A Study on the Impact of Antonio Vivaldi’s Compositions on Developing Positive Attitudes

Abstract

The present study aims at examining the influence of the compositions of Antonio Vivaldi, one of the renowned musicians of the Baroque period, in order to develop positive thinking in undergraduates. Music therapy is widely used as a form of psychological treatment for people with heart diseases and certain mental illnesses such as schizophrenia The theoretical framework of this study is based on prior research on the Mozart Effect conducted in Western Europe, which, however, did not include undergraduates as participants. Relaxation music commonly use nature as the main theme of their compositions. The Baroque era (c.1600-1760) is considered the most evolutionary period of writing compositions inspired by nature in the history of western music.Hence the research instrument consists of a music composition by Antonio Vivaldi, Four Seasons. The participants were 40 undergraduates of the University of Kelaniya selected through stratified random sampling. To examine the feasibility of a randomized trial of music therapy the research was carried out through participant observation as a qualitative experimental research. In this social survey data was collected through a semi structured questionnaire, while and behavioral and attitudinal data was gathered from controlled and experimental groups identified from among the participants. The findings of the research show that there is a direct effect on the development of positive attitudes by listening to the music compositions of Antonio Vivaldi.