Music, the brain, and ecstasy : how music captures our imagination / Robert Jourdain.
| Author/creator | Jourdain, Robert, 1950- |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : William Morrow and Company, ©1997. |
| Description | xvii, 377 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | 1. From sound... -- 2. ...to tone ... -- 3. ...to melody... -- 4. ...to harmony... -- 5. ...to rhythm... -- 6. ...to composition... -- 7. ...to performance... -- 8. ...to listening... -- 9. ...to understanding... -- 10. ...to ecstasy. |
| Abstract | This is a far-reaching study of how music captivates us so completely and why we form such powerful connections to it. Leading us to an understanding of the pleasures of sound, the author draws on a variety of fields including science, psychology, and philosophy. He uses music from around the world to show how melodies work, how rhythm differs from beat, and why some sounds are beautiful and others ugly. This book looks at the evolution of music and introduces surprising new concepts of memory and perception, knowledge and attention, motion and emotion, all at work as music takes hold of us. Along the way, a fascinating cast of characters brings the author's narrative to vivid life: "idiots savants" who absorb whole pieces on a single hearing, composers who hallucinate entire compositions, a psychic who claimed to take dictation from long-dead composers, and victims of brain damage who can move only when they hear music. In each of these, the author assures us, we will see parts of ourselves. Using such examples, he helps explain the parallels between music and language, and asks how the brain reacts to each. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 351-359) and index. |
| LCCN | 96027334 |
| ISBN | 0688142362 |
| ISBN | 9780688142360 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Stacks | ML3830 .J68 1997 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |
| Music | Music Stacks | ML3830 .J68 1997 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |