Bill Pirkle wrote:

>Lets take the 2nd movement of the Emperor Concerto.  For me that evokes
>the feelings of peace and tranquility.

When I listen to this piece, I have no desire to put what I'm feeling into
words.  That's what the music is for, to resonate with some part of me that
is "not of this earth." (Some have said that's true of all parts of me!) If
I had to say, I'd say it communicates wholeness and is restorative.  Daily
life gets me out of balance.  A work like that restores.

>If people could agree on, say, 10 basic emotions, would there be any
>statistical significance to a group of 100 musicologists assigning these
>emotions to, say, 5 given pieces of music.

With all due respect, I don't find this to be especially useful as an
approach.  I'm not sure there are as many as 10--grief, fear, anger, joy,
jealousy (although that appears to combine fear and anger)--hey, but what
do I know? The ones I've mentioned have many "colors", though, depending
on the external circumstances.  You might get a statistically valid result,
but then what conclusions would you derive from the result? How would
knowing there is or isn't a consensus help get more out of the music?

Chris Bonds