My column in the new March edition of Standpoint starts with a look at two vital books about the workings of music and the mind: Philip Ball's The Music Instinct and Daniel Barenboim's collection of essays Everything Is Connected. Why is it that issues of music cognition are so much in the spotlight now? Could it be because of the fear that we might lose all the good that music can do if the money (public and private) that supports it is withdrawn? Read the whole thing here...