How does music communicate and arouse emotion? Does it have meaning and, if so, what does it mean? These questions have been hotly debated for centuries. Stravinsky famously remarked that “music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all” and, indeed, how could mere vibrations in the air be capable of stirring us to joy, sadness or other feelings? It clearly lacks any semantic meaning, so how could it be said to convey any sort of meaning?
This day school will survey the recent research that is starting to shed light on this fascinating subject, discussing experimental techniques and comparing the various theories that have been proposed to account for this powerful effect that music has on us.
This event will close for enrolment at 23:59 BST on 11 October 2023