Music really doth hath charms to soothe a savage breast

Heart disease, depression and anxiety may be alleviated by listening to the right composers, a UK study has found.
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Red blood cells image via physicsworld.com

Sections of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Puccini’s slower arias from Turandot, and many of the works of Verdi have been scientifically proven to help lower blood pressure, a landmark British study has found.

Conducted by Professor Peter Sleight and his team at Oxford University, the study has determined that music composed with a 10-second repeating rhythm has a particularly calming effect because it helps focus the body’s naturally occurring rhythms.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts