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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all tutors, friends, and family who have supported me whilst undertaking this dissertation. Special thanks go to Dr. John Cranmer and Dr. Jonelle Daniels.
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CONTENTS 3 Introduction ……………………………………………………………..3 4 The Empirical Study: A General Outline and Hypothesis…………...….4 6 Chapter 1: Theories and Contexts……………………………………….6 49 Chapter 2: Empirical Study: Methodology………………………...……39 54 Chapter 3: Empirical Study: Results……………………………..……...54 78 Chapter 4: Empirical and Theoretical Evaluation……………………….78 81 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….81 82 Appendices……………………………………………………………...82 85 Bibliography…………………………………………………………….85 89 Discography………………………………………………………….….89 90 Webography…………………………………….……………….………90
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INTRODUCTION This dissertation will investigate the relationship between mental imagery, emotion, and rubato. Secondary to this will be the acknowledgement of a means of interpreting emotions from music so that correlating mental images can be selected to induce emotions. The means chosen is harmonic structure, which, historically, is known to represent different emotions.
The motivation to research this topic stems mainly from influences whilst at music college. At one time, a teacher had encouraged me frequently to think of programmes whilst playing; the main purpose of this was to induce emotions within me which the music reflected –to enhance the relationship between emotions already experienced in the past and the harmonic structures on the page. This always resulted in more rubato being used. In addition to this, I became concerned whilst observing students in masterclasses who found it difficult, when asked by the teacher, to express through the application of rubato. Conversely, I observed rubato being encouraged successfully; students were asked to imagine programmes from their memories which were emotionally-based on the harmonic structures of the piece. Finally, many authors and performers advocate this, even more-so in recent times since they agree that an emotional communication has become lost in today’s performances. There are also philosophers who agree that Westerners are guided increasingly less by emotions, and are more prone to limited, rational thinking. By reviewing literature and conducting an empirical study, this dissertation will assist those who lack the ability to express by acknowledging a harmless method, if used wisely, which may encourage natural expression.
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THE EMPIRICAL STUDY: A GENERAL OUTLINE AND HYPOTHESIS To give relevance to the literature review, here is a general outline of the study which will set the grounds for theoretical support:1
Three subjects were asked to play a short extract of music composed of two, segregated sets of harmonic structures. In accordance with authors, each set represents one of the following contrasting emotions: love and sadness. Subjects were asked to play under five different conditions. Condition 1 consists merely of a straight performance of the extract whereas Conditions 2-5 attempt to induce one of 2 emotions in the subject by use of mental, visual imagery from the subject’s emotion-memory. Again, these emotions are love and sadness. In Condition 2, an instruction is given to the subject to induce sadness based on my experience of it: the subject is asked to recall a particular type of event from his/her memory, which, for me, induces sadness; Condition 3 is the same as the previous, only the emotion it aims to induce is love; Condition 4 aims to induce sadness, only under a different format of visualisation: the subject is asked to draw from his/her own experience to recall an event which can induce the emotion; Condition 5 is the same as the previous, only the emotion it aims to induce is love. After the performances, the amount of rubato was measured under each condition using a tapping software. A short questionnaire was conducted: subjects were asked if they realised that the two sets of harmonic structures represented different emotions, what their programmes were in Condition 4 and 5, and if they used any techniques to help them visualise their programmes. 1
The methodology and results of this will be discussed in detail in Chapters 2 and 3
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Hypothesis
Under Condition 1, I hypothesised that subjects would realise, subconsciously or consciously, the emotional representation of the segregated harmonic structures by using rubato in response to them. Under Conditions 2 and 3, I hypothesised that more rubato would be used than in Condition 1, especially at points where the harmonic structures correlate to the emotion being induced from the emotion-memory. Under Conditions 4 and 5, I hypothesised that more rubato would be used than in Conditions 2 and 3, once again, at these correlating points.
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THEORIES AND CONTEXTS
Introduction
Even though an overwhelming amount of literature has been written about music and the emotions, I have not come across any material which is based specifically on the relationship I have decided to explore. However, isolated aspects of the relationship –the effects of mental imagery of the memory on the emotions, the effects of harmonic structures on the emotions, and the effects of the emotions on rubato– can all be supported in their own rites by secondary sources. Eventually, it is the aim of the empirical study –the primary source– to prove that a relationship can exist between these aspects.
Since the study aims to select and induce contrasting emotions (sadness and love), let us examine how emotions have been defined and regarded in music.
Emotions
Emotions are difficult to define; their term commonly and loosely denotes individual, subjective feelings which occur in response to stimuli. Silvan Tomkins2 and Paul Ekman3 were among the first of many psychologists to distinguish two sets of emotions:4 basic 2
Tomkins, S. S., Affect, Imagery, and Consciousness (Springer, 1963) Ekman, P., Basic Emotions, in T. Dalgleish and M. Power, eds., Handbook of Cognition and Emotion (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 1999), Chapter 3 4 Ekman’s studies showed that people in all cultures can express a particular group of emotions when given the same stimulus, quantified because they employ the same facial muscles when expressing one of those 3
7 emotions, which include sadness, joy, distress, fear, surprise, anger, and disgust; and higher-cognitive (more complex) emotions, which include love, pride, embarrassment, shame, guilt, jealousy, and envy.
Leonard Meyer has analysed emotions in a different way which enables one to select the most contrasting emotions for an empirical study. He proposed that there are two main dimensions of emotion: valence (positive to negative), and intensity (high to low).5 This can be exemplified in the following:
Love and Serenity = Positively Valenced Sadness and Agitation = Negatively Valenced Love and Agitation = Intense Serenity and Sadness = Not Intense
According to the above sources, one can describe sadness a being a basic emotion that is negatively valenced and not intense, and love as being a higher-cognitive (complex) emotion that is positively valenced and intense. To explain why some artists and teachers might dispute the expression of subjective emotions and imagination in music, and others support it, let us examine how the role of the emotions in music can be perceived.
emotions. These are basic emotions. In the same study, Ekman proved that another, more complex, group of emotions exist and are triggered and expressed differently in different cultures. These are higher-cognitive emotions. 5 Meyer believed that emotional induction is based on tension –whether it is resolved or not, or whether expectations are confirmed or not. Meyer, L., B., Emotion and Meaning in Music, (University of Chicago Press, 1956)
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The Role of Emotion in Music: Formalism and Expressionism
This is an ancient and ongoing debate, which, according to Meyer, is manifested into two, loosely opposing fields of thought: formalism and expressionism. Musicologists tend to lean towards one or the other in their arguments.
Formalism represents an autonomous view encouraging one to think of musical relationships at a more intellectual level with regards to how musical ingredients are structured; based on this, music expresses itself –its own intrinsic beauty, and subjective emotions play no part in its appreciation. Malcolm Budd claims that formalists believe in musical emotions –emotions which are ‘sui generis’, or ‘can be experienced only if the music is.’6 This is upheld by authors such as Edmund Gurney,7 and most famously by Eduard Hanslick, who, at the heart of the Romantic era in 1854, wrote his polemic The Beautiful in Music to oppose the idea that the essence of music –music’s sole aesthetic property- was a language of emotions: 'In music there is both language and logical sequence, but in a musical sense; it is a language we speak and understand, but which we are unable to translate.’8
The translation of music into emotions is a principle of expressionism.
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Budd, M., Music and the Emotions: The Philosophical Theories, (Routledge, 1994), p.31 In The Power of Sound, Gurney claimed that music has a ‘unique “musical emotion” that is raised in listeners by all pieces of “impressive” (i.e., beautiful) music, and only by such.’ Musical compositions ‘imply no external fact at all. Their function is to present not to represent, and their message has no direct reference to the world outside them’ Gurney, E., The Power of Sound (New York, Basic Books, 1966), pp.52-60 8 Hanslick, E., The Beautiful in Music, trans. Gustav Cohen (London and New York, 1891), p.24 7
9 Expressionism is a heteronymous view encouraging one to think of music as a language referring to real emotions which we all experience in life. Since this dissertation aims to explore how real, experienced emotions can be induced from the memory and affect rubato, let us now examine this area in detail.
Budd claims that expressionists believe in definite extra-musical emotions –emotions which can be induced by non-musical stimuli as well as musical structures. Susan Hallam supports this, stating that ‘Cognitions play a mediating role in psychological responses to music, i.e. the piece being connected with emotional events in the past.’9 In 1896, Leo Tolstoy summarised the ethos of expressionism when defining art: ‘To evoke in oneself a feeling one has experienced and having evoked it in oneself then by means of movements, lives, colours, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others experience the same feeling –this is the activity of art.’10 Proponents of this believe that emotions are the subject matter, and that musical structures have a purpose of exciting emotions in the listener and performer which have already been experienced in life. This view is upheld by Susanne Langer11 and Aristotle even, who, in his Politics, notes that the ‘pains and pleasures we feel at musical representations of affections are not far removed from the feelings we have about real emotions.’12 Expressionistic principles of musical structures being able to induce real emotions have been validated by Deryck Cooke, and recently by the psychologist John Sloboda, 9
Hallam, S., Instrumental Teaching: A Practical Guide to Better Teaching and Learning (Heinemann Educational Secondary Division, 1998), p.162 10 Tolstoy, L., What is Art?, trans. Aylmer Mande (London, 1959), p.123 11 Langer claims that art in general, and music in particular, consists in its ‘presenting feeling in such a manner that we can reflect on it and understand it –the aim of art is to provide insight into the essential nature of felt life.’ Langer, S. K., Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art (HUP, 1957), p.36 12 Politics (1340) in R. McKeon, ed., The Basic Words of Aristotle (New York, 1941), p.54
10 both specifically in terms of harmonic intervals and pitch-direction. Since we aim to prove a correlation between harmonic structures declared by Cooke and Sloboda, and real emotions they represent, let us now examine this area.
Harmonic Structures and Emotions
In 1959, Deryck Cooke wrote The Language of Music.13 Considering music as a language with its own unambiguous vocabulary, Cooke attempted to catalogue harmonic structures and their referents into a lexicon. By analysing compositions from AD 1400, he revealed correlations between emotions and particular sound patterns, such as harmonic intervals and pitch-directions which have been used to represent real emotions. Since Meyer has described love as positive, below are examples of harmonic intervals which Cooke believes represent positive emotions:
Positive Emotions. Cooke described the harmonic interval of a major-third as ‘nature's own basic harmony…by using it we feel ourselves to be at one with nature.’14 He continues, ‘our major third has established itself as an expression of pleasure or happiness.’15 Figure 1 is an extract from Monteverdi’s opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea which Cooke uses to demonstrate the above; the character Drusilla, believing that Ottone loves her, sings ‘Joyful is my heart.’16 Furthermore, Cooke claimed that the ‘Alleluia’ in
13
Cooke, D., The Language of Music (OUP, 1959) Cooke, D., Op. Cit., p.51 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. p.57 14
11 Figure 2, taken from the refrain of the early English part-song Now Wel May We Mirthes Make, ‘needs no comment.’17
Figure 1 A major-third within Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea18
Figure 2 A major-third within Now Wel May We Mirthes Make, Anon.19
Since Meyer has described sadness as negative, below are examples of harmonic intervals which Cooke believes represent negative emotions:
Negative Emotions. Describing the minor-third, Cooke claimed that it has been used traditionally to represent sadness and grief: ‘Being lower than the major third, it has a depressed sound.’20 Figure 3 is a traditional Dies Irae –a melody commonly sung in Requiem masses, and Figure 4 is an extract of W. C. Handy’s St. Louis Blues where the minor ‘blue’ note is heard.
