by Giorgia Ragni
"Please Goldberg, wake up and play. Play for me tonight!"
The legend talks about Count Keyserlingk, a former Russian Ambassador at the Royal Court of Saxony, who often lived in Leipzig. His health conditions were bad and for this reason he was often experiencing insomnia. That's why he hired a young musician, Goldberg, to teach him music and to help him fall asleep.
The Count would wake up many times per night and he would literally knock on the wall. That was the sign for Goldberg, to jump out of bed and start playing, no matter what time it was and how sleepy he felt.
The legend also tells that the Count specifically asked Johann Sebastian Bach to compose an Aria with 30 variations, and to choose an entertaining and at the same time delicate style which could enable him to fall right back to sleep!
It turned out the Opera became an absolute masterpiece, and.....above all, they worked out perfectly for the Count as a lallaby!
Now, this doesn't sound quite like a compliment neither for the composer or the performer;), but it does prove that already in the past, music was fully recognized as a therapeutic tool. Noble people would surround themselves with artists and musicians because they were aware of the wellbeing effects of art on the mind and the body.
Particularly in this case, Bach's Goldberg variations work as a soothing and calming companion for the Count who chooses not to "count sheeps", but to abandon himself to music.
Imagine what could happen if we proposed you to listen to this relaxing music and ask you to do a simultaneous multiple count over it?
IN OTHER WORDS: THE ERGO SUM DEEP MUSIC EXPERIENCE, where Bach's music plays the role of relaxing the right side of the cerebral emisphere, realm of emotions, while the active multiple count awakes the left side of the cerebral emisphere, realm of the logical thinking, hence enhancing self awareness, clarity of mind and sharpness.
The result would be: a relaxed mind who can think critically and clearly.
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