{"id":45955,"date":"2024-08-16T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/01aaa150-7a12-4a20-af4f-5c943e03b86d"},"modified":"2024-08-16T14:07:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T12:07:18","slug":"15-unusual-uses-for-mozart-from-helping-grapes-ripen-in-expensive-vineyards-to-encouraging-cows-to-produce-more-milk","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/15-unusual-uses-for-mozart-from-helping-grapes-ripen-in-expensive-vineyards-to-encouraging-cows-to-produce-more-milk\/","title":{"rendered":"15 unusual uses for Mozart: from helping grapes ripen in expensive vineyards to encouraging cows to produce more milk"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Friday, 16 August 2024 at 11:15 AM<\/p>

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Read on to discover the unusual uses for Mozart and his ingenious music…<\/strong><\/p>

As he sat down to put pen to score, what did Mozart<\/a><\/strong> think his music might achieve? Something on the lines of pleasing listeners, challenging performers, satisfying patrons and keeping the wolf from his own door, we suspect.<\/p>

Think again, Wolfgang \u2013 you\u2019ve underestimated yourself. Undisputed genius though he was, he can surely have had little idea how, two centuries later, masterpieces such as Eine kleine Nachtmusik<\/em> and The Magic Flute<\/a><\/strong><\/em> would be credited with powers stretching well beyond the concert hall and opera house.<\/p>

The Mozart effect: does listening to Mozart’s music actually make you smarter?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
It was Alfred A Tomatis who, in 1991, suggested that listening to the great man\u2019s music helped brain development. Dr Tomatis\u2019s \u2018Mozart Effect\u2019 has generated no little debate since, but by then he had lit the touch paper \u2013 suddenly, inquisitive scientists, innovative farmers, ingenious marketeers and the like were looking at just what the great Austrian could do for them.<\/p>
Here, we present 15 of the finest examples of how Mozart has been put to use in the modern day\u2026 <\/p>
10 Mozart myths debunked: from being buried in a pauper’s grave to a penchant for wearing brightly coloured wigs<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
1. Unusual uses for Mozart: more alcoholic wine<\/h2>
Let\u2019s begin in the rolling hills of Tuscany. For Carlo Cignozzi, a wine-maker from Siena, playing The Magic Flute<\/em> to his vines has become an important part of the production process.<\/p>
Since 2005, the Italian has been piping Mozart\u2019s opera over 56 speakers in one of his Brunello vineyards \u2013 the grapes ripen in 14 days as opposed to the normal 20 which, we learn, in turn increases the wine\u2019s alcoholic content.<\/p>
\u2018From this vineyard,\u2019 says Cignozzi, \u2018a special Brunello is born: \u201cFlauto Magico\u201d, the first wine in the world ever to have been grown completely in tune with Mozart\u2019s musical harmonies.\u2019 BBC Music Magazine<\/em> is hoping that Signor Cignozzi may feel the need to sent us a bottle or two for, ahem, research purposes. Or perhaps a case. <\/p>
The best recordings of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>2. Less alcoholic students<\/h2>
The joys of the grape and the grain can, of course, be taken a little too far. But thankfully, Mozart is here to help, too.<\/p>
In 1999, officials at Pittsburgh University<\/a><\/strong> got so fed up with the sight of students rolling around paralytic that drastic action was decided upon: Eine kleine Nachtmusik<\/em> was subsequently played through loudspeakers on campus between 10pm and 2am in the hope that it might encourage a little behavioural moderation.<\/p>
Whether or not it worked, the choice of composer certainly caused uproar on campuses elsewhere. \u2018Mozart is the most conservative and middle-brow of the lot,\u2019 fumed Zoe Abrams of Manchester University students\u2019 union very, very angrily, if not entirely accurately. \u2018What gives them the right to inflict such punishment?\u2019 <\/p>
The mystery of Mozart’s Requiem<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>3. Unusual uses for Mozart: clearer water<\/h2>
Should you prefer water to wine, do make sure that it is similarly Amadeus-enhanced. Research carried out in the late 1990s by Masaru Emoto, an entrepreneur and doctor of alternative medicine, apparently shows that water which has had Mozart played to it produces clearer crystals when frozen than water that has been exposed to heavy rock music.<\/p>
Interestingly, as Emoto explains in his series of books called The Message From Water,<\/em> Mozart-water is similar in terms of crystal clarity to that of pure mountain streams. We are not making any of this up. <\/p>
Which is your favourite work by Mozart?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>
4. More plentiful milk<\/h2>
Milk-drinkers should give thanks to Mozart, too. In 2007, dairy farmer Hans Pieter Sieber was delighted to discover the power of the composer\u2019s Concerto for Flute and Harp on his herd of 700 Friesian heifers in Villanueva del Pardillo, Spain.<\/p>
