second World War. Another, equally incredible, example of music therapy being used is with Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s recovery from a gunshot wound. The congresswoman is said to have received music therapy treatments in order to assist her speech recovery with remarkable results. After a bit of digging into how music therapy works and some of its proven benefits these two cases may begin to seem less extraordinary.


The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) defines music therapy as, “an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals.” It uses tools such as composing, singing, moving to, and/or listening to music to aid its patients. The most common beneficiaries of music therapy are patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Autism Spectrum Disorders, brain injury, mental health disorders, and also high stress. This seems rather too good to be true, so how exactly does music therapy do all this? It has to do with how music affects the brain. No, I’m not talking about the much hyped and equally disproven “Mozart Effect,” but there are proven ways in which music affects the brain.

Have you ever spent days and weeks trying to memorize something (especially lists) only to finally give up, set it to song, and have it memorized within the hour?

This works because music helps recall memories by stimulating the hippocampus: the part of the brain responsible for long-term memory storage. Without getting too technical into the cognitive neuroscience of music  I can say that music benefits memory and language skills because it uses both left and right sides of the brain. It is also important to note that music that is familiar to the patient tends to evoke a more positive response; likewise, the degree of a patient’s affinity for the music can determine the degree of result.

What about access to music therapy in our local community? In terms of studying music therapy, there are over 70 AMTA approved college and university programs across the country. Within the top ten of these programs (and the program closest to home) is the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas which offers both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music therapy. Also, in Lincoln there are two AMTA certified music therapists (Tana Bachand and Crystal J. Sato) both serving the senior citizens of the community.

Visit the Polley Music Library for more information about music therapy.

Ukulele

Over the past ten years the ukulele has been enjoying unprecedented popularity. Not since the 1960’s has the instrument received a fraction of the attention it currently boasts. Within popular culture it can currently be found being played by popular musicians such as Paul McCartney, Amanda Palmer, and Eddie Vedder, and by popular actors Zooey Deschanel and William H Macy. Even Omaha resident Warren Buffett has been known as a ukulele enthusiast for years. In addition to this, the ukulele is now starting to be used in the classroom setting by music teachers all over the country. So where did this instrument come from and why is it now so popular? I’m glad you asked.


The ukulele originated in Hawaii in the 1880’s. It is a combination of two Portuguese guitar-like instruments: the four-stringed cavaquinho and the five-stringed rajao.  While the modern ukulele has four strings like the cavaquinho, it is tuned in fourths like the rajao making the string tuning G-C-E-A. Within the Hawaiian culture, the instrument was promoted to prominence by King Kalākaua; a well known patron of the arts and writer of “Hawaii Ponoi,” the state song of Hawaii. It is because of his influence that the ukulele became synonymous with Hawaiian music and culture and has remained thus for the past one hundred and thirty years.

In the continental United States, the ukulele first came on the scene in 1915 when it was featured at the Hawaiian Pavilion of the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. From there it was picked up in Hawaiian themed Tin Pan Alley songs and by vaudeville performers. It was also used somewhat in early jazz music, but did not have a huge surge in public notoriety until the 1960’s. At this point the ukulele’s popularity was cultivated by use on the Arthur Godfrey Show as well as by Tiny Tim with his famous hit “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.”

In 2003 the ukulele was brought back to the limelight by Israel Kamakowiwo’ole’s recording of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” This was reinforced and brought to the youth of pop culture by Jason Castro’s performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on American Idol in 2008.

In addition to being promoted to the youth of America as a now hip instrument, the ukulele is quite affordable. As opposed to acoustic guitars, which can range anywhere from $200 to over $2500, ukuleles can be bought for under $100; which is obviously a huge benefit in today’s economy. They are also much more portable than regular guitars. Music teachers love the ukulele not only because of its affordability, but also because it is easy to learn and appropriate for all ages. It also promotes the musical multi-tasking skill of singing while playing and is FUN!