Figure 3 A minor-third within a Dies Irae melody, 13th Cent.21 17
Ibid. Ibid. 19 Ibid., p. 56 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid. p. 59 18
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Figure 4 A minor-third within W. C. Handy’s St. Louis Blues22
A summary of these isolated harmonic intervals and their basic expressive functions can be seen in Appendix 1. These findings can be consolidated in a similar summary produced by M. Costa, P. E. R. Bitti, and L. Bonfiglioli at the University of Bologna, Italy (see Appendix 2), where properties of the same representative functions are generally confirmed by the following authors: Castiglioni (1959),23 Galilei (1638),24 Gervasoni (1800),25 Gianelli (1801),26 Rousseau (1782),27 Steiner (1975),28 and Tartini (1754).29
As well as highlighting intervallic tensions, Cooke has also analysed the representative functions of pitch-direction. As a general rule, he claimed that ascending notes represent outgoing emotions and descending notes represent inward emotions. Here are examples:
22
Ibid. Castiglioni, N., Il Linguaggio Musicale dal Rinascimento ad oggi, (Ricordi, 1959) 24 Galilei, G., ‘Dialoghi Intorno a Due Nuove Scienze’, in G. Galilei, Opera Omnia (Biblioteca Nazionale,1966), vol. VIII 25 Gervasoni, C., La Scuola della Musica in Tre Parti Divisa (Niccolo Orcesi, 1800) 26 Gianelli, P., Grammatica Ragionata della Musica, Ossia Nuovo Metodo Facile di Apprendere a Ben Suonare e Cantare (A. Santini, 1801) 27 Rousseau, J. J., Dictionnaire de Musique (Chez Sanson et Compagnie, 1782) 28 Steiner, R., Wesen des Musikalischen und das Tonerlebnis im Menschen (Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1975) 29 Tartini, G., Trattato di Musica Secondo la Vera Scienza dell'armonia (Giovanni Manfre Editore, 1954) 23
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Positive Emotions. In the major key, Cooke claimed that the ascending 1-2-3-4-5 pitchprogression expressed an ‘outgoing emotion of joy.’30
Figure 5 Major key; ascending 1-2-3-4-5 pitch-progression
Cooke demonstrates that this progression has been used by Mozart to express love and joy in his operas, as observed in Figure 6: Figure 6 Extracts from arias of Mozart: The first two from The Seraglio, and the last from The Magic Flute31
Negative Emotions. In the minor key, Cooke claimed that the descending 5-4-3-2-1 pitch-progression represents an ‘incoming emotion of pain in a context of finality.’32
Figure 7 Minor key, descending 5-4-3-2-1 pitch-progression
Cooke demonstrates that this progression has been used by Gershwin to represent sadness in his opera Porgy and Bess, as observed in Figure 8: 30
Cooke, D., op. cit., p.115 Ibid., p.116 32 Ibid., p.133 31
14 Figure 8 An extract from the aria My Man’s Gone Now from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
A summary of all the representative functions of pitch-direction according to Cooke can be seen in Appendix 3.
John Sloboda has also spent much time investigating the link between harmonic structures and emotional response. Sloboda remarks: ‘Although it is well established that people respond emotionally to music, little is known about precisely what it is in the music that they are responding to.’33 In one of Sloboda’s studies, ‘subjects were asked to specify particular pieces of music to which they could recall having experienced any of a list of 12 physical manifestations commonly associated with emotion. Having identified such pieces, they were then asked to specify the location within the music that provoked these reactions.’34 Figure 9 shows a table of results from the analysis:
Figure 9 Table of Sloboda’s results showing harmonic structures associated with physical-emotional responses35
33
Sloboda, J. A., Exploring the Musical Mind: Cognition, Emotion, Ability, Function (OUP, 2005), p.209 Ibid. 35 Ibid., p.210 34
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The results show that twenty musical passages provoked the responses labelled tears, ‘i.e. crying, lump in the throat.’36 Most of these passages contained melodic appoggiaturas and melodic or harmonic sequences. Twenty-one passages caused responses labelled shivers, ‘i.e. goose pimples, shivers down the spine.’37 Most of these passages contained a new or unprepared harmony. Only five passages caused heart reactions, ‘i.e. racing heart an pit-of-stomach sensations.’38 These passages contained repeated syncopations and prominent events occurring earlier than prepared for. Subjects linked tears with the emotion of sadness, shivers with love and awe, and heart reactions with love and excitement.
In a similar format to Cooke, Sloboda exemplifies compositions that contain the structures:
36
Ibid. Ibid. 38 Ibid. 37
16 Figure 10 Extract of Albinoni’s Adagio for Strings causing tears (sadness)
39
Figure 11 Extract causing shivers (love and awe) 40
Figure 12 Extract of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Last Movement, causing heart reactions (love and excitement) 41
39
Albinoni’s Adagio for Strings is an example which provoked tears; it contains three consecutive appoggiaturas in the first seven-note melodic phrase and then repeated phrases in sequential fashion. Ibid., p.211 40 This passage provoked shivers; this is characterised by a sudden shift from E to C# in the context of a rising sequential pattern based on E, then F#, then G#. Ibid., p.212 41 Provoking heart reactions, Sloboda describes the structure: ‘Here the phrase structure of the whole movement is built on multiples of even numbers of bars (2, 4, 8, etc.). The piano solo starting at bar 184 reinforces this. A new phrase starts at 188, and there is an implication that the next phrase will commence at bar 192. Instead it arrives at 191…Here, then, is a case of an expected accent arriving earlier than it “should”.’ Ibid. Susan Hallam validates this, claiming that emotions can be aroused in harmonic progressions ‘when expectations are unconfirmed or delayed –e.g. resolutions of tension.’ Hallam, S., op. cit., p.163
17 The above authors have demonstrated that harmonic structures are accurate as a guide to understanding emotional expression. However, the empirical study of emotional responses to harmonic structures is still in its infancy, despite several recent attempts to construct a theoretical framework for considering this (e.g. Sloboda42, and Dowling and Harwood43). The subject poses serious methodological and theoretical problems, as Sloboda acknowledges:
Since there is no generally accepted theory of the emotions and how they interact with cognition, I believe that open-minded empirical investigations with a strong element of natural history continue to be the most profitable way of exploring this area at this time. Music psychology is already a successful interdisciplinary study, with major advances at the junctions of music theory and cognitive science. A satisfactory incorporation of the study of emotion into this work will require methods and theoretical approaches drawn from a wider range of subdisciplines.44
Adopting this advice, a strong element of natural history has been included into my research by testing the revelations of Cooke and past composers (see Chapter 2). Furthermore, as discussed, the approach I have used is unique.45
Considering this unique approach –the link between harmonic structures and mental imagery –Leos Janáček and John Booth Davies have proved that there other ways of 42
Sloboda, J. A., ‘Music Psychology and the Composer’, in S. Nielzen and O. Olsson, eds., Structure and Perception of Electromagnetic Sound and Music (Elsevier, 1989) 43 Dowling, W. J., and Harwood, D. L., Music Cognition (Academic Press, 1986) 44 Sloboda, J. A., Exploring the Musical Mind: Cognition, Emotion, Ability, Function (OUP, 2005), p.213 45 The approach includes mental imagery being used to induce emotions from the memory, indicated by rubato occurring at correlating points of the harmony.
18 provoking images, such as melodic representations and physiognomic perception.46 Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that harmonic structures give an excellent indication of emotion, and emotion in turn gives an excellent indication of mental imagery. Indeed, Carl Seashore claims that, without understanding harmonic structures, expression ‘consists in aesthetic deviation from the regular –i.e. a deliberate departure from the score.’47 Furthermore, Seashore validates the use of mental imagery and upholds his expressionistic stance:
In vivid musical memory we relive the music. The person who does not have the capacity to do so may recall in abstract terms; such as the musical notation or even the most refined logical concepts of elements in musical performance and musical criticism. But these are only the cold facts. He does not relive the music… The non-emotional person can recall the cold facts, but these facts are not the essence of music, the welling up of emotion.48
In the same vein, Stephen Davies claims that ‘Sometimes if one listens to a work as illustrating a story, one can be led deeper into the music itself, noticing details and structures one might otherwise overlook.’49 Having now established this link, let us explore how mental imagery interacts with emotions. 46
Melodies, for example, reminded the composer Leos Janáček of human speech patterns, so he would imagine people singing or speaking when he composed and performed. Furthermore, the musicologist John Booth Davies has discussed physiognomic perception, where composers perceive high notes as ‘small and thin’ –exemplified with the celeste being employed in Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy- and low notes as ‘big and fat’ –exemplified with the double-bass being employed in Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals, personifying the elephants. Davies, J., B., The Psychology of Music (Hutchinson, 1978), p.105 47 Seashore, C. E., in J. Rink, ed., Musical Performance, (CUP, 2002), p.63 48 Seashore, C. E., op. cit., p.168 49 Davies, S., Musical Meaning and Expression (Cornell University Press, 1994), p.81
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Mental Imagery as a Tool for Emotional Induction
Artists are fond of encouraging methods for natural expression.50 Eric Clarke, for example, claims that a performer must have ‘an expressive “strategy” with which to bring the music to life’51 and that performers are ‘expected to animate the music- to go beyond what is explicitly provided by the notation or aurally transmitted standard – to be “expressive”.’52 Anthony Kemp agrees, believing that ‘finding sources of motivation for musical engagement is also very important.’53 When we visualise memories, we gain stronger access to emotions associated with them. This interaction has been proved scientifically using a process called positron emission tomography (P. E. T.), where one can observe brain activity in response to negative and positive visual stimuli. One particular experiment was carried out by Sergio Paradiso in 1999.54 Figure 13 is a P. E. T. scan indicating the results of the experiment. Pleasant visual stimuli produced activations in cortical limbic areas, depicted as red/yellow tones, whereas negative visual stimuli produced activations in the medial frontal cortex, depicted as blue/purple tones.
