The Power of Music

What magic! A Strauss waltz was playing. When I took this gentleman who has severe dementia for a dance his former grace and evident dance skill were reborn. He just knew what to do. He was transported to a time of beauty and romance. Or perhaps, through the music and a little encouragement, he was transported from the void of what is Alzheimer’s Disease to the present.
 


 While speaking about “The Music Never Stopped” an indie feature film based on the essay “The Last Hippie” from his book  AN ANTHROPOLOGIST ON MARS, Dr. Oliver Sacks said: “The film is a moving testament not only to the love between a father and his son, but to the miraculous power of music to heal a damaged brain. Remembering music, listening to it or playing it, is entirely in the, while it lasts, it can bridge even the abyss of extreme amnesia or dementia. Music can be more powerful than any drugs.”