Between Couch and Piano

Silences on the edge of dreams

“…A number of analytic authors have noted such musical dimensions (Alvarez, 2012;Ashton and Bloch, 2010;Feder, 1993;Grier, 2021;Nagel, 2013;Rose, 2004;Sabbadini, 2006, 2014, Sapen, 2012Williams, 2007;Zepf, 2013). This is often explored through a study of musical forms (precomposed music, opera, songs, orchestral and chamber music), with enquiry oscillating between the music, the composer, the listener and in the case of music with words, noting the connections between words and music.…”

“…Authors tend to write about the affective resonance music provokes, and most pay regard to symbolism and how awareness of a musical dimension locates music as part of primary process material. A small number of authors have identified musical phenomena or musical components, for example, Alvarez's concept of the anacrusis (Alvarez, 2012) and Rose's thoughts about musical temporality, rhythm, metre and melody (Rose, 2004). These varied psychoanalytic explorations of music also reveal how music is defined in different ways by different authors: for some, it is a noun (something we study) and for others, a verb (we music), the latter being a central stance taken by free improvising musicians and music psychotherapists.…”

It takes two to tango: Introduction to the special issue on psychoanalysis and the humanities.

“…In assembling a special issue on psychoanalysis and the humanities, we are joining long-standing dialogues about the relation between these two disciplines (Adams, 1994; Adams & Szalata, 1996; Bergstein, 2010; Bersani, 1986; Brown, 1968; Charles, 2015; De Laurentis, 2010; Foster, 1993; Fromm, 2013; Goldstein, 2015; Horden, 1985; Knafo, 2012; Kofman, 1988; Kohon, 2016; Kris, 1952; Miyawaki, 2012; Ogden & Ogden, 2013; Oppenheim, 2015, 2005; Phillips, 1963; Pollock, 2013; Rank, 1932/1989; Rose, 2004; Smith, 1980; Spector, 1974; Spitz, 1989, 1991; Walsh, 2013). However, we are also conscious of being newly burdened, motivated by troubling thoughts: that both psychoanalysis and the humanities are fields in crisis and seem to be hurdling toward having a diminished place in our culture.…”

Music, Memory, and Relatedness

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This article examines the role of music and musical speech as transitional phenomena, as facilitators of early dyadic and later relationships, as aids to the development of memory, and as assisting in the self-definition of individuals and groups. It draws on literature from psychoanalysis, developmental psychology, and neuroscience, and presents illustrations from individual development as well as cultural phenomena.Articles and books concerning music and psychoanalysis have recently appeared with increasing frequency in the psychoanalytic literature, enlarging our understanding of music (Nagel, 2013), musical associations and technique (Lipson, 2006), mourning (Stein, 2004), and aesthetics (Rose, 2004). I have been surprised at the relative infrequency of direct musical associations (apart from song lyrics) in the psychoanalyses and psychotherapies I have conducted, despite having an open ear to them.

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“…Articles and books concerning music and psychoanalysis have recently appeared with increasing frequency in the psychoanalytic literature, enlarging our understanding of music (Nagel, ), musical associations and technique (Lipson, ), mourning (Stein, ), and aesthetics (Rose, ). I have been surprised at the relative infrequency of direct musical associations (apart from song lyrics) in the psychoanalyses and psychotherapies I have conducted, despite having an open ear to them.…”