50
Natural expression being the employment of rubato which correlates with representative harmonic structures 51 Clarke, E., in J. Rink, ed., Musical Performance: A Guide to Musical Understanding (CUP, 2002), p.59 52 Ibid. 53 Kemp, A., The Musical Temperament (OUP, 1996), p.234 54 According to Paradiso, ‘Seventeen healthy individuals were shown two sets of emotionally laden pictures carrying pleasant and unpleasant content. While subjects evaluated the picture set for emotional valence, regional cerebral blood flow was measured with the use of [15O] water positron emission tomography. Subjective ratings of the emotional valence of the picture sets were recorded.’ Paradiso, S., ‘Cerebral Blood Flow Changes Associated With Attribution of Emotional Valence to Pleasant and Unpleasant Visual Stimuli in a PET Study of Normal Subjects’, The American Journal of Psychiatry (1999), 156:1618-1629
20 Figure 13 P. E. T. scan showing activations in the brain in response to pleasant and negative visual stimuli55
Similar empirical experiments which support Paradiso’s findings have been conducted by E. M. Reiman56 and Jean-Pierre Royet. 57
The same brain activity occurs as one visualises external images on a card as one visualises internal images from the memory. Indeed, the psychologist Hugh Willbourn states that ‘the human nervous system cannot tell the difference between a real and vividly imagined experience.’58 Furthermore, Willbourn states that emotions can be induced at different strengths depending on how we experience the memory: ‘Seeing a memory from the inside is called “associative memory”. Seeing it from the outside is called “dissociated memory”.’59 In the first instance, real emotions can be felt as they 55
Ibid. Reiman, E. M., ‘Neuroanatomical Correlates of Externally and Internally Generated Human Emotion’, The American Journal of Psychiatry (1997), 154: 918-925 57 Royet, J. P., ‘Emotional Responses to Pleasant and Unpleasant Olfactory, Visual, and Auditory Stimuli: a Positron Emission Tomography Study’, The Journal of Neuroscience (2000), 20:7752-7759 58 Willbourn, H., The Human Emotions, (Bantam Press, 2003), pp.49-50 59 Ibid., p.48 56
21 were first of all; in the second instance, the memory is not so vivid, so the strength of emotions is weaker. The author Kendall Walton supports this.60 The variable in this case is the senses, and most effectively: imagery. This area preoccupied psychologists such as Sigmund Freud for most of their lives. Peter Gay observes that ‘Freud was particularly sensitive to visual impressions. That is why he looked at his patients as intently as he listened to them.’61 In my empirical study, subjects will comment on techniques they use to help them visualise. I will also instruct subjects briefly how to visualise based on advice from authors. To explore a possible correlation between techniques of both, let us examine advice given by Willbourn:
Everybody has the ability to visualise… Some people are more adept than others at visualisation and seem to make richer pictures, but their just a matter of degree, not difference. They are more aware of their capacity to visualise but they are not physiologically different from the rest of us. Artists, photographers and designers all have a highly developed capacity for visualisation precisely because they have to use it so much.62
When you picture something in your imagination, it may not be as vivid as in real life; there might be less colour, or the image is transparent. Interestingly, the imaginary space in which we see things seems to have direction relative to each individual. We see things to the left or right, 60
Walton claims that one can imagine oneself to be afraid, whereby ‘the emotion is imagined but not experienced,’ and one can experience fear imaginatively, whereby ‘the hedonic tone of the emotion is experienced when the thought-content of the emotion is imagined as being true.’ Walton, K., ‘Fearing Fictions’, Journal of Philosophy, LXXV, No. 1 (January, 1978) 61 Gay, P., Freud -A Life for Our Time (W. W. Norton & Co., 1998), p.169 62 Willbourn, H, op. cit., p.44
22 slightly above or slightly below our sightline, in front of us or off to the side, or towards the edge of the visual field. The space of imaginary visualisation coexists with our ordinary perception; it doesn’t replace ordinary perception but happens alongside it.63
Considering imaginary space, the psychologists Richard Brandler and John Grinder proved that, when people look up and to the left, they are accessing images from their memories.64 Interestingly, pianists on the documentary The Art of Piano - Great Pianists of 20th Century, who advocate the use of mental imagery, can be seen looking up when they play.65
Willbourn continues to offer the following practice-technique in which he asks one to think of a relative:
As soon as you remember what someone looks like, you are using visualisation. Recall what they looked like. What are they wearing? What is the expression on their face? What are they doing? Where is the picture of them located relative to you? Is it in front of you, or to the left or the right? Is it life size or is it transparent? Do you still hear their voice? Now, as you keep seeing them in your mind’s eye, notice the feelings that arise in you. Make a note of those feelings.66
63
Ibid., p.45 Bandler, R., & John G., Frogs into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming, Moab, (Real People Press, 1979) 65 See below for Sergie Rachmaninoff and Alfred Cortot 66 Willbourn, H, op. cit., p.47 64
23 Casually, Willbourn describes that ‘In your mind you can be the greatest ever film director. You can reshoot the scenes from you memory and imagination in any way you want. You can change the action, soundtrack, lighting, camera angles, framing, focus, speed –all the variables are accessible.’67
Our feelings are very closely linked to the precise way in which we remember or imagine things. Changing the variables in a visualisation changes the feeling it evokes. You will notice that some changes have a bigger effect than others. Generally speaking, images that are closer, bigger, brighter and more colourful have greater emotional intensity than those that are duller, smaller and further away.68
Now let us observe how similar techniques have been employed in the arts. One artist who exploited the technique manifested it into one of the most famous methods of acting.
Konstantin Stanislavski, a co-founder of the Moscow Arts Theatre, developed ‘method acting’ –a system which focussed on developing realistic characters. Actors were instructed to utilise their emotion-memory in order to naturally portray a character's emotions. In order to do this, actors were required to think of a moment in their own lives when they had felt the desired emotion and then replay the emotion in role to achieve a more genuine performance: ‘The actor must have at his command all kinds of moods and feelings. One way of achieving a specific emotion is by using “affective recollections,”
67 68
Ibid. Ibid., p.48
24 that is, by awakening in the memory a definite feeling actually experienced in one’s past, in order to recreate the feeling.’69
Stanislavski taught his students that, when recalling memories, images induced the strongest emotions: ‘Of our five senses sight is the most receptive of impressions.’70
Similar to Willbourn, Stanislavski advises the method of creating an internal film when visualising,71 and for further improvement, he advocates questioning:72
If his imagination is inactive, I ask him certain questions. He will have to answer, since he has been addressed. If he responds thoughtlessly, I do not accept his answer. Then, in order to give a more satisfactory answer, he must either rouse his imagination or else approach the subject through his mind, by means of logical reasoning. Work on the imagination is often prepared and directed in this conscious, intellectual manner. The student sees something, either in his memory or in his imagination: certain definite visual images are before him. For a brief moment, he lives a dream. After that, another question, and the process is repeated. So with a third and fourth, 69
Stanislavski, K., ‘Stanislavski’s Method of Acting’, in T. Cole, ed., Acting: A Handbook of the Stanislavski Method (Crown Publishers, 1955), p.106 70 Stanislavski, K., trans. by E. R. Hapgood, An Actor Prepares (Eyre Methuen, 1980), p.169 71 Stanislavski claims that ‘We must have, first of all, an unbroken series of supposed circumstances… Secondly we must have a solid line of inner visions bound up with those circumstances, so that they will be illustrated for us…Out of these moments will be formed an unbroken series of images, something like a moving picture. As long as we are acting creatively, this film will unroll and be thrown on the acting screen of our inner vision, making vivid the circumstances among which we are moving. Moreover, these inner images create a corresponding mood, and arouse emotions…’ Ibid., pp-63-64 72 If a student’s imagination is more sluggish and can not respond to even the simplest questions, Stanislavski claims that one can suggest answers: ‘If the student can use that answer he goes on from there. If not, he changes it, and puts something else in its place. In either case he has been obliged to use his own inner vision. In the end of something of an illusory existence is created, even if the material is only partially contributed by the student. The result may not be entirely satisfactory, but is does accomplish something.’ Stanislavski, K., op. cit., p.67
25 until I have sustained and lengthened that brief moment into something approaching a whole picture. Perhaps, at first, this is not interesting. The valuable part about it is that the illusion has been woven together out of the student’s own inner images. Once this is accomplished, he can repeat it once or twice or many times. The more often he recalls it, the more deeply he will live into it.73
This idea of repetition being able to strengthen visualisation is supported by Willbourn in scientific terms:
The brain is a mass of millions of neural pathways with each idea or memory moving along its own route. Whenever we have an intense experience, our brain encodes into our nervous system a memory of the sequence of behaviour that led to it. Whenever we do something new we create a neural pathway so we can access that experience again easily. Each time we repeat that behaviour we strengthen the neural pathway; indeed, the neural pathway actually gets physically bigger through repetition.74
Other psychologists such as Annie Plessinger agree that different types of advice should be considered because ‘There is no correct way to practise mental imagery. It is all left up to the individual preferences and the present circumstances…Some individuals are better at forming pictures in their heads than others.’ 75
73
Stanislavski, K., op. cit., p.66 Willbourn, H, op. cit., p.48 75 Plessinger, A., The Effects of Mental Imagery on Athletic Performance (Accessed 5 October 2005) 74
26 In musical performance, the adoption of this technique has been encouraged by many authorities. J. W. N. Sullivan has described all great music as having a programme of human spirituality,76 and Jacques Barzun claimed that ‘To cover all cases, it seems necessary to define as programmatic any scheme or idea, general or particular, that helps to determine the course of the composition,’77 affirming that performers can employ their own ‘hidden’, mental programme of a musical work. Paul Hindemith claims that ‘The reactions music evokes are… images, memories of feelings… Dreams, memories, musical-reactions –all three are made of the same stuff.’78 Donald Callen agrees: ‘All music may be, even should be, heard programmatically’79 –a view also upheld by Michael McMullin.80 The psychologist Roland Persson also advocates this method. Persson conducted a study in 1993 whereby 15 pianists had to play an unknown work in which all interpretational clues, including the title, were erased. The performers had to provide a descriptive title to the piece from their understanding of harmonic structures. All performers said that they made use of imagery to construe understanding and meaning.81 This can be supported by a conversation which took place between the pianist-composerconductor Sergei Rachmaninoff and the pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch. Both believed
76
Sullivan, J. W. N., Beethoven (Jonathan Cape, 1927) Barzun, J., ‘The Meaning of Meaning in Music: Berlioz Once More’ in Music Quarterly (1980), 66: 1-20, 78 Hindemith, P., in A. Storr, Music and the Mind (Ballantine Books, 1993), p.76 79 Callen, D., ‘The Sentiment in Musical Sensibility’ in Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (1982), 40: 387 80 McMullin, M., ‘The Symbolic Analysis of Music’ in Music Review (1947), 8: 25-35 81 Self induction of emotion was used to alter states of awareness, some musicians consciously manipulated the recall of certain memories to ‘get in the mood,’ 8/10 acknowledged a self-discovered technique to arrive at a particular frame of mind for the sake of learning and/or performing, 3 employed ‘mood induction’ (remembering emotions without conjuring up images), 5 used visualisation, however, to evoke a particular emotion, some combined mood induction with visualisation. Persson, R. S., The Subjectivity of Musical Performance: An Exploratory Music-Psychological Real World Enquiry into the Determinants and Education of Musical Reality, Doctoral Dissertation, (Huddersfield University, 1993) 77
27 deeply in the method. In The Art of Piano - Great Pianists of 20th Century,82 Moiseiwitsch recollects after playing to Rachmaninoff in a recital:
Rachmaninoff was very gracious, complimentary, and said particularly “I thank you for playing my B minor prelude”. I said “It happens to be my favourite one”, and he said “Well, it’s also my favourite one” and that created the link of friendship. I said “Did you have a programme when you composed the B minor prelude?” He said “Yes” …his spaced voice. I said “Good” –I won the first round. He said “I know your idea is not mine, but I know that mine is correct”. I said “Alright, you tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine” and we haggled for a while, till eventually I said “Well mine is a long story”. He said “If yours is a long story, it can not be anything like mine because mine can be answered with one word”. I said “To me it suggests the return…” where upon the long arm shot out… “STOP!”…so I said “Why? What have I done?” He said “That’s what it is. It’s the return”. It was an exile, and that’s what Rachmaninoff was.’83
This conversation indicates more than the influence of programmatic music –music typical of the Romantic era, composed specifically to invoke imagery. As with Persson’s study, the real significance of this conversation lies within the validation of a relationship between musical structures, emotions which these structures induce, and the mental imagery that’s associated with, and provoked by, those emotions –the underpinning relationship under examination. Both Rachmaninoff and Moiseiwitsch were exiled from
82 83
The Art of Piano - Great Pianists of 20th Century (NVC Arts, 2002), DVD B00004UF01 Moiseiwitsch, B., ibid., [my transcription]
28 their native Russia, so one could suggest that when the musical structures induced the experienced emotions of longing and sadness, they thought naturally of their homeland.
