My piece in this morning’s Wall Street Journal is about the brain connection between music and sports.
As someone who writes about and plays music, I would be the last to disagree with William Congreve that music hath charms. But silence has charms, too, and it’s getting hard to find. When Congreve wrote his famous line, circa 1700, people who wanted music had to make it themselves or go find it. The technological revolution in the past century changed that. Now music pursues us in the supermarket, the gas station, The Gap, the dentist’s office, the elevator, even the street. That’s bad news when I’m trying to think, let alone write. But it’s good news when I’m on the NordicTrack; the steady beat of music makes the workout easier. And I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Sorry, I can’t link you to the rest of the article. If you’re a WSJ subscriber, you’ll find it in the print edition and on line. Otherwise, a dollar at the newstand will get you the piece and bonuses including the day’s news, stock market reports and artsjournal.com blogmate Terry Teachout‘s theater reviews.