So whether you’re looking for a cultural music experience, wanting to broaden your knowledge of stringed instruments, or simply wanting to entertain yourself by the pool on a sunny summer day, the ukulele may just be exactly what you’ve been waiting for.

Chabrier Times Two

Lincolnites will have two chances to hear works by Emmanuel Chabrier this Sunday, April 22nd. The Lincoln Youth Symphony will be performing Espana, while the Lincoln Civic Orchestra will perform Habanera.

The French composer, Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894), made his greatest contribution as a composer of piano music, but is remembered for a couple of orchestral pieces, including Espana. Chabrier, a pianist, always wanted to focus his life on music, but spent nearly 20 years as a civil servant in the French Department of the Interior, as his parents wanted. During those years Chabrier continued his musical activities as a sidelight, including playing piano in Parisian nightclubs. He resigned from his day job in 1880 in order to truly devote himself to music. He and his wife visited Spain in 1882. Inspiration from that trip led to both Espana and his Habanera.

Chabrier began the composition of Espana as a piano duet. But soon the sketches based on dance rhythms took on the life and color that only an orchestra can provide. Written in the first few months of 1883, the work was originally titled Jota, but was retitled in October 1883. It premiered to critical and public acclaim and has remained a favorite to this day. Mahler supposedly proclaimed Espana to be the beginnings of modern music. But Chabrier kept his perspective, calling it "a piece in F and nothing more." Modern listeners may hear in the work strains of "Hot Diggity," a popular song from 1956.

Chabrier's Habanera was written a couple of years later for piano. It became so popular that it was soon orchestrated. Habanera is a dance form of Cuban origin that had been brought back to Europe and popularized (somewhat like the tango). It was especially popular in Spain, and was danced in bars and taverns, among other places. Chabrier catches the feel and spirit of the dance, and incorporates the basic rhythmic patterns that define the dance.

The Lincoln Youth Symphony will present their concert at East High School, Sunday, April 22, 2012, at 7 p.m. They will also be performing Faure's Pelleas and Melisande, the Academic Festival Overture by Brahms, and the first movement of Lalo's Cello Concerto, with senior soloist Maddie Witters. The concert is free.

The Lincoln Civic Orchestra will be performing at O'Donnell Auditorium in the Rogers Center for Fine Arts on the Nebraska Wesleyan University campus, Sunday, April 22, 2012, at 4 p.m. Their program includes Rimsky-Korsakov's Procession of the Nobles, Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys Overture, Rossini's Overture to Cinderella (La Cenerentola), Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, and music from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, in addition to the Habanera. The concert is free.

And if you're in the mood for band music, instead of orchestra music on the 22nd, the Waverly Area Community Band will present their free concert at Waverly High School, at 7 p.m.

So many choices...

Haydn Who?

The Lincoln Community Concert Band is performing a mostly British concert Monday, March 19th, at 7:30 p.m. While several of the composers are well known, one in particular, is not -- especially in the U.S. That's Haydn Wood. In the UK, Wood is remembered as a composer of light orchestral music, but he was much more.

Haydn Wood (1882-1959) was born in Yorkshire, England into a very musical family, but at the age of 2, moved with his family to the Isle of Man, where he grew up. He was considered a violin prodigy, who entered the Royal College of Music at 15. He made a life of music, touring as a musician, composing songs, light music and serious classical music. A few of his songs became so popular in the World War I era (Roses of Picardy in particular) that Haydn Wood was able to compose what he wanted, rather than worrying about if his music would be published or performed.

Wood always considered the Isle of Man to be his home, and a number of his compositions recall that island in the Irish Sea. The band will be performing one of them, A Manx Overture: The Isle of Mountains and Glens. Some 40 of Wood's works are for band, either written or arranged. That's not suprising in that Haydn Wood's father conducted a brass band.

A Manx Overture can be heard Monday, March 19th, 7:30 p.m. at the College View Seventh Day Adventist Church here in Lincoln.

If you're interested in hearing more of Haydn Wood's works, the library has some CDs, including one with his Violin Concerto.

