[Dixielandjazz] Music Hath Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast

[Steve barbone]

A week or two ago a thread about the the "correct" wording of the subject
sentence  was briefly discussed on the list. Here is another take on that
subject from BBC NEWS in London. Makes one wonder what effect ODJB
recordings would have. :-) VBG

"Anti social behaviour by gangs of youths"? What? In the UK too? Yet it
seems as if those youths are classical music lovers after all. :-) VBG.

Cheers,
Steve


BBC NEWS Last Updated: Monday, 13 February 2006, 21:02 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/4710426.stm

Tube heeds Metro's classical tune

Classical tunes are now piped into some Tube stations

A scheme where classical music is played at stations on the Tyne and Wear
Metro system to cut crime is being taken up by London Underground.

Metro operator Nexus was the first UK transport provider to pilot the use of
music from Mozart, Beethoven and Bach in 1997 in an effort to cut disorder.

It is said to have a calming influence and cut anti-social behaviour.

Now, Tube bosses hope the scheme can reduce offending on some of the worst
parts of the Underground network.

London Underground (LU) is broadcasting Mozart and Pavarotti through
loudspeakers and claims it has resulted in a drastic reduction in
anti-social behaviour by gangs of youths.

'Calming music' 

The scheme is being extended to more stations across the District,
Metropolitan and East London lines, with the repertoire including Vivaldi,
Handel, Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky.

Director general of Nexus Mike Parker said: "Playing classical music on the
Metro system has proved very useful in reducing anti-social behaviour and
making passengers feel more comfortable.

"We have just invested in MP3 players to increase the variety of soothing,
calming music we can offer, so passengers don't get bored of the same
tracks." 

Nexus got the original idea from the underground system in Montreal, Canada,
in the mid 1990s and were keen to test the initiative on Tyneside.

At the end of last year classical music was broadcast for the first time at
the bus station in Stanley in County Durham in an effort to encourage an
improved passenger environment.

Police figures show that levels of assault on the Metro system fell by a
quarter in 2005 and criminal damage was down by 20%.