Musical expression
Encyclopedia
Musical expression is the art of playing music with communication. The elements of music that comprise expression include dynamic indications, forte or piano, phrasing, differing qualities of touch and articulation, color, intensity, energy and excitement all at the service of the composer's intention as best perceived by the performer.
A performer aims to elicit responses of sympathetic feeling in the audience, and to excite, calm or otherwise manipulate the audience's physical and emotional responses. In a great artist, one can feel that it is the soul that is speaking, in lesser artists, the ego. In non-artist performances, one can sometimes sense the soul of the composer in the absence of interpretation.
Expression can be closely related to breath, and the voice's natural ability to express feelings, sentiment, deep emotions. Whether these can somehow be categorized is perhaps the realm of academics, who view expression as an element of musical performance which embodies a consistently recognizable emotion
, ideally causing a sympathetic emotional response
in its listeners. The emotional content of musical expression is distinct from the emotional content of specific sounds (e.g., a startlingly-loud 'bang') and of learned associations (e.g., a national anthem), but can rarely be completely separated from its context.
The components of musical expression continue to be the subject of extensive and unresolved dispute.
A performer aims to elicit responses of sympathetic feeling in the audience, and to excite, calm or otherwise manipulate the audience's physical and emotional responses. In a great artist, one can feel that it is the soul that is speaking, in lesser artists, the ego. In non-artist performances, one can sometimes sense the soul of the composer in the absence of interpretation.
Expression can be closely related to breath, and the voice's natural ability to express feelings, sentiment, deep emotions. Whether these can somehow be categorized is perhaps the realm of academics, who view expression as an element of musical performance which embodies a consistently recognizable emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
, ideally causing a sympathetic emotional response
Emotional contagion
Emotional contagion is the tendency to catch and feel emotions that are similar to and influenced by those of others. One view developed by John Cacioppo of the underlying mechanism is that it represents a tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize facial expressions, vocalizations, postures,...
in its listeners. The emotional content of musical expression is distinct from the emotional content of specific sounds (e.g., a startlingly-loud 'bang') and of learned associations (e.g., a national anthem), but can rarely be completely separated from its context.
The components of musical expression continue to be the subject of extensive and unresolved dispute.