Music as a means of social therapy

The content of the proposed report is based on the author’s model of philosophy of music, which he calls the “New synergetic philosophy of music”. The model consists of two parts: theoretical and practical.

In the theoretical part, the model is based on the combination of two principles: classical (old) synergetics and hesychasm.

Classical (old) synergetics emerged in the 1970s as an interdisciplinary field of science that studied the features of the improvement (self-organization) of systems in the world. It was established that systems evolve in the direction from less perfect (organized) to more perfect (organized).

Hesychasm is the core of Orthodox teachings. In Hesychasm, it is asserted that when a person prays, there is a union between the person and God – a union of the person’s energies and the energies of God, which is expressed by the increase of the person’s energies in the following sequence: bodily, soulful and spiritual.

Attention is drawn to the fact that the reading of a prayer by a Christian-Hesychast not only led to his unity with God, but also predetermined the transfer of the experience of this unity to other people.

The connection between classical (old) synergetics and Hesychasm lies in the fact that a person’s movement towards God is a path of perfection (in terms of organization) for the individual, and, consequently, a path of perfection (in terms of organization) for society.

The practical part is based on the understanding that music is a powerful means of human improvement, and therefore of social improvement. In this sense, the author considers music as a means of social therapy.

The author has developed a technology for using music as a means of social therapy. What is it about?

The author believes that there is a structural similarity between man and music: both man and music consist of three interrelated levels.

Human levels: bodily, soulful, spiritual.

The levels of music, which correspond to the bodily, soulful and spiritual levels of a person, are referred to by the author as the physical-acoustic level (the elements of which are rhythm, meter, tempo, timbre, dynamics), the communicative-intonational level (the element of which is intonation) and the spiritual-value level (the elements of which are mode (tonality), melody and harmony).

The principle of operation: in the first sessions music is used, in which the first level of music prevails (rhythm, meter, tempo, timbre, dynamics). Such music is designed to activate the body-plastic component of a person.

In subsequent sessions, the emphasis is first on the second level of music (based on intonation), and then on the third (based on mode (tonality), melody and harmony), which activate, respectively, the soulful and spiritual hypostases of a person. Thus, the conducted music therapy sessions stimulate the bodily-soulful-spiritual growth of a person, i.e., the improvement of a person, and at the same time, the improvement of society.

Conclusion: For the author, the described use of music is a path to the health of individuals and society.

Dr., Prof. Alexander S. Klujev is a philosopher, musician and music therapist. He completed music therapy training in the USA (Bangor, Maine). Dr., Prof. Klujev worked as a music therapist at the V.M. Bekhterev National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Neurology in Saint Petersburg (Russia). He created a model of the “New synergetic philosophy of music”, in which he described the technology of using music as a means of social therapy. He is the author of more than 350 scientific papers published in Russia and foreign countries (USA, Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, Greece, India, China, Pakistan, UAE and others).