Music as Medicine: The History of Music Therapy Since Antiquity (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781138269422)

Music, whether performed or heard, has been seen as therapeutic in the history of many cultures. How have its therapeutic properties been conceptualized and explained? Which cultures have used music therapy? What were their aims and techniques, and how much continuity is there between ancient, medieval and modern practice? These are the questions addressed by the essays in this volume. They focus on the place of music therapy in European intellectual, medical and musical traditions, from their classical roots to the development of the music therapy profession since the Second World War. Chapters covering the Judaic, Islamic, Indian and South-East Asian traditions add global, comparative perspectives. Music as Medicine is the first book to establish the whole shape of the history of music therapy in a systematic and scholarly way. It addresses the problem of defining what music therapy has meant in different cultures and periods, and sets the agenda for future research in the subject. It will appeal to a diverse readership of historians, musicologists, anthropologists, and practitioners.

Author: Peregrine Horden
ISBN-10: 1138269425
ISBN-13: 9781138269422
Publisher: Routledge
Language: English
Published: 11/25/2016
Pages: 416
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.80d