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NEVEL Stories

Harpers in Hospital Wards
Jill Rogoff - Published in a private newsletter in May 2006.

“I continue to train as a therapeutic harper in the course offered by American harper Laurie Riley. Over the past two years, I have been playing at the Sha’arei Zedek Hospital up the road, and in recent months in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
 
“Recent research in the USA has shown that premature babies absorb oxygen more efficiently when a harp is played to them – not recorded music (though that does have a positive, if weaker effect), but a live harp. The vibration of string on wood seems to have a deep influence on these tiny creatures struggling to survive. So it is deeply moving and exciting for me to play for the babies, their worried parents and grand-parents, and the tense staff. My appearance in the ward is greeted with joy and relief.
 
“A favourite moment was when an ultra-Orthodox [extremely devout Jewish] father began to sing along softly with my harp, as his wife gently fed their child. Another mother, stroking her baby’s skin as I played, encouraged her to listen to the music.
 
“I find myself improvising in a slow 6/8 rhythm to the machines beeping around the room. I always play in the key of G, which is musically compatible with the B-note that the machines emit. In this way, the beeping becomes a part of the music and is immediately far less irritating. On some occasions, the improvisation will last for a full 15 minutes, before I move on to another piece.
 
“On several occasions now, ultra-Orthodox men have spoken to me about the instrument, the music, or asked for a particular tune. Normally, they would never speak to me, as it is clear from my clothes that I am not of their community. Perhaps they allow themselves this measure of direct communication, seeing me as part of the staff or because I am doing what they consider to be a mitzvah [a religiously-sanctioned “good deed”]. I am happy that the music is breaking down traditional barriers.
 
“I play, too, for people who are at the very end of their lives. It is impossible for me not to be moved by the distress of the family at their side. One woman, hovering over her fading husband, grasped my hands and searched my face, asking if the harp music would help him. I could only say that it would do him no harm, and that it is thought to help both spirit and body. She told me that he was already quite deaf, but I said that several people with experience in this work note that the ears are one of the last organs to fail: there was a good chance that her husband would still hear the music, even if only subliminally; and his body would certainly receive the vibrations from the instrument, even though we would not be able to see it. She accepted this and allowed me to stand in the corner of the room, playing quietly for some thirty minutes. After twenty, I noticed that the patient’s body was relaxing more, and so was his wife’s.
 
“The staff who have encountered my colleagues and me have come to believe implicitly in the power of the music we play. When I have been away, some of the nurses tell me later that they have missed the music and need a regular ‘dose’ of it. Others are mildly annoyed when one of the patients refuses my offer of music. I have to tell them that this is absolutely the patient’s right; in fact, it may be the only thing they can refuse when they are in a helpless situation in a hospital. Other patients simply have not experienced this music, and may not realise how beneficial it can be. Increasingly, however, people are excited about the presence of the harp in the hospital, and anticipate our visits with pleasure.
 
“In February, Nevel became an official non-profit organisation. This will enable us to increase our activities and also receive donations, to help cover the costs of our members’ playing in various places. We are now halfway through our course, and our enthusiasm isn’t waning. On the contrary, we are deeply encouraged by the positive response we are meeting everywhere we go. Long may it continue.”