Lincoln Youth Symphony Concert Changes

Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out. That's the case for the Lincoln Youth Symphony with this weekend's concert. They found out late yesterday that Lincoln High would be unavailable for their scheduled concert Sunday. They scrambled and have been able to line up a new performance venue -- at East High School.

The Lincoln Youth Symphony is affiliated with Lincoln Public Schools, but also includes fine young musicians from other schools in Lincoln.

If you are interested in their free concert, it is this Sunday, February 12, 2012, at East High School. The concert time also changed, now beginning at 3:30 p.m. The program includes Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Rimsky-Korsakov's Concerto for Trombone, and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2. Mr. Clark Potter will be conducting. It's sure to be a wonderful concert.

Beethoven's Egmont Overture

Music lovers in Lincoln will have a couple of chances to hear Beethoven's Egmont Overture this month. The Lincoln Youth Symphony will be performing it at their February 12th concert, and then joining forces with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra for an all-Beethoven concert on February 25th.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of classical music's greatest composers, made a name for himself in the classical period, and then transitioned into the romantic period of 19th century music. Around 1802, Beethoven's middle period work began to celebrate freedom and nobility of spirit, with works such as the Eroica Symphony (Symphony no. 3), his opera, Fidelio, and the Coriolan Overture.

In May 1809, Napoleon invaded Vienna. Life was difficult for the Viennese during the months of French occupation, and freedoms were restricted. The French left in October 1809, and Beethoven was immediately engaged to write incidental music for a revival of Goethe's political drama, Egmont. In the play, the hero, the Count of Egmont, is condemned to death because of his struggles for justice and liberty against despotism and tyranny. Beethoven, a great admirer of Goethe, wrote nine pieces for the play, in addition to the overture. Egmont, with Beethoven's music, premiered in June 1810.

The music of the overture is considered to be a condensation of the main themes of the play. The opening is solemn and tragic. The melodies then become ominous and threatening. A silence marks Egmont's death, but then victory is proclaimed by the orchestra, as tyranny is overcome.

The overture is written in the sonata form of the classical overture. There's a slow introduction, exposition of the themes, the development the themes, a recapitulation of the themes, and the dramatic coda. One analysis of the work relates the introduction to the prison, the body of the work to the fight, and the coda to the victory, as form expresses the play as a whole.

The Lincoln Youth Symphony's free performance of Beethoven's Egmont Overture will be at Lincoln High School, 3:00 p.m., on Sunday, February 12th.

Rimsky-Korsakov's Concerto for Trombone

Rimsky-Korsakov's Concerto for Trombone will be performed by the Lincoln Youth Symphony at their February concert, with Kyle Pearcy as the senior soloist. The concerto is part of the standard trombone literature.

The trombone is not usually thought of as a solo instrument. In his book on orchestration, Rimsky-Korsakov describes the trombone as "dark and threatening in the deepest register, brilliant and triumphant in the high compass. The piano is full but somewhat heavy, the forte powerful and sonorous. Valve trombones are more mobile than slide trombones, but the latter are certainly to be preferred as regards nobility and equality of sound, the more so in the fact that these instruments are rarely required to perform quick passages, owing to the special character of their tone."

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), a Russian romantic composer and professor of composition at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, was also a naval officer who served as Inspector of Military Bands from 1873-1884. It is believed that the Concerto for trombone and military band was written around 1878. It was later arranged for trombone and orchestra, and for trombone and piano.

In the concerto, Rimsky-Korsakov uses the full range of the trombone and requires substantial technique for the 1st (Allegro vivace) and 3rd (Allegretto) movements (and the cadenzas) and musical lyricism for the middle movement (Andante cantabile). All the terms that Rimsky-Korsakov used to describe the trombone in his book on orchestration are found in the Concerto, except that he does require the solo trombone to perform quick passages.

The concerto is very listenable. You can catch the performance Sunday, February 12th, at 3 p.m. at Lincoln High School. And admission is free.