The Science of Music
History
From the first recorded uses of music therapy to the milestones in musical neurology, here is a summary of the history of the science of music.
First Recorded Use of Music as a Therapy
The earliest known reference to music therapy appeared in 1789 in an article in Columbian Magazine titled "Music Physically Considered." In the early 1800s, Edwin Atlee and Samuel Matthews pulished dissertation on the therapeutic value of music.
The 1800s also saw the first recorded music therapy intervention at Blackwell’s Island in New York as well as the first recorded experiment in music therapy, Corning’s use of music to alter dream states during psychotherapy. (13)
Pioneers of Music Therapy
In 1903, Eva Augusta Vescelius founded the National Society of Musical Therapeutics. In 1926, Isa Maud Ilsen founded the National Association for Music in Hospitals. In 1941, Harriet Ayer Seymour founded the National Foundation of Music Therapy. Although these organizations contributed the first journals, books, and educational courses on music therapy, they unfortunately did not develop an organized clinical profession. (13)
"Father of Music Therapy"
by Willem van de Wall
"Father of Music Therapy"
Innovations in the Development of the Profession
In the 1940s, three persons began to emerge as key players in the development of music therapy. Psychiatrist and music therapist Ira Altshuler, MD promoted music therapy in Michigan for three decades. Willem van de Wall pioneered the use of music therapy in state-funded facilities and wrote the first "how to" music therapy text, Music in Institutions (1936). E. Thayer Gaston, known as the "father of music therapy," was instrumental in moving the profession forward in terms of an organizational and educational standpoint. Michigan State University established the first academic program in music therapy (1944). (13)
