Abstract
Numerous studies have investigated whether music can reliably convey emotions to listeners, and—if so—what musical parameters might carry this information. Far less attention has been devoted to the actual contents of the communicative process. The goal of this article is thus to consider what types of emotional content are possible to convey in music. I will argue that the content is mainly constrained by the type of coding involved, and that distinct types of content are related to different types of coding. Based on these premises, I suggest a conceptualization in terms of “multiple layers” of musical expression of emotions. The “core” layer is constituted by iconically-coded basic emotions. I attempt to clarify the meaning of this concept, dispel the myths that surround it, and provide examples of how it can be heuristic in explaining findings in this domain. However, I also propose that this “core” layer may be extended, qualified, and even modified by additional layers of expression that involve intrinsic and associative coding. These layers enable listeners to perceive more complex emotions—though the expressions are less cross-culturally invariant and more dependent on the social context and/or the individual listener. This multiple-layer conceptualization of expression in music can help to explain both similarities and differences between vocal and musical expression of emotions.
Highlights
Few scholars would dispute that music is often heard as expressive of emotions by listeners
The “core” layer is constituted by iconically-coded basic emotions
ENDING THE BASIC-EMOTION BASHING Let us return to the main question posed at the outset of this article: What does music express? Or, formulated more precisely: What are the emotional contents that listeners may perceive in music? As noted at the beginning, the question may have different answers depending on how we operationalize the notion of expression: Is it sufficient that any single listener perceives an emotion? Or should there be a minimum level of listener agreement? Or should the perceived emotion correspond to what the composer intended?
Summary
Few scholars would dispute that music is often heard as expressive of emotions by listeners. In the context of vocal expression, Cowie et al (1999) asked participants to select a subset of emotions that they thought were important in everyday life This produced a list of 16 emotions and labels chosen included basic emotions in different variants such as anger, fear, happiness, sadness, love, worry, interest and affection (cf Panksepp’s seven emotional systems): we feel irritated when we can’t find a parking space; tender when our children greet us; anxious when we receive letters from the tax office; or enthusiastic when we get a paper accepted. They do not agree, that there exist unique emotions aroused when and only when people listen to music (Juslin, 2013)
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