by Fred Moleck
Musicophilia by Oliver Sack
Last week’s TableTalk, “Finesse,” was inspired from a Christmas gift book on cooking by Michael Ruhlman.
Another gift book you should investigate is, of course, a book on cooking, Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast by Nigella Lawson.
You might have seen her on a TV cooking series or read her articles in the New York Times.
Lest you think that I read only books on cooking, I want to recommend another one, which is not about cooking.
My friends, however, know that I welcome any book or DVD that deals with food, cooking, eating, and weight-loss programs.
To broaden my horizon, an older friend gave me a book by Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.
Some of you might know his name. My first acquaintance with his work was The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Another earlier work is Awakenings, the source for the movie with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.
I know from your correspondence with me that you are perceptive readers, which causes me to believe that you quickly surmised that Oliver Sachs is not a parish organist in Keisterville, Pennsylvania.
He is a physician and Professor of Clinical Neurology and Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.
Musicophilia is a major breakthrough on how we understand the musical experience. It actually is more of a breakthrough on how we don’t know what makes up the musical experience.
Although titles from music repertory abound, it is mostly about neurological phenomena.
Through case histories and stories he unveils intriguing descriptions and analyses of true-to-life situations in which music is central.
The opening story is one example. The scene is set near a lakeside pavilion where there is an outdoor pay phone. (This happened years before the epidemic of cell phones.)
The character is a 42-year-old orthopedic surgeon who was hit by lightening. The doctor tells his story.
I was talking to my mother on the phone. . . . I remember a flash of lightening out of the phone. It hit me in the face. Next thing I remember, I was flying backwards. (Musicophilia [New York: Knopf, 2007], 1–5)
Yes! He was hit by lightening and had an out-of-body experience. He recovered and, after a few weeks, resumed his practice. Twelve years later, “suddenly, over two or three days, there was this insatiable desire to listen to piano music” (Ibid.)
That experience opened the floodgates of listening to piano music, writing piano music, and performing piano music.
This first descriptive story with which Dr. Sacks begins his book seduced me into a marathon reading of the fascinating stories.
I won’t describe any more of them, but you really should get a copy and be amazed by what goes on in our heads.
I won’t paraphrase any more stories, but I will share one thing I learned about what is called a musical worm.
We’ve all had them. They are musical fragments wedged in our minds that won’t go away. Dr. Sacks offers some reasons and conclusions to this peculiar happening in musical and nonmusical minds.
The musical worm, the man struck by lightening, and other topics are all indicative of the breadth of the scope of Musicophilia. Some other tantalizing titles are “Two Thousand Operas: Musical Savants” and “The Key of Clear Green: Synesthesia and Music.”
His writing tone is almost grandfatherly, and his vast experience dealing with all ages and psychological types produces a wonderful avenue to explore one’s personal musicophilia.
It wouldn’t take much to extend his experiences to our experiences, where so much of our craft emerges an art. It all starts in the brain.
I do hope his work takes over the liturgical music field. With that hope is my personal wish that someone who knows the traditions of our liturgies writes a sequel to Dr. Sack’s book.
The book could be called Musicophilia Liturgica
You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@comcast.net