Conversely, images can induce different emotions in an individual. The pianist and teacher Alfred Cortot has been criticised for giving his own specific imagery to students to think about when playing rather than allowing them freedom of imagination. David Barnett affirms that ‘we must be prepared to admit that someone else might find a somewhat different poetic content in the music he [Cortot] describes.’84 Others who support this include psychologists Akhter Ahsen85 and Shane Murphy,86 as well as authors Arthur Schopenhauer87 and Bannister and Fransella.88
Contrary to Cortot, there were contemporaries such as Hans Richter who encouraged students to choose their own imagery.89 Considering current teachers, Helen Turbervill –a music teacher who frequently enters her pupils into classes at the Abertawe Festival for Young Musicians (AFYM) in Swansea, South Wales –told me that, in the last festival (January 2006) all the guest tutors –Nigel Clayton, Wissam Boustany, Diana Cummings, 84
Barnett, D., The Performance of Music (Universe Books, 1972), p.40 Ahsen claims that ‘Every image has a significant meaning and that specific meaning can imply something different to each individual’ Ahsen, A., ‘ISM: The Triple Code Model for Imagery and Psychophysiology’, Journal of Mental Imagery (1984), 8(4), pp.15-42 86 Murphy states that ‘since every person has a unique background and upbringing, the actual internal image can be quite different for each individual.’ Murphy, S. M., ‘Models of Imagery in Sport Psychology: A Review’, Journal of Mental Imagery (1990), (3&4) pp.153-172 87 Schopenhauer claims that ‘An object is presented to a subject [person] by a representation: a mental “picture” or image of which he is aware and which has been constructed by his brain in response to the input from his senses. This object of perception only exists in the consciousness of the subject.’ Schopenhauer, A., The World as Will and Representation, Volume 1, (Dover, 1966), p.77 88 Bannister and Fransella affirm that ‘A basic fallacy in stimulus-response psychology is the notion that a man responds to a stimulus. A man responds to what he interprets the stimulus to be.’ Bannister, D., and Fransella, F., Inquiring Man: The Theory of Personal Constructs (Penguin Books, 1971), p.132 89 In the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, op. 50, which he called the ‘Greek Concerto,’ Richter created his own imagination: a dialogue in which Orpheus pleads with the gods in Hell to set Eurydice free. Orpheus meets with fierce resistance before his entreaties are rewarded, where upon the doors if the underworld open and they dance out into a beautiful Greek Spring landscape. 85
29 Peter Esswood, and Paul Harris– encouraged students to conjure up imagery of their own. Susanna Garcia and Alison Kirkpatrick90 are other teachers who prefer this approach. Garcia claims that:
Interpretive markings or dynamics could lead to a discussion about the mood of the piece using highly visual imagery. The student may be asked to draw a picture that represents the mood of the piece. Visual students also enjoy diagramming the musical shape of phrases. I have seen these activities transform the performance of visual students who may need help connecting with the emotional qualities of the music.91
I have adopted these approaches in my empirical study by choosing to invoke imagery from the subject’s memory in two ways. The first time I demand my own programme of imagery which I predict will cause the required expression. The second time, however, which Willbourn, Stanislavski and the above teachers advocate, I ask the subject to choose his/her own programme, encouraging a means that works best for him/her which I predict will lead to greater expression.
Having considered those who favour this method, there is, of course, a formalist view which disagrees. The pianist-author Katherine Goodson states her opinion:
90
Kirkpatrick claims that ‘Expressiveness and colour can be enhanced through imagery. Imagery also acts as a catalyst for refining touch and adding the stamp of individuality to a performance. Imagery produces special effects and imagery provides inspiration.’ Kirkpatrick, A., (Accessed 10 December 2005) < musicteachermag.com/motivationalrepertoire.htm> 91 Garcia, S., (Accessed 10 December 2005) <music.sc.edu/ea/keyboard/PPF/5.1/5.1.PPFpp.sec4.html>
30 Despite the popular impression that music is imitative in the sense of being able to reproduce different pictures and different emotions, it is really far from it. The subject of programme music and illustrative music is one of the wildest in the art, and at the same time one of the least definite. Except in cases like the Beethoven Pastoral Symphony, where the composer has made obvious attempts to suggest rural scenes, composers do not as a rule try to make either aquarelles or cycloramas with their music. They write music for what it is worth as music, not as scenery….Of course there are some notable exceptions, and many teachers may be right in trying to stimulate the sluggish imaginations of some pupils with fanciful stories. However, when there is a certain design in a piece which lends itself to the suggestion of a certain idea, as does, for instance, the List-Wagner Spinning Song from The Flying Dutchman, it is interesting to work with a specific picture in view -but never forgetting the real beauty of the piece purely as a beautiful piece of music. 92
This is almost completely opposite to the words of the expressionistic Rachmaninoff:
Some teachers lay a great deal of stress upon the necessity for the pupil learning the source of the composer’s inspiration. This is interesting, of course, and may help to stimulate a dull imagination. However, I am convinced that it would be far better for the student to depend more upon his own musical understanding.93
92 93
Goodson, K., in J. F. Cooke, ed.,Great Pianists on Piano Playing (Dover Publications, 1999) p.147 Rachmaninoff, S., in J. F. Cooke, ibid., p.216
31 The student should seek to break the veil of conventions provided by notation and seek a clearer insight into the composer’s individuality as expressed in his compositions... Since all things of permanent value in music have proceeded from a fervid artistic imagination, they should be interpreted with the continual employment of the performer’s imagination.94
Many great pianists of the Twentieth Century concur with Rachmaninoff’s ideas,95 yet there are many others who agree with Goodson’s formalistic approach. Peter Kivy, for example, disputes that the imagination has such significance in musical performance: ‘This approach goes beyond what good musical analysis and sound musical practice will allow.’96 Charles Rosen agrees, claiming that the composer knows best, and performers should always spend time researching documents –letters and other manuscripts- to prevent intentions from being betrayed.97
Intermediary concessions on the subject arise from Stephen Davies, who claims that mental imagery and subjectivity in expression are of great importance, yet one must not over-indulge and one must observe harmonic structures due to the following reason:
A person who substitutes fantasy for attention to the work reacts (at best) to an idiosyncratic amalgamation for the music and an imaginatively generated
94
Ibid., p.280 Glen Gould and Hans Richter famously advocated this. Gould was a composer-pianist who sought the same inspiration as the composer in performing. Paul Myers claims that ‘Gould didn’t believe in tradition…He played it as he felt, and therefore he was a composer paying his respect to other composers.’ Richter, as Zoltán Kocsis observes, ‘experimented during the concerts as he did during practising, and that’s why his concerts were so interesting, and so unpredictable.’ The Art of Piano - Great Pianists of 20th Century, op. cit. 96 Kivy, P., Sound Sentiment (Temple University Press, 1989), pp.221-222 97 Rosen, C., ‘A Performer’s Responsibility’, in W. Thomas, ed., Composition, Performance, Perception: Studies in the Creative Process of Music (Ashgate, 1998), p.54 95
32 program not connected to the work; the response is not to the work itself but to some private, personal object of fantasy. To the extent that her response is shaped by the detail of the imaginatively inventive program, that response is not to something depicted in the work.98
Conceding further, Davies claims that, since music is not a primarily depictive art, visualisation can be used as a tool to heighten expression which can be discarded afterwards:
Many people might best be prompted to understand music by approaching all works programmatically (as if they were programmatic), and where can the harm be in that? The “program” is a prosthetic device and could always be put aside when its purpose is served.99
Barzun agrees to this concession, believing that ‘programmes are useful analogies but should not be taken literally; they are to be put aside when understanding has been achieved by means of them.’100
Having examined imagery, let us now explore the parameter which the empirical study will use as its key indicator of expressive variation: rubato.
Measuring Expression with Tempo Rubato 98
Davies, S., op. cit., p.81 Ibid., pp.81-82 100 Barzun, J., ‘The Meaning of Meaning in Music: Berlioz Once More’, Music Quarterly (1980), 66: 1617, 21 99
33
The term tempo rubato is Italian, meaning robbed or stolen time. In music, rubato advances or delays the beat, speeds up or slows down, usually for expressive effects before restoring the regular tempo. Richard Hudson, the author of Stolen Time: The History of Tempo Rubato, notes the two types of rubato. The first appeared in the first half of the eighteenth-century to describe a practice in Baroque vocal music: some note values within a melody are altered while the accompaniment maintains strict rhythm. Hudson claims that ‘This type of rubato continues in vocal and violin music well into the nineteenth century.’101 The second type appeared in the early nineteenth-century when the term began to refer to rhythmic alterations not only in the melody, but in the tempo of the entire musical substance. ‘For at least the first half of the nineteenth century both types of rubato exist concurrently, but later in the century the earlier type disappears. It is the later type of rubato, finally, that continues to live in Western art music and is the type most familiar to us today.’102
The Romantic pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, of expressionistic ideals, famously employed free use of rubato in response to harmonically-guided expression.103 Many agree, however, that Paderewski over-indulged in his use of the device. Rosen makes 101
Hudson, R., Stolen Time: The History of Tempo Rubato (Clarendon Press, 1994), p.1 Ibid. 103 Paderewski claimed that ‘Rhythm is the pulse in music. Rhythm marks the beating of its heart, proves its vitality, attests its very existence. Rhythm is order. But this order in music cannot progress with the cosmic regularity of a planet, nor with the automatic uniformity of a clock. It reflects life, organic human life, with all its attributes, therefore it is subject to moods and emotions, to rapture and depression… Our human metronome, the heart, under the influence of emotion, ceases to beat regularly –physiology calls it arrhythmia. Chopin played from his heart. His playing was not national; it was emotional. To be emotional in musical interpretation, yet obedient to the initial tempo and true to the emotions, means about as much as being sentimental in engineering. Mechanical execution and emotion are incompatible…The tempo as a general indication of character in a composition is undoubtedly of great importance… but a composer’s imagination and an interpreter’s emotion are not found to be humble slaves of either metronome or tempo...’ Paderewski, I., J., in H. T. Finck, ed., Success in Music and How it is Won (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927), pp. 454-461 102
34 such a criticism: ‘There were indeed a few pianists who abused the device [rubato], in particular Paderewski, in whose hands it was almost monotonously omnipresent.’104105 In contrast to Paderewski, Rebecca Penneys is a modern pianist who is known too be less indulgent. In a recent review from Clavier Magazine, Jeffrey Wagner affirms that Penneys ‘plays with a balanced sense of rubato.’106 To prove this contrast, the amount of rubato employed by both pianists in the same piece is measured in Chapter 2.
