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Classical

In defence of the earworm

4 December 2021

9:00 AM

4 December 2021

9:00 AM

The Hallé/Mark Elder/Boris Giltburg

Bridgewater Hall

The Mozartists/Ian Page/ Emily Pogorelc

Cadogan Hall

That strain again… it’s the morning after the concert and one tune is still there, playing in the head upon waking, running around and around on an unbreakable loop over breakfast. I’ve never liked the term ‘earworm’. It suggests an alien parasite, an aural violation, when in fact some part of the musical brain is clearly in love with this scrap of melody, and getting a microgram of a dopamine hit every time it presses ‘repeat’.

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