Last weekend, I attended a Max Richter and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble performance at the Perth Convention Centre. The evening started with the playing of Max’s most recent album, “In a Landscape”, Listen here for a short intermission, followed by a playing of “The Blue Notebooks”, Listen Here, as it was the 20th anniversary of the release of this album. The standout for me this night was the violin player Ben Russell. Read about him here. This man merged with the violin, and his body bent, ebbed and flowed to the sounds he was emitting.
What was fascinating about this evening was that even though Max Richter’s name was on the marquee, the show was not about him. He angled himself off to the side with the laptop and his grand piano and synthesiser set up with the main focus on the Ensemble who were front and centre of the stage. The stage was illuminated by a neon strip that changed throughout the evening, and one light from the ground behind the Ensemble, when illuminated both, shone through a slightly smoky backdrop with all the musicians dressed in black, creating contrasting light and silhouettes.
In the last few years, I have embarked on learning more about the “classical” genre of music. I am nearing the end of my first year of learning the piano, and although most 5-year-old students would shame me, learning how to read music using both the left and right sides of the brain and these two hands independently are more challenging than it looks. This world of classical music is intriguing, engaging, and endless. I could wax lyrical about the associations I see with martial arts and scientific research. However, this concert with Max Richter did spark my interest in the relationship between sleep and classical music and whether there is any positive relationship between improved sleep quality or other benefits such as alleviation of anxiety or reduction in insomnia symptomology in addition to the benefits to cognition.
Indeed, Max Richter developed an eight-hour lullaby titled “Sleep” Listen Here
Max and the Ensemble have performed this live many times in front of an audience who sleeps on camp beds, where he invites the audience to listen, sleep, relax, listen and enjoy for 8hrs. The album is based around the neuroscience of sleep. When it comes to promoting sleep through music, we observe that it is highly individual, and what we want to avoid is distressing someone as they fall asleep or increasing tension, heart rate or excitement. Therefore, the choice of music is key for any environment, whether for sleep, a nightclub or a wedding [1].
One study with older adults >50 years of age showed improvement in stress, well-being, mental health and sleep quality over 26 weeks whilst listening to Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Pachelbel, and Debussy for 12 minutes daily. [2]. Similar findings were observed in a study in Singapore in a similar cohort listening to soft, instrumental, slow, sedative music without lyrics of approximately 60-80 beats per minute for 40 minutes a day for 6 weeks [3]. In younger cohorts aged 19-28 years of age, when listening to relaxing classical music for 45 minutes before bed, their sleep improved compared to those who did not listen to anything or those who listened to an audiobook [4]. Other studies have shown that listening to music for 45 minutes before sleep reduces the time to fall asleep and increases time in deep sleep [5]. In an excellent 2015 Cochrane review investigating music for insomnia, the team found that music may be effective for improving subjective sleep quality in adults with insomnia symptoms.
In addition, playing music comes with health benefits, particularly as we age. Studies show that playing the piano may be protective against Dementia and Alzheimer’s. A study of 1,000 adults aged 60-85 in Finland found that those who had played an instrument for an average of 9 years had better cognitive functioning and a 64% reduced risk of developing dementia compared to those who had not. Another study in a similar cohort found that playing the piano for just 6 months had benefits that included improved cognitive function, memory, attention, and processing speed [6].
Music intervention, whether playing or listening, is safe and easy to administer. Since society spends millions of dollars each year on sleep aids and improvements to one’s sleep, this simple, cheap and non-intrusive intervention may be for you as there seem to be no negative impacts from at least trying it [7]. In today’s world of online streaming, many options are available to try before sleep, including the Max Richters Magnum Opus Sleep or search for Nocturnes online.
For more information on sleep health, check out our book “A Guide for Sleep Health & Shiftwork.”
References
- Ahern, N., A. Short, and L. Bonde, Evaluation of a systematic development process: Relaxing music for the emergency department. Australian Journal of Music Therapy, 2009. 20: p. 3-26.
- Innes, K.E., et al., Effects of Meditation versus Music Listening on Perceived Stress, Mood, Sleep, and Quality of Life in Adults with Early Memory Loss: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. J Alzheimers Dis, 2016. 52(4): p. 1277-98.
- Shum, A., et al., The effects of sedative music on sleep quality of older community-dwelling adults in Singapore. Complement Ther Med, 2014. 22(1): p. 49-56.
- Harmat, L., J. Takács, and R. Bódizs, Music improves sleep quality in students. J Adv Nurs, 2008. 62(3): p. 327-35.
- Gou, Q., et al., Meta-narrative review: the impact of music therapy on sleep and future research directions. Front Neurol, 2024. 15: p. 1433592.
- Seinfeld, S., et al., Effects of music learning and piano practice on cognitive function, mood and quality of life in older adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 2013. 4.
- Jespersen, K.V., et al., music for insomnia in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2015. 2015(8): p. Cd010459.
Feature image: Photo by Henry W. Laurisch, Komponist Max Richter, November 2016 in Leipzig, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