Many believe that rubato should be employed with care, and that being overly subjective can break conventions and the wishes of the composer. Indeed, we have acknowledged that harmonic structures exist as a guide for expression, and that unnatural applications of rubato can be prevented if these structures are realised and followed. However, one must also realise and follow stylistic conventions.107 Hudson agrees: ‘Rubato is a high-powered effect and must therefore be exercised with care, restraint and artistic integrity…It is for those most sensitive to the style and to the eloquent flow of musical thought,’108 yet on the opposite end of extremity, the pianist Daniel Barenboim warns against being overly formal: ‘You should not calculate rubato, that if you need the time, then every day it is different, and every day it comes out in a different way.’ 109
104
Rosen, C., Piano Notes: The Hidden World of the Pianist (Penguin Books, 2004), p.191 Given this, one might find difficulty in taking Paderewski’s next comment seriously: ‘… with it [rubato], unfortunately, appears also the danger of exaggeration. Real knowledge of different styles, a cultural musical taste, and a well-balanced sense of vivid rhythm should guard the interpreter against any abuse.’ Paderewski, I., J., op. cit., p.461 106 Wagner, J., Clavier Magazine (February 2006) 107 Exemplifying this, one might consider how too much rubato can hinder the perception of form in a large-scale work. Romantic music in general, in contrast to that of the Classic period, tends to draw the listener’s attention more to the beauty of the moment than to the formal structure. Singing melodies, elaborate arpeggiation, slow moving chords, and conspicuous dissonances, all attract attention to themselves. When the performer indulges in rubato –adds breaking, arpeggiation, and much tempo modification on a detailed level –the listener’s attention is even more fastened on the moment, and he/she has even greater difficulty in cumulating a perception of the musical architecture. 108 Ibid., pp.447-448 109 Barenboim, D., The Art of Piano: Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century, op. cit. 105
35 Of course there are other parameters that one might investigate to measure expression. Patrik Juslin and John Sloboda claim that ‘meter is only one small part of what an expressive performance might communicate.’110 These authors have proved that parameters such as volume and body movements also indicate levels of expression. Nevertheless, our sources have proven that tempo rubato can correspond to emotional expression very closely, which undeniably validates its use in the empirical study.
Summary
Convenient to this area of study, the Romantic era, which comprised an increase in heteronymous, expressionistic attitudes towards the essence of musical performance, ended only one-hundred years ago. As a result we have observed some of many secondary sources from a generation of pianists, teachers, and authors that can support and validate the relationship under examination. Descendants of this era, however, believe that this essence –the communication of real, experienced emotions –has diminished since that era. Evgeny Kissin reflects this belief, claiming that pianists such as Vladimir Horowitz and Emil Gilels acquired a ‘golden sound’ which is not often heard these days: ‘They cared for the sake of the sound, and that’s probably what made their sound so special and so personal.’111
Having attended many professional recitals and student masterclasses, and spoken to many teachers on the subject, I agree with the above observations. There are many performances that lack expression which, indicated by rubato, is careful and natural. 110 111
Juslin, P. N., & Sloboda, J. A., eds., Music and Emotion: Theory and Research (OUP, 2001) Kissin, E., in The Art of Piano: Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century, op. cit.
36 Maybe formalists would concede appreciation to a subjectively expressive performance if, at the same time, the employment of rubato adhered to stylistic conventions and knowledge of harmony. Reflecting outwardly, one might suggest that this problem corresponds to an increasing devaluation of emotional expression in society. Indeed, philosophers have claimed that people in the Western world are increasingly becoming less guided by their emotions. Carl Jung, one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy, reflects this in his autobiography: Memories, Dreams, Reflections. An encounter with a Native American chief reminded Jung of the limitations in Western rational thinking,112 and he came to conclude that lives are not valuable because they are rational, and decisions are not good because they are logical. Jung believed that our actions are wise and our lives are rich when we are guided by a sense of value that is rooted in our hearts, in the wisdom of our emotions, and not merely in the rationality of our heads. Indeed, he came to believe that in modern life we often behave in a back-to-front way. We make rationality the judge of what we should do and feel, rather than letting our feelings guide how we use our 112
Jung travelled from Europe to Africa, India and America seeking people and experiences to deepen his understanding of the human condition. In New Mexico, 1939, he met a Native American chief called Ochwiay Biano and had a conversation with him that struck him so powerfully that he recalled it years later in his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections: After establishing a simple friendship, Chief Ochwiay Biano uttered: See how cruel the whites look, their lips are thin, their noses sharp, their faces furrowed and distorted by folds. Their eyes have a staring expression; they are always seeking something. What are they seeking? The whites always want something. They are always uneasy and restless. We do not know what they want. We do not understand them. We think that they are all mad. When Jung asked why he thought they were all mad, the chief replied: ‘They say they think with their heads.’ ‘Why of course,’ said Jung, ‘What do you think with?’ ‘We think here,’ said the chief, indicating his heart. Jung, C., trans. by C. Winston, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Vintage, 1989), p.247
37 capacity for logic. Willbourn agrees, claiming that ‘If we work with our emotions we can reach a wisdom that is more personal and more accurate than the intelligence of our intellect alone.’113
Given the above, I think that the time has come to acknowledge and test a method which can encourage natural expression in musicians. Mental imagery, provoked from harmonic representations of emotion, can induce experienced emotions which in turn affects rubato. It has been validated by a wide range of sources, and if used carefully according to knowledge of harmony, style and conventions, it can be a mediating tool to cultivate communicative performances for students and professionals alike.
113
Wilbourn, H., op. cit., p.59
38
2
EMPIRICAL STUDY: METHODOLOGY
This chapter outlines the methodology behind the empirical study. Much of it is influenced by the literature examined in Chapter 1.
The Study Extract, the Emotions, and the Representative Harmonic Structures
I composed a short extract of music for piano which is referred to as Study Extract. Beginning on an anacrusis, this lasts nine bars and is in 3/4 time. This was processed using the music-notation software programme Sibelius 1.3.
At the first stage of composition, I selected two emotions contrasting in valence, intensity, and complexity in accordance with Meyer and Ekman. Table 1 contrasts love and sadness in these terms.
Table 1 Emotions of love and sadness described in terms of valence, intensity, and complexity
Emotion Love Sadness Valence Intensity Complexity
Positive Intense Complex
Negative Moderate Basic
39 In the second stage, I exploited representative, harmonic structures associated with Cooke and Sloboda. Tables 2.1 and 2.2 show the placement and description of harmonic structures which are illustrated by Cooke, and tables 3.1 and 3.2 show those which are illustrated by Sloboda.
Table 2.1 The placement and description of harmonic structures in the Study Extract, representing the emotion of love as illustrated by Deryck Cooke
Emotion Love
Harmonic Structure Major 2nd As a wholetone tension down to the tonic, in a major context. Major 3rd
Minor 6th
Major 6th Major, chromatic scale Major, 8-7-6-5 progression
Description of Harmonic Structure
Bar Numbers
Pleasurable longing, suspense. From 3rd beat of bar 2, on an F, leading to the 1st beat of bar 3, on an E flat
2,3
Concord; pleasant. From the 1st beat of bar 2, on a G falling to the 1st beat of bar 3, on an E flat; the 1st beat of bar 3 containing 2 quavers on G and B natural; and on the last 3 quaver beats of bar 3, again on the notes G, B, and G. Pleasant; consonant; strained; passionate. From in the link of the 3rd beat of bar 4, on a C, to the 1st beat of bar 5, on an A flat. Pleasurable longing. From the B flat of the last quaver beat of the anacrusis leading to the 1st beat of bar 2, G. Passionate love. From the last 2 quaver beats of the anacrusis, an A natural leading to a B flat; and the last 2 quaver beats of bar 2, F and E natural, leading to the 1st beat of bar 3, on E flat. Incoming emotion of joy; an acceptance or welcoming of comfort. From the 1st beat of bar 3, on an E flat, leading to the 1st and second beats of bar 4, on a D and a C.
2, 3
4, 5
1, 2 1, 2, 3
3, 4
40 Table 2.2 The placement and description of harmonic structures in the Study Extract, representing the emotion of sadness as illustrated by Deryck Cooke
Emotion Sadness
Harmonic Structure Minor 3rd
Minor 6th (in a chord) Minor, 1-6-5 progression Minor 6th (minor context; semitonal tension down to the dominant) Minor 7th (whole-tone tension down to minor sixth) Minor, 5-4-3-2-1 progression
Minor, 5-3-2-1 progression
Description of Harmonic Structure Melancholy; depressed. From the 3rd beat of bar 4, on an A flat in the bass clef, leading to the 1st beat of bar 5 on an F; from the 1st and 2nd beats of bar 5 on an A flat and F; and from the 2nd and 3rd beats of bar 6 on an E flat and C. Sorrow; distressing; unstable. On the 2nd chord of bar 9 with an E flat and a C above. Sorrow; strained. From the 3rd beat of bar 4, on a C, leading to the 1st beat of bar 5, on an A flat, and then followed by a G on the 1st beat of bar 6. Sadness; distressing; strained. From the 2 quaver beats, A flat and G, on the 3rd crotchet beat of bar 4; and the 3rd beat of bar 7 on an A flat going to the 1st beat of bar 8 on a G
Bar Numbers 4, 5, 6
9 4, 5, 6
4, 7, 8
Unsatisfactory; lost; sad; melancholy. From bar 7 where the 2nd quaver beat of the 2nd crotchet beat leads to the 3rd crochet beat.
7
Discouragement and depression; incoming emotion of pain in a context of finality. From the 2nd quaver beat of the 3rd crotchet beat of bar 4 on a G, which leads to an F on the 1st beat of bar 5, an E flat on the 1st beat of bar 6, a D on the 1st beat of bar 7, and eventually a C (tonic) on the 1st beat of bar 9. Restless sorrow –neither complete protest nor acceptance. 5-3-1 can be seen on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd beats of bar 6 on G, E flat and C.
4, 5, 6, 7, 9
6
41 Table 3.1 The placement and description of harmonic structures in the Study Extract, representing the emotion of love as illustrated by John Sloboda
Emotion
Structure
Description of Structure
Love
New or unprepared harmony
Love; produces shivers in listeners. From bar 3 where the mediant harmony of G occurs in the major to lead to the subdominant harmony of A flat in bar 4. Love; produces changes in heart rate. The 1st phrase implies that it should have an extra bar’s duration. The 2nd phrase, however, starts earlier than one anticipates on the last beat of bar 4, on a C, which leads to the 1st beat of bar 5 on an A flat.
Prominent events occurring earlier than prepared for
Bar Numbers 3, 4
4, 5
Table 3.2 The placement and description of harmonic structures in the Study Extract, representing the emotion of sadness as illustrated by John Sloboda
Emotion
Structure
Description of Structure
Sadness
Descending cycle of fifths
Sorrow; produces tears in listeners. Progression implied from the 3rd beat of bar 4, on a C, leading to F (subdominant) minor harmonies in bar 5, and, excluding the pivoting B flat (flattened leading note, subtonic) harmonies, we hear 2 beats of E flat (mediant) major harmonies, followed by 2 beats of the diminished 7th harmonies in bar 7 (F, D and A flat), and completed with a perfect cadence on G major (dominant) in bar 8 and C minor (tonic) in bar 9. Sorrow; produces tears in listeners. From bar 5 in the right-hand quaver pattern where the E natural resolves to the F and the B natural resolves to the C; in a similar fashion, bar 6 comprises a D resolving to an E flat and another B natural resolving to a C; in bar 7, the E flat falls to the D; the 1st beat of bar 8, on an E flat, falls to the D on the 2nd beat of the same bar; the 1st and 2nd beats of bar 9 comprises a B natural rising to a C.
Melodic appoggiaturas
Melodic or harmonic sequence
Sorrow; produces tears in listeners. The falling motive in bar 5 is sequenced in bar 6, differentiated between subdominant and mediant and tonic harmonies.
