Let facts not come in the way of the 5th
Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and the first movement of 20th c. Hungarian-Austrian composer Gyorgy Ligeti's Atmospheres, '20%' of cancerous cells were destroyed.
Interestingly, Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D major had no effect. This is lovely, inspiring, almost magical news. Except that upon checking, it has been found to be false.
The study, 'Direct effects of music in non-auditory cells in culture', published in 2013 in the journal Noise & Health, suggested that music 'could directly interfere with hormone binding'.
That's all. Even this finding was not peer-approved. One of the authors of the paper later stated that the '20% destroyed cancer cells' information was an invention.
But the 'fact' is so inspiring, inviting, nice, that its falsity is brushed aside and still considered true. In fact, it makes a wonderful case for listening to Beethoven and Ligeti. How on Earth could we possibly disapprove?
