Reflections on hospital soundscape: musicality and audible emotion from Victor Zuckerkandl’s philosophical perspective

Abstract

Musical elements and their qualities affect human beings who, since early times, relate to music. Being sick makes people more sensitive to human experiences, pleasant or not. Studies have shown that music in the hospital environment improves patient’s health condition. In this article, we reflected on music in the hospital according to the philosophical perspective of Victor Zuckerkandl, discussing the concepts of musicality and emotion audible. Both subjects are woven from the analysis of the hospital’s soundscape, supported by Schafer, in which the hospital was the acoustic study field, where music entered and affected patients, family, and health professionals. Thus, we note that Zuckerkandl's philosophy of music has broadened our understanding of music as a potentiality for the encounter of those who are sick with their own being beyond illness.