(back to list ) February 2010

In this issue we have an unusual combination of composer and health-care professional. Our Composer of the Month is David Claman whose new work, "Like This" will be premiered on the April 5th concert. His father, Dr. Henry Claman is an MD Internist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine who has a particular interest in music, having played since he was five. David flew out to Colorado and interviewed his father for this article, and the result is a fascinating perspective. I'm sure you will enjoy the excerpt in this issue and please read the complete interview on the Welltone website by clicking on "read more."

Health: Interview with a Physician

David Claman: When Victoria and I were discussing music and health recently I thought it would be interesting to get the perspective of a scientific researcher. (Full disclosure: Henry Claman happens to be my father.) Could you tell us a bit about your background and your interest in music and health?

Henry Claman: I am an MD internist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and am mostly retired from the practice of Allergy and Immunology. I have a long-standing personal interest in music, having played since I was five. My interest in music and health is primarily scholarly; I am interested in how the brain functions in the areas of the arts, mainly fine arts and music. And being a physician, I am very interested in how music interacts with the brain in both health and disease.

DC: What kind of hard evidence is there for the relationship between music and health?

HC: As a matter of fact, there is a fair amount of information about music, health and disease. I would be very doubtful if someone were to try and convince me that music can heal a fracture better than silence. I have no doubt, however, from the published research—which is considerable—that music of different types, can change peoples' moods, attitudes, and their physiology.

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Music: Composer of the month

In many ways the duo “Like This” for ‘cellist Susannah Chapman and violinist Cal Wiersma of the Cygnus Ensemble, is a modest piece. It is not very long and utilizes neither orhestrational nor technical fireworks. Like other recent pieces of mine, it makes little or no use of what are known as “extended techniques”; techniques which have been staples of contemporary composition for nearly a century such as string harmonics, sul ponticello bowing, scordatura, snap pizzicatti, and so on. Composers, you know the drill. There are, however, a number of ideas and techniques that I find interesting and important and would like to share. As a composer, I’ve noticed that seemingly disparate sounds and ideas can become lodged in my head for years, never letting me go. In my first music history class years ago, we studied a stunning piece called “O Jerusalem” by the Abbess Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) whose music was just then beginning to gain wider attention.

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