Abstract

The Mozart Effect is a general, almost generative term, signifying the effects or, better said, the transformational powers of music in health, education and even in the individual's conception of the world.
The recent history of the phenomenon started in France in the 1950's, when physician Alfred Tomatis performed several auditory stimulation experiments using Mozart's music on groups of children with learning or communication disorders. The phenomenon was borrowed, copied and turned into a career, so that by the end of the century it proliferated in hundreds of centers all over the world.
The paper presents and analyzes the trends of investigation of the phenomenon. Eventually, we concede that the Mozart effect is a phenomenon that certainly deserves investigation. However, the results obtained so far are doubtful, inconclusive and debatable, to say the least. In addition, perhaps more importantly, we are faced with a phenomenon whose utterly genuine complexity defies the simplistic and unprofessional approaches. 
So much so, that even Mozart himself would have probably concluded "much ado about nothing" with a smile, swiftly composing a "Dorfwissenschaftlers" divertissement, to evoke Mozart's famous "Dorfmusikanten".

Keywords: Mozart effect, learning, music therapy, illness, cognitivve process

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