Neuroscientist and musician Daniel J. Levitin, in his book I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine, explores the fascinating idea that music can serve as a form of medicine in diplomatic and interpersonal relationships. Drawing on a historical example—the Congress of Vienna in 1814, where Beethoven’s music may have played a role in successful peace negotiations—Levitin reflects on the potential power of music to dissolve tensions and mistrust.
Levitin’s neuroscientific research reveals that making music together, or even just listening to music together, has surprising effects on empathy between people. In laboratory experiments, Levitin and his team found that strangers who played music together reached an empathy level typically found only among close friends after years of bonding. Even simply listening to the same piece of music synchronizes the neural responses in the listeners’ brains.
He argues that music, through the release of oxytocin, can foster trust and make negotiations more productive. Thus, music could be a tool to bridge the deep societal and political divides of our time, from domestic conflicts to global crises.
Levitin’s work sheds light on the unexpected yet profound role of music in diplomacy and social cohesion. In a world fraught with conflicts and tensions, music could serve as a unifying force, helping to bridge differences and foster a more peaceful coexistence.
Levitin’s findings on music’s powerful influence on interpersonal relationships and diplomacy gain even more depth when viewed through a broader artistic lens. The arts—whether literature, theater, visual arts, dance, or music—possess a unique power that is difficult to find in other forms of human expression. While spoken language is often literal and concrete, the arts draw on metaphors and aim at emotional truths that go beyond the literal.
Kent Nagano, a renowned conductor and friend of Levitin, aptly observes that fanatics rarely appreciate the arts because they are so entrenched in their beliefs that they lack the imagination to envision alternatives. Art, with its metaphors and symbols, uniquely opens our minds to new thoughts and perspectives, allowing us to step into the lives of others whose experiences may be vastly different from our own. Art can cultivate empathy, break down prejudices, awaken compassion, and replace mistrust with curiosity and interest.
It is often said that you cannot change someone’s mind unless they come to the realization themselves. When an opinion is based on emotional foundations, arguments, facts, and logic are not enough to change it. But the right work of art can. It opens the heart and can lead to a “change of heart”—a transformation that rational argument alone rarely achieves.
For tens of thousands of years, music has been used to unite people, ease tensions, and diffuse rivalries—whether around ancient campfires or through ritualistic chants. Negotiations today are often seen as sterile, rational conversations behind closed doors. Perhaps it is time to reunite these two worlds. The scientific advances of recent years have certainly laid a strong foundation to take “sound diplomacy” seriously as a method.
As a musician, Levitin has firsthand experience of how music brings people together. Unlike a sports event, where the audience is often divided, a concert unites the listeners in their shared desire to see the musicians succeed. He quotes renowned bassist Victor Wooten: “I don’t worry about whether the audience loves me or not—the ones who don’t like me didn’t buy tickets!”
As the music plays, the differences between people fade—political views, backgrounds, or social classes take a back seat. In the moment the first note sounds, everyone in the room is united in the common goal of experiencing emotions that words cannot express. This collective experience is also profoundly personal—a duality that is the secret of music’s power.
Music, and the arts in general, have the potential not only to reflect the world but to change it—by uniting heart and mind, individual experience and collective memory.