Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

The Quality Of Life

Music to be born to, music to die to

BMJ 2000; 321 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.321.7276.1577 (Published 23 December 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;321:1577

Rapid Response:

Transcendent beauty as a prerequisite

I would choose two pieces, each of which are ethereally beautiful:

Event Piece Reason
my birth first and second movements of 

Tavener's The Protecting Veil (1989)

played by Stephen Isserlis

The beginning of the piece portrays the beginning of
something great (tee hee)
my death second movement of

Gorecki's Symphony no.3 ("Symphony of Sorrowful
Songs") (1976)

sung by Dawn Upshaw under David Zinman

While dealing with grave subject matter (excuse the pun), it
is serenely uplifting and calming

But seriously, both of these pieces of music can numb thoughts, dissolve
worries, and even change lives, if listened to while alone.

Competing interests: No competing interests

28 December 2000
Anish Shah
Medical Student
Imperial College, London, UK