The use of music in therapy is still an enigma. Music has the capacity to affect physical, emotional, and behavioral change. It also has the ability to move us in ways that are not clearly quantifiable. What inspires us about a piece of music is dependent on many factors, not least its ability to change us in ways we may not be able to consciously articulate. Aesthetic Music Therapy (AeMT) is a music-centered approach that takes its fundamental belief from the fact that in order to understand music therapy we must first understand the structural make-up of music itself. Until recently, music therapy theories and approaches have come primarily from disciplines outside music. By linking music therapy with musicology and aesthetics, our clinical horizons become limitless. This book is constructed on three levels: through philosophical debate, analysis of seminal works (J.S. Bach, Beethoven and Cage) and case studies that include audio extracts from sessions. These strands combine to form writings that are both practical and theoretical. Original features of this book include writings on musical from and clinical form, music therapy with a professional string quartet, and ruminations on being a composer/music therapist. This book should be listened to as much as it should be read! (ISBN 1-891278-17-7, Paperback with 2 audio CDs, US $52.00).

Reviews By:

John Mahoney in the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy: Book Reviews Online (December, 2004)

Michelle Cooper in Music Therapy Perspectives 2005, Volume 23 (1), 70-81.