A musical prescription for anxiety
I recently came across this prescription by Maimonides (1138-1204), who was a philosopher, a rabbi and a physician: “If one is afflicted with melancholy, he should cure it by listening to songs and various kinds of melodies, by walking in gardens and fine buildings, by sitting before beautiful forms, and by things like this which delight the soul and make the disturbance of melancholy disappear from it.”
As I write this, we are living through a time of anxiety, disappointments, quarantines. We are facing a serious threat to our health, as well as our financial and emotional well-being. We are missing many of our usual comforts and delights: making music together in a rehearsal, worshipping together, celebrating together, shaking hands, hugging, kissing.
We will have to wait weeks or months for some of these comforts. But we can walk in gardens, and with the help of technology we can listen to music, we can visit virtual museums, we can even get together with friends through video conferencing.
The Zamir Chorale of Boston is now posting weekly messages with music that will “delight the soul.” While we cannot see you in concert, we hope that these music videos will bring you some relief and perhaps even joy. Be well!
-Josh Jacobson