Resonate Magazine | Australian Music Centre

Music has enormous therapeutic potential. We know it plays a significant role in the treatment of conditions such as depression, autism and dementia. The right kind of music can also lower pulse rate, reduce stress hormone levels and, as centuries of anecdotal evidence can attest, promotes one of the best therapeutic tools we have - good-quality sleep.

Witness the power of the lullaby. It is purpose-built for promoting a sense of calm, strengthening human bonds and, of course, nodding off. According to Dr Catherine Crock AM, chair of the Hush Foundation, these three qualities are invaluable assets in the practice of medicine, especially with children.

'What we know is that the music helps get children off to sleep feeling calm and how they go off to sleep is how they wake up in recovery,' says Crock. 'Music also calms the staff and helps the teamwork in our operating theatre.'

In the broader sense, Hush aims to transform the hospital environment by displacing the feeling of anxiety often experienced by those undergoing medical procedures and substituting it with one of calm optimism. It's a holistic approach where all possible assets are mustered in a bid to relieve stress, encourage communication and promote healing. 'A gathering of kindness', as Crock puts it.

Hush #16 creative team.

This sense of cooperation and collaboration underpins the whole Hush philosophy and is reflected in the music it fosters. Hush music is now in its 16th incarnation and the latest recording project, A Piece of Quiet, is a shining example in a long line of achievements.

While collaboration has always been the cornerstone of Hush music, the challenge has been to bring the people and the parts together to create something both musically coherent and fit for purpose. Hush 16: A Piece of Quiet is as close to meeting that brief as it ever has been. It features an assembly of uniquely talented contributors, including Lior Attar, Elena Kats-Chernin, and The Idea of North, among others.

The common ground, if one could call it that, was laid by a set of lyrics written or inspired by the words, ideas, experiences and stories of children, including those of young cancer patients. Rather than forcing these precious words into strict rhythm and rhyme, the musical settings and performances build a kind of life drama from both song and spoken word.

But what do you do with a line like 'Kindness tastes like lasagne and looks like a clear blue sky'? It becomes Sky Blue, a thoughtful recitation with a music bed composed by Elena Kats-Chernin that elevates the simple wisdom of the prose. This light touch belies a sophisticated and thoughtful interpretation of the sentiments in the texts and is a feature of Hush 16.

Who could argue with 5-year-old Hamish's explanation of the food chain: 'So you ate the mango and the mozzies ate you. That's the food chain!'? But turning that idea into a song was a challenge. According to Lior, The Food Chain went through several versions and relied heavily on the expertise of each individual member of the team.

Elena Kats-Chernin, who composed the music for The Food Chain writes:

'As singer/songwriters, Lior, Naomi Crellin and Nick Begbie are super talented in adapting a prose text to make it into a song. I usually need someone to help me adapt a text so that it can be set to music. Michelle Phillips created such a version of 'The Food Chain' which I wrote as a waltz. Naomi then gave it a very cool the Idea of North make-over.'

Viewing these texts through the prism of adulthood seems to have inspired a gentle nostalgia which infuses the music. Lior wanted to write material that was as appealing to adults as it was to children: 'I wanted to make sure there were plenty of up-moments'. Thus 'The Thing About Turtles' becomes a bedtime story in the form of a pop song.

Much of the music has an appealing familiarity about it and owes something to the musical forms it adopts. Naomi Crellin's The Ocean and the World is a gentle bossa nova that Dionne Warwick would be proud to sing. Edgar's Essay is essentially a rock song and receives the full production courtesy of Naomi Crellin, The Idea of North and Sydney Children's Choir. The track that gives the album its name, A Piece of Quiet would sit quite comfortably in a cocktail bar somewhere, but I might need the waiter to bring me an extra pillow.

Tuck me in please, I've got some dreaming to do. And leave the nightlight on.

Further links

'A Piece of Quiet' concert in Sydney on 15 November (AMC Calendar)

'A Piece of Quiet' concert in Melbourne on 24 November (AMC Calendar)

Hush Foundation - www.hush.org.au