Bar Numbers 4-9
5, 6, 7, 8, 9
5, 6
42 Figure 1 shows the Study Extract formed from these structures. Bars 1-4 include harmonic structures which are reflective of love, and bars 5-9 include those which are reflective of sadness. Each section is phrased melodically in the treble-clef with a moving bass-clef accompaniment.
Figure 1 Study Extract formed from harmonic structures representing love, bars 1-4, and sadness, bars 5-9.
The Subjects
The music was written to be played and recorded by three undergraduate piano students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), randomly chosen in terms of age, gender, and personality; these are referred to as Subjects X, Y and Z.
43
The Recording Equipment
A digital sound recorder on a 3.1 Mega Pixels Hardware Resolution camera was used to record each performance; the recordings were made in a practice room at the RWCMD. When all subjects had played, the recordings were downloaded onto a computer and saved as Wave Sound files on a Sony compact disc. From this disc, the files could be accessed to play alongside the software used for measuring rubato.
The Conditions: Employing Mental Imagery from the Memory
Excluding a ten-minute practice beforehand to guarantee technical fluency, each subject would play the Study Extract five times under different conditions. An indication of speed was given beforehand; a metronome was played for ten seconds at crotchet=88. This would enable fair comparisons to be made between each subject when measuring half-bar durations (rubato) later in the study. Apart from the first condition where no instructions would be given, each condition tests the effects of one of two emotions: sadness and love. The aim was to induce each emotion by using mental, visual images from the subject’s memory which were specifically related to that emotion. In the Study Extract the representative harmonic structures were segregated in two to confirm/refute that, when played under a specific condition, e.g. invoking love in condition 3, the representative structures of that emotion would be treated clearly with more rubato than in those structures representing sadness.
44 Below are the conditions under which the subject would:
Condition 1
The subject would play the Study Extract without being given any prior instruction apart from speed. The main purpose of this condition is to emphasise the possible contrast in rubato under more influential conditions.
Condition 2
Before playing, the subject would be read the following instruction which I composed:
“Before you play, try to recall an incident from your past when you said goodbye to someone whom you would never see again. Recall, like a film, a clear, animated memory in which you can visualise the events in its negative context. From your response, try maintaining any invoked feelings throughout the performance.”
The aim of this was to confirm/refute that the emotion of sadness can be induced from imagery in the subject’s emotion-memory, and, in sequence, can increase the amount of rubato in his/her performance. I would give that specific instruction because it induced the intended emotion in me during an earlier trial.
45 Condition 3
Before playing, the subject would be read a contrasting instruction which I also composed:
“Before you play, try to imagine someone you feel strongly about with affection. Recall, like a film, a clear, animated memory in which you can visualise spending time with that person in a positive context. From your response, try maintaining any invoked feelings throughout the performance.”
This time, the aim is to confirm/refute that the emotion of love can be induced from imagery in the subject’s emotion-memory, and, in sequence, can increase the amount of rubato in his/her performance. Again, I would give that specific instruction because it induced the intended emotion in me during an earlier trial.
Condition 4
Before playing, the subject would be given the emotion of sadness and asked to create his/her own programme around this. The subject would be asked to visualise in a similar format to the above: “Recall, like a film, a clear, animated memory in which you can visualise. From your response, try maintaining any invoked feelings throughout the performance.”
46 The aim of this is to confirm/refute that the emotion of sadness can be induced even more from imagery in the subject’s emotion-memory, and, in sequence, can further increase the amount of rubato in his/her performance.
Condition 5
Before playing, the subject would be given the emotion of love –the more affectionate kind, and, once again, asked to create his/her own programme around this. The subject would be asked to visualise in a similar format to the above: “Recall, like a film, a clear, animated memory in which you can visualise. From your response, try maintaining any invoked feelings throughout the performance.”
The aim of this is to confirm/refute that the emotion of love can be induced even more from imagery in the subject’s emotion-memory, and, in sequence, can further increase the amount of rubato in his/her performance. This condition can be more suitable for inducing a more complex and subjective emotion such as love.
Questionnaire
After each subject play under all five conditions, I would them three questions corresponding to the conditions. Their answers are recorded.
Q. 1: Before Condition 2, did you experience the emotions of love and sadness resulting from their representative harmonic structures? Q. 2: What was your programme in condition 4?
47 Q. 3: What was your programme in condition 5? Q. 4: Did you utilise any techniques to assist your mental visualisation? If so, what were they?
Question 1 is asked to provoke confirmation/refutation that the harmonic structures present in the Study Extract naturally reflect their representative emotions. This would confirm/refute that using mental imagery derivative from the memory enhances emotions which are already induced, thus causing more rubato. Questions 2 and 3 are asked to provoke confirmation/refutation that the subjects created their own programme out of their emotion-memory. Question 4 are asked to provoke confirmation/refutation of authors in Chapter 1, that certain visualisation techniques can be used to assist emotional induction.
Measuring Rubato
In order to measure the amount of rubato used by each subject, I downloaded and used a tapping software called Timing from www.soton.ac.uk/~musicbox/timing.exe which was recommended by Professor Nicholas Cook from the Royal Holloway University. At the start of the programme one is prompted to press the button of the keyboard in order to begin. At this point the music is played, pressing at the first measurable beat. From then on, one presses again for every subsequent beat or downbeat. When the music ends, one presses the letter ‘E’ on the keyboard followed by which terminated the programme. A data file is then saved onto the computer which consists of a series of numbers with two decimal places. The first press of the
48 key was at 0.00 (not recorded), and the following figures show how long after that each subsequent took place in seconds. The numbers do not represent the durations between each tap; in order to work these out one must calculate the difference between each successive pair of figures using a calculator. Eventually, one can copy and pasted these figures into Microsoft Excel to create tables of results and bar graphs.
Trial Test
To become used to the methodology of tapping and producing the results in the form of tables and graphs, I carried out a trial test comparing the amount of rubato that was used by two famous pianists: Ignacy Jan Paderewski 114 (1860-1941), and Rebecca Penneys115 (1946+). The piece was Etude in E, Op. 10 No. 3 by Chopin. I chose these particular recordings because Paderewski famously used much rubato in his playing, and Penneys is known for being less indulgent (see Chapter 1).
Tables 4.1 and 4.2 show the results. Every half-bar is tapped to reveal a clearer portrayal of rubato, starting on the up-beat to bar 2 and ending half-way through bar 9. The table also shows every half-bar being tapped three times to achieve a mean number (in seconds); this allows the results to become more reliable since the manual tapping procedure can lead to inconsistencies in timings. Finally, durations between each tap are also present which give a coherent estimation of the amount, and placement, of rubato. Table 4.1 relates to Paderewski’s performance, and Table 4.2 relates to Penneys’s.
114
Ignacy Jan Paderewski: Etude In E, Op. 10 No. 3 by Chopin, from Ignacy Jan Paderewski: Great Pianists of the 20th Century (Philips, 1999) CD 456919 115 Rebecca Penneys, Etude In E, Op. 10 No. 3 by Chopin, from Chopin Etudes: Complete (Centaur Records, 1994) CD 2210
49 Table 4.1 Tapping of a performance of Chopin’s Etude in E, op. 10, no. 3, bars 1-10, played by Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
Bar Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.87 3.68 5.77 7.53 10.29 12.21 14.24 16.16 18.69 20.56 23.31 25.96 27.83 28.31 31.84 35.63
0 1.87 3.62 5.87 7.47 10.23 12.15 14.18 16.1 18.63 20.55 23.36 25.07 27.88 28.42 31.83 35.62
Tap 3 0 1.87 3.63 5.72 7.42 10.29 12.15 14.19 16.11 18.63 20.39 23.31 25.96 27.83 28.31 32.06 35.57
Mean Tap 0 1.87 3.64 5.79 7.47 10.27 12.17 14.2 16.12 18.65 20.5 23.33 25 27.69 28.35 31.91 35.61
Duration 1.87 1.77 2.15 1.68 2.8 1.9 2.03 1.92 2.53 1.85 2.83 1.67 2.69 1.66 2.56 3.7
Table 4.2 Tapping of a performance of Chopin’s Etude in E, op. 10, no. 3, bars 1-10, played by Rebecca Penneys
Bar Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.76 3.63 5.49 7.42 9.5 11.37 13.24 15.16 16.3 18.77 20.75 22.18 23.83 25.36 27.4 28.53
0 2.03 3.84 5.66 7.69 9.72 11.59 13.51 15.43 16.52 19.16 20.92 22.4 23.1 25.58 27.56 28.58
Tap 3 0 1.87 3.79 5.6 7.64 9.56 11.48 13.4 15.38 16.47 18.99 20.81 22.34 22.99 25.42 27.62 28.54
Mean Tap 0 1.88 3.75 5.58 7.58 9.59 11.48 13.38 15.32 16.43 18.97 20.82 22.31 23.97 25.45 26.53 28.55
Duration 1.88 1.87 2.1 2 2.01 1.89 1.9 1.94 1.11 1.54 1.85 1.49 1.66 1.48 1.08 2.02
I found that comparisons in beat duration could be realised clearly when plotted in bar graphs. Figures 2.1 and 2.2 show bar graphs plotting the half-bar durations against the bar
50 numbers. Figure 2.1 reveals the results of Paderewski and figure 2.2 reveals those of Penneys. Figure 2.1 Tapping of a performance of Chopin’s Etude in E, op. 10, no. 3, bars 1-10, played by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, indicating half-bar durations.
4 3.5 3 2.5 2
Duration (secs)
1.5 1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Figure 2.2 Tapping of a performance of Chopin’s Etude in E, op. 10, no. 3, bars 1-10, played by Rebecca Penneys, indicating half-bar durations.
2.5 2 1.5 1
Duration (secs)
0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Visually it is clear that more rubato is used by Paderewski, with durations fluctuating from 1.86-2.8 seconds from bar 3-3 ½. Penney’s half-bar durations are more stable,
51 generally lasting around 1.7 seconds. There are peaks and troughs at similar times in both performances, such as at bars 6-6 ½ (at a perfect cadence) lasting 1.85 seconds with Paderewski and 1.54 seconds with Penneys, and also at bars 8½-9 (another perfect cadence) lasting 3.7 seconds with Paderewski and 2.02 seconds with Penneys. Both pianists start at the same tempo yet, due to greater implementations of rubato, Paderewksi’s performance lasts 7.06 seconds longer than Penney’s.
Despite there being major differences in the conditions of the above performances and those in my empirical study, I intended to present and analyse the results of my empirical study in a similar way, observing peaks and troughs in duration related to bar numbers and harmonic structure.
Summary
Although this methodology suffices for an initial study, one could identify many ways of strengthening it. One could test physical reactions to structures as Sloboda has done, as well as compose a longer extract and test other harmonic structures. One could also measure other expressive parameters apart from rubato such as body movement and volume. One could ask more subjects to take part, and give them more senses to invoke from their memories such as smell and sound. The data could be plotted onto other forms of charts and the questionnaire could be more extensive. Having said that, this research is at undergraduate level: it is primitive and lacks resources which are typically exploited at postgraduate level. This is a new way of analysing the effects on rubato and, although flaws may exist, I have no doubts that the results will create interest in the subject matter.
