Stendhal (or Florence) Syndrome...

   

“As I emerged from the porch of Santa Croce, I was seized with a fierce palpitation of the heart (the same symptom which, in Berlin, is referred to as an attack of nerves); the well-spring of life was dried up within me, and I walked in constant fear of falling to the ground.”                                      Stendhal

                                                                                                                    

A psychosomatic disorder, Stendhal Syndrome, or hyperkulturemia, causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, sweating, disorientation, fainting, tears and confusion when someone is looking at artwork (or hearing a piece of music) with which he or she connects emotionally on a profound level. 

 

The phenomenon, also called ‘Florence Syndrome’, is named after the French author Marie-Henri Beyle , who wrote under the pen-name of ‘Stendhal’. While visiting the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, he became overcome with emotion and noted his reactions:

“I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty … I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations … Everything spoke so vividly to my soul.”

 

 

While there is some debate as to whether the syndrome actually exists, there is no doubt that music (and art and literature) can have a very profound effect on our emotional responses.

Certain pieces are well-known tear-jerkers, including:

_Mahler: Adagio from Symphony No. 9 in D

One of the most poignant farewells in music

 

 

_Schubert: Winterreise

_Elgar: Cello Concerto

_Allegri: Miserere

_Rachmaninoff: Slow movement, Piano Concerto No. 2

 

Moved to Tears by Frances Wilson

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“At some point, some of [our study group members] began to notice people, foreigners who had come to Florence for art tourism, and who, at some point, having left their homes, their home countries, […] finding themselves in the [Italian] city, while in a church or in a museum, or in a [public transport] vehicle, or on a bridge started having psychological symptoms — sometimes camouflaged as physical issues, such as heart problems. In fact, these were just panic attacks caused by the psychological impact of a work of art […] that they had come across during their travels.” – Dr. Graziella Magherini