Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Medics, musicians and music therapists gathered recently at a conference to try to identify what gives music its healing power

HAVE YOU EVER been at a concert and felt your mood shift inexorably in tandem with the music? Anyone who’s taken a pew at a Bobby McFerrin gig can attest to the sensory heights to which he lures his audience. Likewise, a slow air played with feeling on the pipes or the fiddle might entice a listener to a darker place that they hadn’t bargained on visiting – which might prove a welcome respite or induce an uncomfortable wince.