News & Articles
Science: Gene Genius?
Are great musicians born talented or is there hope for anyone willing to put in the hours? Hugh Aldersey-Williams investigates
Hugh Aldersey-Williams Sunday,
10 January 1999
OF the 60 or so members of the Bach family who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries, more than 50 of them were professional musicians of one kind or another. So does this mean that musical talent is in the genes? Or was it simply a habit, in these households echoing with the sound of harpsichords, that each young Bach would acquire musical skill?
It's not just the Bachs - at last year's BBC Proms concerts, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky could be seen conducting his violinist son Sasha. Yan Pascal Tortelier, son of the cellist Paul, conducted other concerts. There were works performed by the brothers Colin and David Matthews. But the problem with the genetic idea is that there is no solid evidence either to prove or disprove it. Detailed genetic studies have been beyond the scope of science, while the psychological research that has been done up until now leaves plenty of room for furious argument.
Essentially, this is the old nature-versus-nurture debate, but with added layers of complexity.
Professor Sir Walter Bodmer, one of the world's top experts in human genetics, says: "There are, as far as I know, no hard data on the genetic basis of musical ability, but I believe the circumstantial evidence for such innate ability is overwhelming, as it is for mathematics, and this surely must be genetic."
Reference - http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/science-gene-genius-1046298.html
Hugh Aldersey-Williams Sunday,
10 January 1999
OF the 60 or so members of the Bach family who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries, more than 50 of them were professional musicians of one kind or another. So does this mean that musical talent is in the genes? Or was it simply a habit, in these households echoing with the sound of harpsichords, that each young Bach would acquire musical skill?
It's not just the Bachs - at last year's BBC Proms concerts, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky could be seen conducting his violinist son Sasha. Yan Pascal Tortelier, son of the cellist Paul, conducted other concerts. There were works performed by the brothers Colin and David Matthews. But the problem with the genetic idea is that there is no solid evidence either to prove or disprove it. Detailed genetic studies have been beyond the scope of science, while the psychological research that has been done up until now leaves plenty of room for furious argument.
Essentially, this is the old nature-versus-nurture debate, but with added layers of complexity.
Professor Sir Walter Bodmer, one of the world's top experts in human genetics, says: "There are, as far as I know, no hard data on the genetic basis of musical ability, but I believe the circumstantial evidence for such innate ability is overwhelming, as it is for mathematics, and this surely must be genetic."
Reference - http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/science-gene-genius-1046298.html
