This is a new word for me. I ran across it in a random post on FB. I couldn’t resist reading more, because it has a lot to do with music and I am consumed by music on my walks. Frisson is the name for those goosebumps you get when you hear a particular piece of music. It’s a kind of “orgasm of the skin.” It’s all chills, thrills and goosebumps when a certain chord is played on a particular instrument or when a voice executes a series of notes that are nothing short of “orgasmic.”
Studies have been done and a list of 715 pieces of music has been complied of songs known to be “Frissonic” – having the ability to elicit this musical “high.” I happen to have a lot of them in my playlist. I am in awe of Eva Cassidy (d. 1996). She has at least two songs that she has recorded on this list – “Over the Rainbow”and “What a Wonderful World.” Also listed are: John Denver, Sarah McLachlan, Leonard Cohen, Don McLean, Bing Crosby…to name a few. It’s a pretty amazing list.
Now, I don’t like all the songs listed and I prefer the performances of other musicians on some pieces than the ones listed, however, I’m thrilled that science has found a neurological base for the elevating power of music.
As a footnote, here is a link to a song that has defined my life from the first time heard it in the late ’60s. I have it in my playlist by several performers – Eva Cassidy, Charlotte Church, and of course the original Simon and Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Waters.
The picture? Mud Creek and my untroubled waters.
Have a musical day!