Broadcaster and dementia charity founder Sally Magnusson has revealed the five songs on her playlist for life
Dementia charity Playlist for Life has launched a pilot project to research the clinical, therapeutic and economic value of offering personal music on iPods to people with dementia in different care settings.
Funded by the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, the charity is working in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian University and other academic partners to research the benefits of personalised playlists.
The idea was developed 2013 by broadcaster Sally Magnusson following the death of her mother after a long struggle with the condition.
Speaking this week at a Healthcare Improvement Scotland conference, Magnusson said she noted a difference in her mother when songs that had been meaningful in her life were sung with her.
Magnusson added she and her colleagues believe the personal memories of the music bring a sense of safeness and belonging to the patient who becomes more familiar with the world around them.
As part of the project Magnusson has created a playlist of five songs which all have a personal meaning to her.
1. Clarinet Concerto In A Major – Mozart
Sally says: "The most ravishing music on earth. Makes me think of decades of not quite learning to play the clarinet."
2. The Pearl Fishers’ Duet – Bizet, sung by Jussi Bjorling and Robert Merrill
Sally says: "My father and grandfather used to sing it together at the piano."
3. I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You from Evita
Sally says: "Seduction and courtship."
4. Two Sleepy People – Peter Skellern (originally by Hoagy Carmichael)
Sally says: "Exhausted years of early marriage, all the kids in bed at last, dancing half asleep in each other’s arms."
5. Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat from Guys And Dolls
Sally says: "Hours spent listening to a teenage son practising for the part of Nicely Nicely Johnson. Just one boat-rocking line and I’m back there."