<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp, an incentive for cows to produce more milk<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>When playing the work to his cows as they lined up for milking, Sieber noticed a general air of bovine calm and contentment, which soon equated in real terms to an increased production of milk of up to six litres per animal.<\/p><p>\u2018It is relaxing music for them but, at the same time, it is dynamic, it keeps the cows active,\u2019 explained Sieber\u2019s son Nicolas. \u2018The trick is not to have music that is too relaxing.\u2019<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/amadeus-the-greatest-film-about-classical-music\">Amadeus: the greatest classical music film ever made?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-unusual-uses-for-mozart-eggier-eggs\">5. Unusual uses for Mozart: eggier eggs<\/h2><p>And while we\u2019re on the subject of dairy\u2026 Leading up to the 2003 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mannheimer-mozartsommer.de\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mannheim Mozart Festival<\/a><\/strong>, the organisers thought it might be a good wheeze to play 14 days of solid Wolfgang Amadeus to 3,000 hens at a local farm, just to see how it affected egg production.<\/p><p>The answer was, in terms of quantity, not a jot. However, when served the Mozartian eggs at the festival, concert-goers said they \u2018definitely tasted better\u2019. Possibly not the most scientifically informed study ever. <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/10-mozart-works-you-might-not-know\"><strong>10 Mozart works you might not know<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-calmer-dogs\">6. Calmer dogs<\/h2><p>In 2006, an <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rspca.org.uk\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RSPCA<\/a><\/strong> rescue centre in Somerset unleashed a veritable pack of \u2018Woofgang Amadeus\u2019 headlines when it revealed that it had installed a \u00a32,000 sound system to help out when some of its canine residents were getting a little feisty.<\/p><p>The dogs, said staff at the West Hatch kennels near Taunton, would quickly relax to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/mozart\"><strong>Mozart<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/js-bach\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bach<\/a><\/strong>, but not so pop or dance music. \u2018It definitely works,\u2019 enthused deputy manager Anita Clarke. \u2018It\u2019s quieter in the kennels now.\u2019 <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/15-badly-behaved-composers\"><strong>‘He rode his motorbike naked into the village: 15 badly behaved composers<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-unusual-uses-for-mozart-friskier-sharks\">7. Unusual uses for Mozart: friskier sharks<\/h2><p>Now over to the aquarium where, in 2007, love was, alas, most certainly not in the air. Or, rather, not in the water. When Bloodnose, a 20-year-old male brown shark, consistently showed little interest in 15-year-old Lucy, scientists at the Blackpool Sea Life Centre played him the Romanza from <em>Eine kleine Nachtmusik<\/em> to try and get him in the mood. Hmmm.<\/p><p>Three years have since passed, and the lack of any announcements of a new brood of <em>Don Giovanni<\/em>-loving sharklets rather leads us to conclude that the experiment, described as a \u2018little bit nutty\u2019 by Bloodnose\u2019s supervisor Carey Duckhouse, has not been entirely successful. A pity. <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/15-composers-and-their-dogs\"><strong>15 composers and their dogs<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-super-rodents\">8. Super rodents<\/h2><p>How do you get rats to negotiate a maze in double quick time? Simple \u2013 play them <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/mozart\"><strong>Mozart<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos, as former cellist-turned-experimental-psychologist Frances Rauscher discovered in 1998.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Barenboim & Argerich : Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos, K.448\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9iePyP2HOr8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mozart’s Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos – making rats smarter!<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>While enjoying this very diet of special K488, her lab rats at the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">University of Wisconsin<\/a><\/strong> were able to negotiate a labyrinth far faster than when there was silence \u2013 asked to explain the phenomenon, Rauscher suggested that the music was stimulating certain neuron connections in the abstract reasoning part of the brain.<\/p><p>Interestingly, similar results have also been observed in separate experiments on mice, which not only moved quicker to Mozart, but also ground to almost a halt when exposed to hard rock music. And then attacked each other. <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/15-composers-who-loved-their-food\"><strong>15 composers who loved their food<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-unusual-uses-for-mozart-sportier-athletes\">9. Unusual uses for Mozart: sportier athletes<\/h2><p>Mozart can make people move faster, too. In April 2004, just before his country was due to host the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.olympic.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Olympics<\/a><\/strong>, Dr Thanassis Dritsas, cardiologist and adviser to the Greek Olympic team, pointed out the benefits of listening to the composer\u2019s works as part of a training routine.<\/p><p>\u2018Before every workout there should be 10 to 15 minutes of classical music at a slow, easy pace, so that exercise begins at a low pulse-rate to aid the blood flow to the muscles,\u2019 he advised. Four months later, Greece won six gold medals, its biggest haul since 1896.<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/five-essential-works-wa-mozart\"><strong>Five essential works by Mozart<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-10-fewer-yobs\">10. Fewer yobs<\/h2><p>What, or rather who, does it take to prevent louts from making people\u2019s lives misery in public spaces? Yes, you\u2019ve guessed right. In the early 2000s, Tyne and Wear Metro successfully scared unruly types away from its station with occasional blasts of Mozart and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/antonio-vivaldi\">Vivaldi<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><p>\u2018They seem to loathe it,\u2019 said a delighted spokesman. \u2018It\u2019s pretty uncool to be seen hanging around somewhere when Mozart is playing.