When Music Became Therapy in Interwar France
In the Face of Uncertainty, Trauma, and Extreme Isolation, Musicians Turned to Their Art
In March of 2020 I found myself alone (except for my two cats) in a small bungalow in Bloomington, Indiana, trying and failing to distract myself from COVID-19. I was on an extended spring break from Indiana University Bloomington, designed to provide time to adjust to what would become the new normal of conducting all university business online. I spent those two weeks in a deep, doomscrolling-facilitated spiral. I worried about my high-risk parents, my friends all over the world in different levels of lockdown, and everyone dying of COVID. …
