276 Appendix B^ Sample Speeches
C. Music therapy is often upbeat and peppy, but music-thanatology is calm and slow,
with periods of silence.
d. Music therapy aids the quality of life; music-thanatology aids the quality of death.- Music-thanatology is classified as palliative medicine; the Latin root pallium
means “cloak” or “shelter.”
a. The World Health Organization defined palliative care as “the active total care
of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment. Control of
pain, of other symptoms, and of psychological, social, and spiritual support is
paramount. The goal of palliative care is the achievement of the best quality of
life for patients and their families” (quoted in Fins, p. 17).
b. When medical procedures fail in an irreversible illness, caregivers shift attention
to the welfare of the whole person and provide palliative care until death.
c. Mary K. Sheehan, MSn, MBA, Rn, and CeO of a palliative care center, states,
“Music-thanatology brings a new spiritual dimension to the dying process.
it is transformative for everyone present.... [it is] an amazing gift to the family,
an event they will remember in a positive manner” (quoted in Baker, 2010). - Thanatologists adapt music to each patient’s needs by using rhythms that
correspond with the patients’ vital signs.
a. As the thanatologist learns more about the patient, such as his medication and
his handling of his illness, she adapts the music’s tone and rhythm.
b. “You meet the patient where the patient is,” says Rebecca Hazlitt, a
music-thanatologist from estes park, Colorado (Harvey, 2010).
ii. Music-thanatology is not a new medical technique.
[A Gregorian chant plays softly in the background during point II.]
A. According to donald Heintz in The Last Passage: Recovering a Death of Our Own
(2011), the monks of Cluny, France, in the tenth century practiced music to give
spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical comfort to the dying.
B. They began to use “infirmary music”—usually Gregorian chants. - Chants have highly developed melodies but lack rhythmic accent and pulse.
- Chants are closely related to respiration and can be connected to the brain
processes and central nervous system. - [Pause to listen to a few seconds of the chant.]
iii. Music-thanatology was neglected until Therese Schroeder-Sheker experienced the death
of a patient while working as a nurse’s aid in a geriatric home.
A. Her 2001 book, Transitus: A Blessed Death in the Modern World, tells how she came
into a dying patient’s room; she instinctively put her head beside his and sang to him
until he died. - Later, she studied ways that music could aid the dying, and she added the harp to
her vocals. - She founded the Chalice of Repose project (CORp) to awaken the dormant practice
of music-thanatology.
B. Two educational centers now certify music-thanatologists. - The CORp (April 2010, last updated) offers the Contemplative Musicianship
program, the Music-Thanatology program, and the Masters degree program
in Music-Thanatology, which is affiliated with the Catholic University of
America. - Lane Community College in eugene, Oregon, also offers a two-year nondegree
training program.
C. Currently, music-thanatologists work in the United States and in the netherlands. - They conduct a 30- to 60-minute vigil in the weeks, days, or hours before death.
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