52
3
EMPIRICAL STUDY: RESULTS
53
Results of Subject X Table 1.1 The results under Condition 1
Bar Number 1
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.1 1.98 2.92 3.9 5.06 6.16 7.31 8.24 9.18 10.11 11.05 11.92 12.75 13.85 14.94 15.93
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Tap 3
0 1.13 1.82 2.57 4.23 5.02 6.45 7.23 8.13 9.12 10.14 10.97 11.86 12.79 13.9 14.9 15.9
Mean Tap
0 1.12 1.9 3.01 3.86 5.24 6.64 7.3 8.2 9.16 10.09 11.8 11.99 12.74 13.83 14.98 15.91
Duration
0 1.11 1.9 2.83 4 5.11 6.42 7.28 8.19 9.15 10.11 11.27 11.92 12.76 13.86 14.94 15.91
1.11 0.79 0.93 1.17 1.11 1.31 0.86 0.91 0.96 0.96 1.16 0.65 0.84 1.1 1.08 0.32
Figure 1.1 The results under Condition 1
1.4 1.2 1 0.8 Duration (secs)
0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Bar Number
Table 1.2 The results of under Condition 2
Bar Number 1
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2
Tap 3
Mean Tap
Duration
9
54 0 0.71 1.65 2.64 3.57 4.61 5.71 6.76 8.29 9.17 10.22 11.04 11.92 12.74 13.9 15.32 16.64
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 0.68 1.65 2.6 3.53 4.62 5.7 6.7 8.34 9.25 10.23 11 11.89 12.75 13.92 15.3 16.63
0 0.72 1.64 2.61 3.56 4.62 5.68 6.74 8.32 9.15 10.2 11.08 11.93 12.72 13.88 15.35 16.61
0 0.7 1.65 2.61 3.55 4.61 5.7 6.73 8.32 9.19 10.22 11.04 11.91 12.74 13.9 15.32 16.62
0.7 0.95 0.96 0.94 1.06 1.09 1.03 1.59 0.86 1.03 0.82 0.87 0.83 1.16 1.42 1.3
Figure 1.2 The results under Condition 2
1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8
Duration (secs)
0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 1.3 The results under Condition 3
Bar Number 1
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0
Tap 3 0
Mean Tap 0
0
Duration 1.7
55 2
1.7 3.24 4.28 5.27 6.26 8.18 9.12 10.11 10.82 11.7 12.63 13.57 14.28 15.27 16.26 17.19
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1.68 3.26 4.27 5.25 6.28 8.19 9.14 10.13 10.8 11.71 12.66 13.53 14.29 15.25 16.27 17.17
1.71 3.25 4.29 5.29 6.24 8.18 9.17 10.14 10.83 11.71 12.61 13.59 14.28 15.29 16.23 17.23
1.7 3.25 4.28 5.27 6.26 8.18 9.14 10.13 10.82 11.71 12.63 13.56 14.28 15.27 16.25 17.19
1.55 1.03 0.99 0.99 1.92 0.96 0.99 0.69 0.89 0.92 0.93 0.72 0.99 0.98 0.94
Figure 1.3 The results under Condition 3
2.5 2 1.5 Duration (secs) 1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 1.4 The results under Condition 4
Bar Number 1
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0
Tap 3 0
Mean Tap 0
0
Duration 0.83
56 2
0.83 1.81 2.91 3.9 5 6.32 7.58 9.17 10.16 11.26 12.14 12.96 14.06 15 16.64 17.74
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0.81 1.78 2.92 3.86 5.03 6.31 7.51 9.16 10.12 11.24 12.15 12.97 14.03 15.02 16.66 17.76
0.84 1.83 2.9 3.92 4.98 6.34 7.6 9.1 10.21 11.28 12.12 12.92 14.07 14.97 16.62 17.73
0.83 1.81 2.91 3.89 5 6.32 7.56 9.14 10.16 11.26 12.14 12.95 14.05 15 16.64 17.74
0.88 1.1 0.98 1.11 1.32 1.24 1.58 1.02 1.1 0.88 0.81 1.1 0.95 1.64 1.1
Figure 1.4 The results under Condition 4
1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1
Duration (secs)
0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 1.5 The results under Condition 5
Bar Number 1 2
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.59
0 1.53
Tap 3 0 1.61
Mean Tap 0 1.58
Duration 1.58 1.56
57 3.13 4.34 5.38 6.37 7.85 9.01 9.83 10.65 11.37 12.25 13.07 13.73 14.72 15.6 16.48
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
3.14 4.3 5.36 6.35 7.83 9.03 9.87 10.64 11.38 12.27 13.04 13.72 14.74 15.61 16.44
3.14 4.36 5.37 6.39 7.88 9.02 9.8 10.67 11.35 12.23 13.09 13.72 14.71 15.58 17
3.14 4.33 5.37 6.37 7.85 9.02 9.83 10.65 11.37 12.25 13.07 13.72 14.72 15.6 16.64
1.19 1.04 1 1.48 1.17 0.81 0.82 0.72 0.88 0.82 0.65 1 0.88 1.04
Figure 1.5 The results under Condition 5
1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8
Duration (secs)
0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Results of Subject Y Table 2.1 The results under Condition 1
Bar Number
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2
Tap 3
Mean Tap
Duration
58 1 0 0.99 1.92 2.85 3.95 4.83 6.04 7.14 8.02 9 9.77 10.71 11.59 12.41 13.34 14.22 14.99
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 0.97 1.92 2.83 3.99 4.8 6.07 7.15 8.01 9.04 9.74 10.73 12.06 12.45 13.35 14.21 15.01
0 1.01 1.9 2.88 3.91 4.81 6.05 7.12 8.07 8.97 9.79 10.78 12.02 12.39 13.31 14.24 14.96
0 0.99 1.92 2.85 3.95 4.81 6.05 7.14 8.03 9 9.77 10.74 11.89 12.42 13.33 14.22 14.99
0.99 0.93 0.93 1.1 0.86 1.24 1.09 0.89 0.97 0.77 0.97 1.15 0.53 0.91 0.89 0.77
Figure 2.1 The results under Condition 1 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 Duration (secs)
0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 2.2 The results under Condition 2
Bar Number 1 2
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 0.99 1.87
0 0.97 1.86
Tap 3 0 0.98 1.89
Mean Tap 0 0.98 1.87
Duration 0.98 0.89 1.04
59 3
2.91 3.79 4.89 6.43 7.25 8.4 9.28 10.22 11.15 12.3 13.13 14.39 16.53 18.22
4 5 6 7 8 9
2.93 3.76 4.9 6.44 7.26 8.39 9.27 10.24 11.11 12.32 13.11 14.44 16.5 18.24
2.91 3.81 4.9 6.42 7.23 8.41 9.29 10.25 11.17 12.33 13.12 14.36 16.56 18.21
2.91 3.79 4.9 6.43 7.25 8.4 9.28 10.24 11.14 12.32 13.12 14.4 16.51 18.22
0.88 1.29 1.53 0.82 1.25 0.88 0.96 0.9 1.18 0.8 1.32 2.11 1.71
Figure 2.2 The results under Condition 2
2.5 2 1.5 Duration (secs) 1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 2.3 The results under Condition 3
Bar Number 1 2 3
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 0.88 1.87 2.91 3.9
0 0.86 1.86 2.93 3.91
Tap 3 0 0.89 1.84 2.9 3.88
Mean Tap 0 0.88 1.86 2.91 3.9
Duration 0.88 0.98 1.05 1.01 1.11
60 4
5 7.58 8.52 9.4 10.33 11.32 12.25 13.29 14.06 15.22 16.59 17.91
5 6 7 8 9
5.03 7.52 8.57 9.42 10.31 11.35 12.27 13.27 14.03 15.24 16.51 17.92
5.01 7.56 8.54 9.43 10.34 11.33 12.23 13.3 14.07 15.2 16.57 17.94
5.01 7.56 8.54 9.42 10.33 11.33 12.25 13.29 14.05 15.22 16.56 17.92
2.55 0.98 0.88 0.91 1 0.92 1.04 0.76 1.17 1.34 1.36
Figure 2.3 The results under Condition 3
3 2.5 2 1.5
Duration (secs)
1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 2.4 The results under Condition 4
Bar Number 1 2 3 4
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.98 2.97 4.18 5.06 6.21
0 1.96 2.95 4.17 5.03 6.26
Tap 3 0 2 2.99 4.16 5.02 6.18
Mean Tap 0 1.98 2.97 4.17 5.04 6.22
Duration 1.98 0.99 1.2 0.87 1.18 1.69
61 7.91 8.74 9.51 10.38 11.32 12.25 13.13 14.01 14.94 16.32 17.74
5 6 7 8 9
7.93 8.79 9.58 10.35 11.36 12.26 13.14 14.05 14.95 16.34 17.76
7.88 7.71 9.52 10.34 11.39 12.28 13.18 14.06 14.92 16 17.79
7.91 8.75 9.54 10.36 11.36 12.26 13.15 14.04 14.94 16.32 17.77
0.84 0.79 0.82 1 0.99 0.89 0.89 0.8 1.38 1.45
Figure 2.4 The results under Condition 4
2.5 2 1.5
Duration (secs)
1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 2.5 The results under Condition 5
Bar Number 1 2 3 4
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.76 2.86 3.96 4.89 6.04
0 1.74 2.86 3.99 4.86 6.02
Tap 3 0 1.72 2.82 3.94 4.9 6.03
Mean Tap 0 1.74 2.85 3.96 4.87 6.03
Duration 1.74 1.11 1.11 0.91 1.16 1.65
62 7.69 8.57 9.34 10.22 11.21 12.14 13.02 13.95 14.83 16.2 17.52
5 6 7 8 9
7.68 8.53 9.36 10.24 11.24 12.12 13.04 13.98 14.85 16.21 17.53
7.67 8.59 9.32 10.21 11.26 12.16 13.01 13.94 14.82 16.24 17.51
7.68 8.56 9.34 10.22 11.24 12.14 13.02 13.95 14.83 16.2 17.52
0.88 0.78 0.88 1.02 0.9 0.88 0.93 0.88 1.37 1.5
Figure 2.5 The results under Condition 5
2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0
Duration (secs)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Results of Subject Z Table 3.1 The results under Condition 1
Bar Number 1 2 3
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 0.99 1.98 3.13
0 0.97 1.95 3.15
Tap 3 0 0.95 1.94 3.12
Mean Tap 0 0.97 1.96 3.13
Duration 0.97 0.99 1.17 0.92
63 4.07 5.17 6.76 7.75 8.63 9.51 10.6 11.37 12.2 13.02 13.95 14.94 15.93
4 5 6 7 8 9
4.05 5.18 6.73 7.74 8.62 9.52 10.62 11.38 12.21 13.06 13.96 13.93 15.9
4.03 5.15 6.74 7.72 8.65 9.54 10.61 11.35 12.24 13.03 13.91 15.97 19.96
4.05 5.17 6.74 7.74 8.63 9.52 10.61 11.37 12.2 13.04 13.94 14.95 15.93
1.12 1.57 1 0.89 0.89 1.09 0.76 0.83 0.84 0.8 1.01 0.98
Figure 3.1 The results under Condition 1
1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8
Duration (secs)
0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 3.2 The results under Condition 2
Bar Number 1 2 3 4 5
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 0.88 1.92 3.08 4.01 5.11 6.65 7.69
0 0.83 1.93 3.07 4.02 5.13 6.63 7.64
Tap 3 0 0.86 1.95 3.04 4.05 5.16 6.67 7.65
Mean Tap 0 0.86 1.93 3.07 4.03 5.13 6.65 7.66
Duration 0.86 1.07 1.14 0.96 1.1 1.52 1.01 1.38
64 9.06 10.22 11.48 12.47 13.29 14.06 14.83 15.66 16.48
6 7 8 9
9.02 10.24 11.44 12.42 13.27 14.03 14.8 15.68 16.49
9.04 10.23 11.46 12.49 13.28 14.06 14.86 15.62 16.51
9.04 10.23 11.46 12.46 13.28 14.05 14.83 15.65 16.49
1.19 1.23 1 0.82 0.77 0.78 0.82 0.84
Figure 3.2 The results under Condition 2
1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8
Duration (secs)
0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 3.3 The results under Condition 3
Bar Number 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.09 2.47 3.46 4.66 5.71 7.41 8.23 9.28 10.21
0 1.04 2.49 3.48 4.64 5.73 7.42 8.25 9.24 10.24
Tap 3 0 1.1 2.46 3.43 4.69 5.79 7.47 8.26 9.25 10.25
Mean Tap 0 1.08 2.47 3.46 4.66 5.74 7.43 8.25 9.26 10.23
Duration 1.08 1.39 0.99 1.2 1.08 1.69 0.82 1.01 0.97 0.85
65 7 8 9
11.09 12.02 12.9 13.73 14.61 15.59 16.47
11.1 12.05 12.85 13.71 14.6 15.63 16.5
11.04 12.04 12.91 13.76 14.6 15.62 16.43
11.08 12.03 12.89 13.73 14.63 15.61 16.47
0.95 0.86 0.84 0.9 1.98 0.86
Figure 3.3 The results under Condition 3
2.5 2 1.5 Duration (secs) 1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 3.4 The results under Condition 4
Bar Number 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 1.98 2.97 4.18 5.06 6.21 7.91 8.74 9.51 10.38 11.32
0 1.96 2.95 4.17 5.03 6.26 7.93 8.79 9.58 10.35 11.36
Tap 3 0 2 2.99 4.16 5.02 6.18 7.88 7.71 9.52 10.34 11.39
Mean Tap 0 1.98 2.97 4.17 5.04 6.22 7.91 8.75 9.54 10.36 11.36
Duration 1.98 0.99 1.2 0.87 1.18 1.69 0.84 0.79 0.82 1 0.99
66 7
12.25 13.13 14.01 14.94 16.32 17.74
8 9
12.26 13.14 14.05 14.95 16.34 17.76
12.28 13.18 14.06 14.92 16 17.79
12.26 13.15 14.04 14.94 16.32 17.77
0.89 0.89 0.8 1.38 1.45
Figure 3.4 The results under Condition 4
2.5 2 1.5 Duration (secs) 1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Table 3.5 The results under Condition 5
Bar Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (seconds) Tap 1 Tap 2 0 2.64 3.79 5 5.99 6.7 8.46 9.34 10.44 11.37 12.41 13.29
0 2.66 3.75 5.03 5.95 6.73 8.42 9.35 10.47 11.35 12.46 13.26
Tap 3 0 2.63 3.78 5.06 6.02 6.7 8.47 9.36 10.42 11.33 12.43 13.3
Mean Tap 0 2.64 3.78 5.03 5.99 6.6 8.45 9.35 10.44 11.35 12.43 13.28
Duration 2.64 1.14 1.25 0.96 1.61 1.85 0.9 1.09 0.91 1.08 0.85 1.11
67 14.39 15.16 16.2 17.52 18.51
8 9
