Music's ability to "heal the soul" is the stuff of legend in every culture. In hospitals and institutions today, music is still used to lift people's moods, ease pain and tension, and break through walls of isolation.

Modern research, though scant, has tended to confirm music's psychotherapeutic benefits (2,3) In one interesting study, people with animal phobias were exposed (from a distance) to the animals they feared -- a standard behavioral therapy. Those who simultaneously listened to music they liked got over their phobias more readily than those who sweated it out in silence (4).

Bright, cheerful music -- Mozart,Vivaldi,bluegrass,polka,Klezmer,Salsa,reggae -- is the most obvious prescription for the blues. But when depression runs deeper in the bone, music that resonates with it may be more persuasive. As one melancholic music lover puts it: "When I hear sad music composed by a man who suffered, as did Chopin,Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, I feel that I am 'seconded,' and in feeling the beauty of that music I forget I am not well..." (5, p. 254)

For great music to second your sadness (examples are in parentheses), try Faure (Pelleas et Mellisande), Ravel ("Pavane for a Dead Princess"), Rachmaninoff ("Vocalise"; Symphony No. 2: Adagio), Dvorak (New World Symphony: Largo), Chopin, Barber (Adagio for Strings), or your favorite sad ballads or blues songs. Bring your emotional turmoil in for a more rugged workout to the great romantic composers: Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky (Sixth Symphony), Mahler. If you're more adventurous, more modern, dissonant music can second your feelings of confusion, angst, alienation, or despair.

Music that brims with faith, hope, love, courage, or strength can be inspiring and empowering. Beethoven's exuberant "Ode to Joy" chorus (Ninth Symphony) is a classic example. Other standouts include the music of Bach, Handel (Messiah), Schubert ("Ave Maria"), Verdi (the Triumphal March from Aida), Puccini (Turandot), Wagner, Dvorak (New World Symphony), Vaughan Williams ("Lark Ascending"; Pastoral Symphony: Lento), and much folk,world music, and pop/rock music.

Music can, of course, be great for relaxation or reverie. Try Baroque slow movements (Pachelbel's Canon in D, Bach's Air on the G String [Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D]), Faure (Pavane), Debussy ("Prelude a l'apres midi d'un Faune," "Clair de Lune"), Satie ("Gymnopedies"), Vaughan Williams (Pastoral Symphony: Molto Moderato), Delius, "cool" jazz, and New Age music.

Finally, let's not overlook music as a stimulant. Try Mozart, Prokofiev, march music, Zydeco,dixieland,Klezmer, bluegrass,Gypsy music, Salsa,Indian and Near Eastern music, rock, and pop.

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3. V. N. Stratton and A. H. Zalanowski, "The Effects of Music and Paintings on Mood," Journal of Music Therapy, 26 (1, 1989): 30-41.

4. G. H. Eifert et al., "Affect Modification Through Evaluative Conditioning with Music," Behavior Research and Therapy, 26 (4, 1988): 321-330.

5. Roberto Assagioli, Psychosynthesis (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1976).