Classical Notes: September 29, 2008 Archive

Musicophilia

Posted at 12:27 PM on September 29, 2008 by Gillian Martin

I have long been fascinated by perception and brain science, so I was delighted when a recent internet search for "Vladimir Ashkenazy" turned up this excerpt from a recent book by Oliver Sacks called Musicophilia: Tales of Music & the Brain. (Sacks's best known book is probably The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.)

The excerpt tells the stories of a couple of people who were more or less indifferent to music but then became obsessed with it after their brains got knocked around a little.

If you're interested, check out Daniel Levitin's book This is Your Brain on Music, too.