Music: Why It Matters

As countries went into lockdown in 2020, many people turned to music for comfort and solidarity. In Verona, neighbours sang to each other from their balconies; across the world, people participated in online music listening sessions that created an experience of socially distanced togetherness.

World-leading musicologist Nicholas Cook argues that the value of music goes far beyond simple enjoyment. Making and listening to music can enhance well-being, interpersonal relationships, cultural tolerance, and civil cohesion. At the same time, music can be a tool of persuasion or ideology: the 'musical' qualities of political oratory, for example, elevate emotional belief over rational judgement. Thinking about music helps bring into focus the deeply embedded values that are mobilized in today's culture wars, and that contribute to a prevailing sense of crisis. Making music together builds fine-grained relationships of interdependence and trust: rather than utopian escapism, it offers a blueprint for a better community, one of mutual obligation and interdependence.

Music: Why It Matters is for anyone who loves playing, listening to, or thinking about music, as well as those pursuing it as a career.

Nicholas Cook is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge.