The idea of combining music and medicine into the “Sounds & Science” – scientific concert series started in 2008, when the Austrian violinist Rainer Honeck played Bach’s Chaconne in d-minor directly before a keynote lecture, held by Nobel laureate Peter Doherty, at the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology’s yearly meeting in Vienna. The experience at that lecture was remarkable, truly a special moment. “Sounds & Science” was then taken a step further by bringing several concepts together: Anton Neumayr’s medical histories of composers, John Brockman’s idea of a “Third Culture” (very broadly speaking: combining humanities and science), and finally, our perception that science deserves a “Red Carpet” to walk on, in front of an audience. Attendees of the “Sounds & Science” series have also described that music opens the mind, and enables a better understanding of concepts in life and thereby science in general. On a typical concert/lecture, we start with a chamber music piece, continue with the pathobiography of the composer, go back to the music, and then introduce our main speaker, whose talk should be genuinely understandable to a broad, not necessarily scientifically trained audience. In the second half, we usually try to present a musical climax. One prerequisite that “Sounds & Science” stands for, is the outstanding quality of the principal musicians, and of the main speakers. Our previous concerts/lectures have so far covered several aspects of medicine like “Music & Cancer” (Debussy, Brahms, Schumann), “Music and Heart” (Bruckner, Mahler, Wagner), and “Music and Diabetes” (Bach, Ysaÿe, Puccini). For many individuals who have combined music and medicine or music and science inside of their own lives and biographies, the experience of a cross-connection between sounds and science is quite familiar. But there is also this “fun” aspect of sharing and participating, and at the “Sounds & Science” events, we usually try to ensure that the event location can easily be turned into a meeting place.
Standard ticket
Standard price
Friday, 24th January 2025, 19:00
Jugendstilhörsaal of the Medical University of Vienna
Ballot Quintet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, String Quintet g-minor, KV 516, Allegro
Mariann Pavone-Gyöngyösi
Mozart and Heart
Ballot Quintet
Richard Wagner, opera excerpts
Marianne Gwechenberger
Wagner and Heart
Ballot Quintet
Anton Bruckner, String Quintet F-major, Intermezzo
Martin Hülsmann
Bruckner and Heart
Ballot Quintet
Gustav Mahler, symphonic excerpts
Irene Lang
Mahler and Heart
Ballot Quintet
Anton Bruckner, String Quintet F-major, Adagio
Rémy Ballot & Clemens Hellsberg in dialogue with the audience
Mozart, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler: Relationships and Spiritual Life
Ballot Quintet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio ma non troppo, Adagio - Allegro