FOOTNOTES:
[III.] The use of industrial music is not to be confused with working songs. Working songs are those sung by groups performing tedious or strenuous work to help them maintain good rhythm and spirit. Bücher (Bücher, K., Arbeit und Rhythmus, Leipzig, 1909) analyzed a long list of working songs and concluded that: 1. Through rhythm they facilitate the synchronous expenditures of energy by individuals engaged in a common task. 2. They spur the worker on through jest, abuse, or reference to the spectators’ opinions. 3. They mention the work, its progress, pleasures, vexations, difficulties and rewards. 4. They inform everyone of the wishes and aspirations of the workers. These slow rhythmic songs are entirely unsuited to the machine age where the machine sets the inelastic rhythm for the worker.
CHAPTER SIX
MEALTIME MUSIC
Patients who are confined to bed, or for that matter, to a hospital, find meals progressively monotonous in spite of the fact that there is a greater variety offered them than was theirs at home. This monotony results in part from the color and nature of the environment, the personnel, the general atmosphere of the hospital, and the constraining nature of institutional restriction. While dining at home some of these factors are subconsciously dissipated by trivial intimate conversation, friendly faces, individual attention and the security of the things for which “home” stands.
There are only a few things which can be done to make hospital meals more enjoyable, aside from those features best handled by the chef and menu planner; but it is possible to increase the pleasure of meal periods through the manipulation of certain environmental factors. One of these is the use of color and decor in hospital dining halls to simulate home surroundings. In the ward this is most difficult where little can be done, except by introducing attractive hangings which are less hospital-like, or by the application of paint in cheerful colors. The latter method is sanitary and practical.
Since ancient times music has been used as an accompaniment to meals. The instruments used by the ancients for this purpose were usually those which emitted soft sounds. Voltaire said that our purpose in going to the opera was to promote digestion. During the preceding century, dinner music became stylized and consisted largely of semi-classical pieces or waltzes played softly in slow tempo by string ensembles. During the past twenty-five years there has evolved a form of dinner music which is not only a marked departure from the old, but has come to be used as a source for dancing between and during courses. Whether the physiologic and psychologic effects of dancing during a meal are harmful, beneficial, or of no moment remains undecided. Certainly there seems to have been little interest in analyzing its effects. During the period when dinner-dance music was available only in a few places, the number of those who could be affected by it was very small. But, with the more recent installations of “juke” boxes, and other forms of mechanically reproduced music, into all varieties of dining places, the problem is worthy of investigation.
Most people derive pleasure from the consumption of appetizing food. Most people derive pleasure from music played to their taste. Although the logic of the following thought is subject to criticism, it does sound reasonable to state that two pleasurable experiences enjoyed simultaneously, should add up to a greater happiness than that afforded by either individually. Food has received thorough study with respect to preservation, preparation, serving, and the time of day when each item is most satisfying. Some of the conclusions have been arbitrary, but for the most part, people eat the food that agrees with them physiologically and psychologically. There is no especially good reason why cereals should be eaten by adults only in the morning. It has become a matter of custom or advertising, and the minds of the masses have become conditioned to feel that cereal is especially good at breakfast time. A generation ago the breakfast menu in some homes differed little from the present day dinner fare. Eating habits have become set in the minds of most people and there is little that can be done to change them rapidly. Daily routines have given rise to certain music conventions as well. Until recently, music at breakfast was uncommon. Bernard Shaw[65] wrote, “Music after dinner is pleasant: Music before breakfast is so unpleasant as to be clearly unnatural.” With the advent of radio this has changed even if Shaw has not. Lunch rooms, barbershops and other public places where people spend time inactively, are equipped with mechanisms for reproducing music. The practice of reading or even studying school work at home with the radio on has become increasingly prevalent. The tempo of living has stepped up to the point where most people, especially the younger, like to do two things at once, especially if one of these is to listen to music.
The effect of different foods upon digestion and health is known, and most persons eat with a regularity which is related to capacity and needs. They are usually able to select the items they desire, the time at which they will eat, and the period for consumption.
The ideal attitude while eating is one of mental serenity and physical repose. If certain criteria are observed music can be relaxing. The elements which increase relaxation are melody, rhythm, and softness. If the music which accompanies meals is carefully selected it can make eating more pleasurable, and this is desirable for patients in the hospital.