\u2019 Which is all a bit depressing, really. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/15-musicians-who-kept-playing-into-their-90s\">‘Be young all your life’: 15 composers who kept playing into their 90s…<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-11-unusual-uses-for-mozart-quicker-growing-babies\">11. Unusual uses for Mozart: quicker growing babies<\/h2><p>So now for one of the more heart-warming discoveries. Doctors in Tel Aviv say that playing Mozart to premature babies has been shown to make them grow faster.<\/p><p>The reason, they say, is because babies use less energy when lying back and listening to the gentle strains of the composer\u2019s music than when left in silence, and so put on weight more quickly. But, they insist, it has to be Mozart.<\/p><p>\u2018The repetitive melodies in Mozart\u2019s music may be affecting the organisational centres of the brain\u2019s cortex,\u2019 says Dr Dror Mandel. \u2018Unlike <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/johann-sebastian-bach\">Bach<\/a><\/strong> or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/bela-bartok\">Bart\u00f3k<\/a><\/strong>, Mozart\u2019s music is composed with a melody that is highly repetitive.\u2019 It\u2019s suggested that, in enabling babies to go home earlier, the finding could save hospitals millions of pounds. <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/15-penniless-composers\"><strong>15 penniless composers<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-12-and-quicker-growing-fish\">12. …and quicker growing fish<\/h2><p>Sadly for gilthead seabream, they also appear to grow more rapidly when serenaded by a little Mozart.<\/p><p>A discernable acceleration in growth was observed when bream at the Applied Hydrobiology at the Agricultural University of Athens were played the Romanza from <em>Eine Kleine Nachtmusik<\/em> (see also No. 7 \u2013 it must be a fish thing) for the first 89 days of their lives and, it seems, they were better developed too.<\/p><p>Given that a date with a dinner plate and a hungry Athenian probably awaited them, one imagines that the fish themselves were none too chuffed about this little speeding up of matters\u2026 <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/classical-musics-rule-breakers\"><strong>Classical music’s rule-breakers<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-13-unusual-uses-for-mozart-tastier-ham\">13. Unusual uses for Mozart: tastier ham<\/h2><p>Likewise, how would one break it to a poor pig that the real reason he is going to be treated to a bit of Mozart is to make him tastier in the long run? This, though, is exactly what happens at the Embutidos Fermin meat company in La Alberca, Spain.<\/p><p>\u2018When it\u2019s time for them to meet their maker, they play them Mozart,\u2019 said Don Harris, whose company imports the meat to the US, in 2008. \u2018After Mozart, they go to bed for the night. The next morning they go off to piggy heaven. They want them very mellow. If they\u2019re scared, they produce epinephrine. If they\u2019re not stressed, the meat is fine.\u2019 <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/cakes-inspired-classical-music\/\"><strong>Cakes inspired by classical music<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-14-more-breakdownable-sewage\">14. More breakdownable sewage<\/h2><p>What is it about <em>The Magic Flute<\/em>? Not only does it help grapes ripen quicker (see No. 1), it also makes faeces decompose faster. Or so says Anton Stucki, chief operator of the sewage centre in Treuenbrietzen near Berlin.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mozart: The Magic Flute - Overture (Benjamin Zander - Boston Philharmonic Orchestra)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/99VWYcapgq4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mozart’s Magic Flute – helping to break down sewage<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Stucki has recorded a noticeable speeding up in the breakdown of biomass since he started playing Mozart\u2019s opera throughout the plant \u2013 so much so that the centre is expecting to save around 1,000 euros a month.<\/p><p>\u2018We think the secret is in the vibrations of the music, which penetrate everything,\u2019 Stucki explained. \u2018It creates a certain resonance that stimulates the microbes and helps them to work better. But of course you need the right frequencies and the right music, and Mozart hits the spot.\u2019<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/weirdest-classical-music\">‘One player sits on the other’s lap’: classical music’s 15 weirdest works<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-15-unusual-uses-for-mozart-gigglier-biologists\">15. Unusual uses for Mozart: gigglier biologists<\/h2><p>Finally, the most remarkable Mozart effect of all. In 2001, researchers at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trinity.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trinity University<\/a><\/strong>, San Antonio, Texas showed how plants exposed to the sound of the Concerto in G photosynthesise more quickly than if left in silence or, amazingly, than if they \u2018listen\u2019 to Bach. Or did they?<\/p><p>While the research paper comes complete with tables of figures and long words than non-biologists don\u2019t understand, the citing of that nebulous \u2018Concerto in G\u2019 raises suspicions of inauthenticity \u2013 which are confirmed when the likes of B Spears, J Brahms and WJ Clinton appear in the list of sources at the end. Ho ho. Those wacky lab researchers.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Friday, 16 August 2024 at 11:15 AM Read on to discover the unusual uses for Mozart and his ingenious music… As he sat down to put pen to score, what did Mozart think his music might achieve? 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2. Less alcoholic students<\/h2>The joys of the grape and the grain can, of course, be taken a little too far. But thankfully, Mozart is here to help, too.<\/p>