Steve Schwartz writes:

>What also bothers me about the "music expresses emotion" hypothesis is that
>people listen to music in different ways.  Someone trying to learn how a
>score is put together doesn't necessarily listen in the same way as a pure
>"consumer." Emotions - other than enjoying or disliking the work - may not
>enter into it at all.  On the other hand, an "abstract" work like Debussy's
>Sonata for flute, viola, and harp may cause deep emotion to well up in a
>listener who first heard it with an ex-girlfriend.  I'd like to put in a
>word, however, for "abstract" listening to abstract works.

I agree completely. The emotions we may feel when listening to music are
part of our response, and if we care to emphasize the analytical side of
things that is fine too, I assume that most listening experiences will
combine both, and that our vocabulary in describing  our responses is
rather too crude. When I listen to a Haydn quartet I am  aware mainly of
the incredible inventiveness and (sometimes) the playfulness of the music.
It makes me feel energized - is that an emotional reponse? Who knows? It
is a great experience in any case. On the other hand, I believe it is hard
to listen to Das Lied von der Erde or Der Winterreise without being very
aware of the emotional message .

For this list Steve recently wrote a marvelous long review- appreciation of
two of Vaughn Williams' choral works.  He talks of grand.  dramatic sweep,
a tender lullaby, a blaze of glory, the emptiness of grief, a benediction.
Of course this is vocal music just as the examples I gave above, but still
- Steve is talking about meaning conveyed by the music, and he is not being
very analytical.  He is talking about his response to the music, and this
response is rich in emotional associations.  And he is right.

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University