Mealtime music must be unobtrusive. It must lack stimulating qualities which attract attention. If the diner can promptly name the selection played five minutes earlier, that piece was too impressive in score or performance. Perhaps the most suitable form of dinner music is that played by a small string ensemble. The piano and harp are also very satisfactory, alone or in combination with the ensemble. When the piano is played in the hesitant legato style of Eddie Duchin it is particularly desirable. The shrill sounds of the flute or the brassy sound of the trumpet must be omitted. The music must be soft and slow. Avoid vocals and strange instruments.
The volume of the music should be maintained at as nearly the same level as is consistent with the source of the music. It should begin without fanfare or any attempt to attract attention. The level of intensity should not interfere with conversation, for, if the loudness of the music demands an increased volume of voice to carry on normal conversation, it defeats the purpose of relaxation by evoking increased energy on the part of the speaker. When possible the end of the selection should fade out. There should be nothing abrupt about the selection, and unusual sequences or novelties should be avoided. The music should be fluent and entirely unexciting. The interval between pieces should be brief in order to sustain auditory reception at a fairly continuous level. Five to ten seconds between numbers is recommended, and this coincides approximately with the time required to change discs on an automatic or manually controlled record player. Musical selections should be played in groups. The groups should last a total of about fifteen minutes with rest intervals of about three minutes. This simulates the requirements and performance of the live ensemble and has become a part of stylized dinner music. The music should last as long as the meal.
Ideally, the source of the music should not be obvious, and to this end a concealed loud speaker has an advantage over the live ensemble, which through its motions or the physical appearance or mannerisms of its members may distract diners. There should be no vocal announcements between selections. Occasionally a listener will want to know the name of the song being played because it is familiar, reminiscent, or sweet. When the budget will permit, printed or mimeographed programs are most welcome to those whose interest is aroused.
The music recommended, is the music which has been played by dinner ensembles for years. Their repertoires usually include waltzes by Strauss and his contemporaries; selections from operettas by Herbert, Friml, and Romberg, and the popular favorites of the past decade, such as selections from the musical comedies of Kern, Cole Porter and Gershwin, or the songs of Carmichael and Berlin.
It cannot be emphasized too strongly that mealtime music must be physiologically non-stimulating, and noisy music is to be avoided. “Douglas Jerrold declared that he hated to dine amidst the strains of a military band; he said he could taste the brass in his soup.” (Hadden, J., “Music as Medicine,” 1895, 9:369). A foreman of a shop in which music was played during mealtime begged that raucous music be omitted “to give the digestion a break”[9].
Some orchestra leaders habitually use arrangements which approximate the qualities desirable for mealtime music. Among these are: Wayne King, Marek Weber, Andre Kostelanetz, David Rose, Frankie Carle, Carmen Cavallaro, Eddie Duchin, Guy Lombardo, and the following orchestras: Boston “Pops”, New Mayfair, Percy Faith, Anton and Paramount, Victor Salon, Victor Continental, Palmer House Ensemble, Selinsky String Ensemble. All these have been recorded and a sample list of their recordings follows as a nucleus of a mealtime music library.
| Victor Recordings | |
| Southern Roses | 26322 B |
| Sweetheart Waltz | 26322 A |
| Black Eyes | 20037 B |
| Our Waltz | 27853 B |
| Holiday for Strings | 27853 B |
| Frühlingstimmen | 4387 A and B |
| Dream Waltz | V 214 |
| None But The Lonely Heart | 4413 B |
| Song of The Islands | 27224 B |
| La Golondrina | 27451 B |
| Lover, Come Back To Me | 27397 A |
| Indian Love Call | 27397 B |
| Le Secret | 20416 A |
| Pirouette | 20416 B |
| Wine, Women And Song | 6647 A |
| A Shepherd’s Tale | 9479 A |
| Narcissus | 9479 B |
| Come Back To Sorrento | 27917 A |
| Gavotte from Mignon | 27917 B |
| Zigeuner | 24609 B |
| Tales of Hoffman | 20011 B |
| Badinage | 12591 A |
| Air de Ballet | 12591 B |
| Gold and Silver | 25199 B |
| Blue Danube | 25199 A |
| Columbia Recordings | |
| Begin the Beguine | 4265 M |
| Easter Parade | 4292 M |
| With A Song In My Heart | 4292 M |
| The Touch Of Your Hand | 4291 M |
| Somebody Loves Me | 4291 M |
| Falling In Love | 4266 M |
| Tea For Two | 4266 M |
| Josephine | 36692 |
| Louise | 36692 |
| Estrellita | 4236 M |
| London Again | 69264 D |
| By The Tamarisk | 69264 D |
| Swan Lake | 69357 D |
| Rosalie | 36543 |
| Speak To Me Of Love | 35551 |
| Pavanne | 7361 M |
| Clair De Lune | 7361 M |
| Decca Recordings | |
| The Very Thought Of You | 3110 B |
| Cocktails For Two | 3110 A |
| Every Little Movement | 18300 B |
| Minute Waltz | 18466 A |
| Blue September | 15050 A |
| Valse Bluette | 15049 B |
| Sleepy Lagoon | 18286 A |
CHAPTER SEVEN
MUSIC IN BED
Modern hospitals are so different in organization and equipment from what they were a century ago, that it may be said that the hospital is a recently acquired phase of community life. Originally, the sick were treated in their own homes. The inconveniences and inadequacies of caring for the seriously, and especially the contagiously, ill at home led to the development of hospitals. The primary purpose of the hospital has not changed, and the musical aide must never forget that medical care and rest come before all else.
