Music for Sleepless Nights

Bach composed music for a man with insomnia some three hundred years ago. Music can be a cure for sleepless nights in this century just as it was in the past.

The National Sleep Foundation recently revealed that in a poll of 1,004 adults:
51% of adults had symptoms of insomnia a few nights a week;
29% say they experience insomnia every night or almost every night;
32% say they are awake a lot during the night;
24% say they wake up early and can't get back to sleep at least a few times a week.

It certainly seems that "sleepless nights" are prevalent in our society. There are many underlying reasons people can't sleep. Sleeplessness may be occasional such as the result of being in a hotel room, or may be a chronic problem with pain or stress.

The National Sleep Foundation also stated that "63% of American adults do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep needed for good health, safety and optimum performance."

Listening to the right music can help you get a restful night's sleep. Certain music actually lowers your blood pressure and can slow your heart beat down. Slow harmonic chords can produce a soothing, calming, peaceful effect on your nerves. Count Kaiserling listened to Bach's music every night as his cure for insomnia.

Here's the story about how the famous music to cure Count Kaiserling's insomnia came to be composed:

Johann Sebastian Bach had a pupil by the name of Johann Gottlieb Goldberg who studied clavier with him from 1733-1746. Goldberg was one of the most remarkable clavier players in Germany. Bach proclaimed him to be his most clever and industrious pupil. Goldberg was able to sight read the most difficult music put before him and was extrordinary at improvisation. Goldberg was brought to Bach by the Russian ambassador, Count Kaiserling, for lessons. While just a teenager, Goldberg was employed by the Count to play clavier music. The Count suffered from insomnia. At the request of Count Kaiserling, Bach was asked to compose music that Goldberg would play to lull the Count to sleep. Bach composed thirty variations that are known as "The Goldberg Variations." The grateful Count Kaiserling paid Bach with a golden goblet and 100 louis d'or coins.

Not just any kind of music can lull one to sleep. Night music should be soft and have a steady but slow rhythm to lull one to sleep. Try listening to Bach's "Goldberg Variations" as the remedy for a good nights rest. Sweet Dreams!

The following music composed by Bach is suggested for resting and relaxing. The first two excerpts are taken from Creative Keyboard's J. S. Bach Collection Book Two.

Prelude in C
from The Well-Tempered Clavier



Prelude in D
from The Well-Tempered Clavier



Goldberg-Variation No. 19

Listen to this piece (MP3 format, 1.37 MB, 1:59. This may take several minutes to download.)