Wha-at?! The sound coming from the next room was unmistakably Mozart, but where it was coming from was my son’s living room, the most unlikely of places!

Indeed, my daughter-in-law had researched the influence of the music of Mozart upon babies, and my son told me that my first grandson had “heard” the Mozart recordings when he was still in the womb. Some people have surmised that if babies listen to the music of Mozart they will become smarter.

For now, the music seemed to calm the baby down, now eight days old, as he was put down for a nap.

I say that this whole scenario is unusual, because although my son grew up with the sounds of Bach, Palestrina, and the like in his ear, with two musicians as parents, he early learned to tune it out. “It just puts me to sleep,” he would tell us. Indeed, dragging him to a classical concert would just result in him taking a very expensive nap.

It was in 1993 that an article was published in the journal, Science, which described a scientific study in which teenagers who listened to Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major” performed better on a test of spatial relationships than those who heard no music during the test.

This has now translated into a whole series of CDs, videos, and plush toys featuring the music of Mozart, another “must have” for new parents, along with the requisite crib, stroller, car seat, and baby bath, etc.

Other experts have totally debunked the whole Mozart effect as a myth, and have said any kind of music provides stimulus. But all can agree that the music of Mozart can be recommended for anyone!

Even the Crosier grandchild!