Why musical memories from childhood are so strong
By Ria Andriani
ABC Classic
Topic:Classical Music
11m ago11 minutes agoTue 25 Mar 2025 at 9:00pm
An old woman and a little girl listening to music with headphones
Musical memories from childhood can foster lifelong love of music. (Adobe Stock: Mariia Petrakova)
Have you ever wondered why it's easier to remember music you heard decades ago compared to what you had for breakfast last week?
"Music is remarkably resistant to forgetting," says Steffen Herff, Leader of the Sydney Music, Mind, and Body Lab at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
These musical memories often invoke details including what you saw and how you felt even decades after the event.
This played out very clearly when we asked ABC Classic audiences to share the classical music they remembered from childhood.
They cited childhood musical favourites such as Peter And The Wolf, Boléro and Christmas classics like The Nutcracker Suite.
Many recalled spending precious moments with loved ones, going to concerts, playing instruments with their family or listening to records.
How stories can open up the musical world
People named music with stories such as Sergei Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf as their gateway into the world of music.
The story is told by a narrator, who introduces the characters represented by musical instruments, such as the flute as the bird, strings for Peter and three horns for the wolf.
The narrator has been played by many famous artists including Sean Connery, Barry Humphries, David Bowie, Miriam Margolyes and even Alice Cooper.
On Facebook**,** Judy said: "I loved the themes of the characters as a child, and I still do."
Sue remembered her father bringing home a record collection of opera for children in the 1950s. "My favourite was The Little Bull, featuring [George] Bizet's March Of The Toreadors from Carmen," she said.
Meanwhile, Machka and her brother used their favourite pieces as theme music for the stories they created themselves.
Dr Herff was not surprised by the number of musical stories which live in the memories of audiences. He said narratives and mental imagery in addition to music can help regenerate those memories, keeping them strong.
A few audience members had vivid recollections of tunes from radio and television shows.
Gregory discovered Gioachino Rossini's William Tell Overture from the Bugs Bunny show in the early 1960s.
Warrick remembered watching Sesame Street's octopus version of Edward Elgar's Pomp And Circumstance.
"I would march around singing my own made-up words to it and then when Dad got home from the Treasury he'd put on the LP," he said.
Also from Sesame Street, Samuel still thinks about the Operatic Orange when he hears Bizet's Habanera.
Musical moments with loved ones
Emotions play a big role in the making and retrieving of our musical memories. This is why songs from our younger years, when we are emotionally impressionable, can give us that strong sense of nostalgia.
Musical memories that involve spending time together, such as playing or relaxing with parents or going to a concert for the first time can be particularly powerful.
"These memories are very meaningful and the memory system has a preferential treatment for them," Dr Herff said.
Many audience members shared the same classical music favourites as their parents, siblings, extended family members, teachers or friends.
Chrissie cherished the memories of "Mendelssohn duets sung by my parents and accompanied by my grandmother."
Melanie remembered how her father loved listening to Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik while sitting on his favourite armchair in the evenings.
Teresa recounted how she jumped out of her seat when she heard the cannons in Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture during her first concert trip to London when she was five years old.
Some audience members still remembered their first musical performance. Erna played one of the brooms in Paul Ducas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice when she was in primary school.
Others shared how the music from childhood inspired them to take up playing instruments or sing as adults.
Dr Herff explained why these musical memories seem so bright in audiences' minds.
Memories for words, faces, sentences, or even photos of objects can fade with time or the sheer number of new things we have to remember, Dr Herff said.
But music, poetry and artistic drawings seem to be spared from these forgetting patterns.
"This really highlights some of the remarkable properties the arts can have," he said.
This is good news for parents who hope to foster the love of music in their kids, like ABC Classic Drive presenter Vanessa Hughes.
"My daughter was quite besotted with Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf, listening and dancing to a [recorded narration] I've made for her," Vanessa shared.
"It's at the top of my list for music that I hope she holds on to, and shares with her own world in time."
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Posted11m ago11 minutes agoTue 25 Mar 2025 at 9:00pm
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