Some bed patients are too ill to listen to music. It is possible that judiciously offered music might be of value to all patients but it is safer to deny a few in the absence of expert medical guidance than to disturb the sick. The musical aide may not question the wisdom of the physician in prohibiting the use of music in some wards or for some patients. The physician knows many things about the patient which are unknown to the musician and there is insufficient time to explain these to the musician. In institutions where the public-address system distributes music through ear-phones rather than through loud speakers, listening presents no problem and head-phones are not supplied to patients until the physician permits it. When only loud speakers are available, and the ward houses a mixture of seriously ill and convalescent patients (as is fairly common in large public hospitals) it may be necessary to deprive the ward of music for the sake of the few who should not have it.
The number of possibilities which may be found on any one ward is so great that only the most general kinds of use will be mentioned. Pediatric wards are frequently arranged so that the acutely ill are segregated, and this permits ward music at most times. Where patients are intermixed, the attending physician will make the decision. The importance of scheduling for children is enhanced by the fact that most children prefer their music loud, and this can be especially annoying to the sicker children. As a general rule it might be stated that with the progress from childhood to old age, the preference shifts from fast loud high-pitched music to softer and slower music. The speaker volume on the pediatric ward may be increased to gain the attention of some children, and drown out the crying of others. Children can listen to the same set of records almost endlessly. They prefer to hear music with which they are acquainted. They like songs with words.
One reason for hospitalization is to get the patient away from the annoyances and noises of home. One of the modern noises is the radio. Most patients sleep and need more sleep than well people. In most hospitals certain hours of the day are chosen for rest in the hope that the patients will fall asleep. The usual period for daytime slumber is directly after lunch. The filling of the stomach is in itself a soporific. Warmth, darkness, and physical relaxation increase the tendency to sleep. Since there is no universally sleep-inducing music, music should be avoided at this time. It may keep some awake. If the patient is in a private room and is willing to be played to sleep it should be attempted. It must be remembered that if the music is sufficiently interesting or if the reproduction is poor or scratchy it may prolong wakefulness or even prevent sleep.
At those times when slumber music is requested by the physician or the patient, a few common sense rules should be followed. For children vocal lullabies should be tried. Slumber music should not be played for more than fifteen minutes. If it has not been effective in that period, silence is indicated.
Admission to a hospital usually means new eating and sleeping habits for the patient. The hours for each are frequently earlier than previously. Day-time naps and early “lights out” make it difficult for some to fall asleep promptly at night for the first few nights. Slumber music should take the form of restful music. The final fifteen minutes of the day should be given over to sweet melodies of old time favorites which may recall old pleasant memories and possibly place the patient in a “dreamy” mood of relaxation removed from the specious present and its worries. The operator of the sound control should gradually and imperceptibly reduce the volume so that the final moments are barely audible.
In hospitals equipped with “radio-pillows” in which telephones are concealed within the pillows, the music may remain continuous until the patient falls asleep. Many people have developed the habit of falling asleep to radio music or turning it off when they become sleepy. Radio programs are not recommended as slumber music. The musical program should use the old favorites or meal-time music selections (See [Chapter VI]) at a very low volume. Loud and stirring music before bed-time has been known to result in vivid auditory dreams, and should be avoided.[24]