苏格兰启发婴儿音乐细胞

Every baby born in Scotland in the next year will receive a CD to inspire a love of classical music. The discs will be distributed to all 220 register offices across the country and are expected to reach up to 60,000 families. The compilation titled Astar, Gaelic for 'journey', features Scottish songs, nursery rhymes and classical works by Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Mozart – himself a child prodigy. The CD was recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and its Junior Chorus, led by music director Peter Oundjian. He said: "When I was an infant my godfather gave me a tiny record player. I have found that the power and beauty of music can truly transform lives." According to the RSNO, recent studies have shown that listening to music has a positive impact on young children's cognitive development. Some researchers have even suggested that playing music to babies in the womb can be beneficial as it may help build their neural bridges along which thoughts travel. The Scottish government doesn't go as far as embracing controversial theories like that, but is hoping that families may become more in tune with each other. Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, said: "It will help to give babies the best possible start in life, strengthen the building of parent-child bonds, and encourage families to use music to enhance learning in the home." But some commentators don't sing from the same hymn sheet as the authorities and are not sure if it's worth making a song and dance about this initiative. Fraser McAlpine, a blogger specialising in music, suggests that Scottish charity shops might be full of never-played CDs in the future.