Mozart makes you KINDER ?

"It's too bad kids can't find an hour a day for music" ,says " Dazzle " Gidley , the Providence piano teacher ( Classical Spotlight, Sept. 4 ). And it is too bad that our schools have been cutting back on music education.

There is a scene in " Mr. Holland's Opus " where Mr. Holland ( Richard Drefus ) makes this point to the bean counting vice-principle who has just cut the music lover's heart out by eliminating the high school music program: While we must all be practical about the bottom line, we must not become insensitive to the very things that make life worth living.

In the rebellious Sixties, one of the most popular movies was the " Sound of Music ". A memorable scene was the Captain telling Maria ( Julie Andrews ) : " You brought music back into my life! ". In his depression, Captain Von Trapp had almost forgotten MUSIC.

Dazzle does not know if listening to Mozart makes you smarter. But there is also such a thing as " emotional intelligence "- which some psychiatrists thinks is even more important to a happy successful life.

Do you think any those killer kids were listening to Mozart before committing mass murder in their schools ? An hour a day listening to classical music would have made them kinder - if not smarter.