14.41 15.14 16.23 17.55 18.53
13.36 15.18 16.25 17.51 18.5
14.39 15.16 16.23 17.53 18.51
0.77 1.07 1.3 0.98
Figure 3.5 The results under Condition 5
3 2.5 2 1.5
Duration (secs)
1 0.5 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bar Number
Given the above, the following observations can be made about each subject during the conditions:
Subject X
Condition 1
68 Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.79-1.31 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a greater duration range of 0.32-1.16 seconds with 3 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 2
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.7-0.96 seconds with 0 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a greater duration range of 0.82-1.59 seconds with 5 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 3
Half-bars between 1-4½ have a duration range of 0.96-1.76 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.69-0.99 seconds with 0 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 4
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.83-1.32 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a greater duration range of 0.81-1.64 seconds with 6 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 5
69 Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 1.04-1.58 seconds with all 7 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.65-1.04 seconds with 2 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Effects of the Conditions on Rubato within bars 1-4 and 5-9
Under Condition 1, it appears that the subject used more rubato in bars 1-4 ½ than in 59. Generally, the subsequent conditions summon more rubato from bars 1-8. Examining the diversity Condition 2 (invoking sadness) and Condition 3 (invoking love), more rubato was used in bars 1-4 (structures expressing love) under Condition 3; visa-versa, more rubato was used in bars 5-9 (structures expressing sadness) under Condition 2. Examining the extra-diversity in Condition 4 (sadness) and Condition 5 (love), more rubato was used in bars 1-4 under Condition 5, even more than under Condition 3; visaversa, more rubato was used in bars 5-9 under Condition 4, even more than under Condition 2.
Subject Y
Condition 1
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.86-1.24 seconds with 3 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.53-1.15 seconds with 1 half-bar lasting over 1 second.
70 Condition 2
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.82-1.53 seconds with 3 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a greater duration range of 0.8-2.11 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second and 1 bar lasting over 2 seconds.
Condition 3
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.88-2.55 seconds with 3 half-bars lasting over 1 second and 1 bar lasting over 2 seconds. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.88-1.36 seconds with 5 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 4
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.84-1.98 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.79-1.45 seconds with 3 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 5
71 Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.88-1.74 seconds with all 5 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.78-1.5 seconds with 3 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Effects of the Conditions on Rubato within bars 1-4 and 5-9
Under Condition 1, it appears that the subject used more rubato in bars 1-4 than in 5-9. Generally, the subsequent conditions summon more rubato from bars 1-9. Examining the diversity in Condition 2 (invoking sadness) and Condition 3 (invoking love), more rubato was used in bars 1-4 (structures expressing love) under Condition 3; visa-versa, more rubato was used in bars 5-9 (structures expressing sadness) under Condition 2. Examining the extra-diversity in Condition 4 (sadness) and Condition 5 (love), more rubato was used in bars 1-4 under Condition 4, even more than under Condition 3; more rubato was used in bars 5-9 under Condition 4, even more than under Condition 2.
Subject Z
Condition 1
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.92-1.57 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.76-1.06 seconds with 2 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
72 Condition 2
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.86-1.52 seconds with 5 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.77-1.38 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 3
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.82-1.69 seconds with 5 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a greater duration range of 0.84-1.98 seconds with 2 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 4
Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.84-1.98 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.79-1.45 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Condition 5
73 Half-bars between 1-4 have a duration range of 0.9-2.64 seconds with 4 half-bars lasting over 1 second and 1 half-bar lasting over 2 seconds. Half-bars between 5-9 have a lower duration range of 0.77-1.3 seconds with 5 half-bars lasting over 1 second.
Effects of the Conditions on Rubato within bars 1-4 and 5-9
Under Condition 1, it appears that the subject used more rubato in bars 1-4 than in 5-9. Generally, the subsequent conditions summon more rubato in all bars. Examining the diverse Condition 2 (invoking sadness) and Condition 3 (invoking love), more rubato was used in bars 1-4 (structures expressing love) under Condition 3; more rubato was used in bars 5-9 (structures expressing sadness) under Condition 3 also. Examining the extradiverse Condition 4 (sadness) and Condition 5 (love), more rubato was used in bars 1-4 under Condition 5, even more than under Condition 3; visa-versa, more rubato was used in bars 5-9 under Condition 4, even more than under Condition 2.
Answers from Questionnaire
Q.1: Before Condition 2, did you experience the emotions of love and sadness resulting from their representative harmonic structures?
74 Subject X: Yes. As soon as I started practising I could tell each phrase had a very different mood. The more I played it became apparent that that the first phrase was slushy and romantic, and the second was full of sadness.
Subject Y: Yes. The first time I played the extract I could tell from the chromaticism and major intervals that the first section was romantic, and the second section was sad because of the minor intervals and appoggiaturas.
Subject Z: Yes. The first phrase reminded me of romantic film music, whereas the second reminded me of sad music in the Baroque style almost.
Q.2: What was your programme in Condition 4?
Subject X: I brought to mind a memory of leaving my sixth-form college when I was eighteen to go off to higher-education. I visualised the end of the prom when everyone started saying their goodbyes.
Subject Y: I visualised a memory of me playing in a competition when I was younger and not winning.
Subject Z: I imagined my dog who died a few years ago. Whenever I think of him I get sad.
75 Q.3: What was your programme in Condition 5?
Subject X: I remembered my boyfriend bringing me flowers on Valentine’s Day and giving him a big hug!
Subject Y: I remembered going to a fireworks display with my partner after he had proposed to me.
Subject Z: I recalled sitting down at a candle-lit meal with my girlfriend when we were on holiday last year.
Q.4: Did you utilise any techniques to assist your mental visualisation? If so, what were they?
Subject X: Yes. Before I played under the last condition, for example, I pieced together the memory which was helped by remembering the ring of the doorbell, what we said to each other, and the smell of the flowers. Subject Y: Yes. I tried to make the images brighter, imagine exactly what clothes were being worn, to make the sounds be heard clearer.
Subject Z: I found that I could visualise better when I looked up; that seemed to make images in my memory brighter.
76
4
EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL EVALUATION
Given the above, it appears that the results support my hypothesis: that a relationship can exist between experienced emotions of the memory, images of the memory, harmonic structures and rubato. Rubato was used under Condition 1 without a visual stimulus, probably because each subject realised the two segregated sets of structures and the emotions they represented (as confirmed in the questionnaire). Under this condition, more rubato was applied at structures representing love: this might relate to the subjects’
77 personalities or emotional states that day. One could investigate this by asking subjects questions based on personality and testing them on different days.
Under Conditions 2 and 3 where my programmes were given to enhance expression, rubato increased around harmonic structures of the Study Extract which correlated to the emotion of the programme. Not only does this support the research of Cooke and Sloboda, this suggests truth in the expressionistic belief of Seashore et al. that music can induce the same type of emotions –real emotions as Aristotle calls it– which we experience in life. It also supports Stephen Davies’s claim that, when we visualise, we become more aware of musical structures which correlate to the emotion of the programme. However, formalists such as Rosen, Goodson, and Kivy have a point when they state the importance of context. One can easily give counter-examples to Cooke and Sloboda based on this. Take the trio Suscepit Israel –a canticle from Bach’s Magnificat.
Figure 4 An extract of Suscepit Israel from Magnificat, J. S. Bach
The text is ‘Suscepit Israel puerum suum recordatus misericordiae suae’ (He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy) and, on the word Suscepit (helped), Bach applies a minor 1-2-3-4-5 progression. According to Cooke’s vocabulary, however, this represents an ‘outgoing feeling of pain, an assertion of sorrow, a complaint,
78 a protest against misfortune.’116 If this is correct, then why has Bach used the progression in this context? This confirms that the emotional effects of music are dependent on both context and harmony, a point made by Hudson in terms of the application of rubato.
Considering freedom of imagination, under Conditions 4 and 5, rubato is increased furthermore at correlating structures. Indeed, the questionnaire confirms that subjects could visualise, and did so using techniques to make the memory more associative in a sensory way –making lights brighter and smelling things stronger. Subject Z even said that he looked up to visualise –a technique advocated by Brandler and Grinder. This all consolidates theories of Stanislavski, Willbourn, and Garcia, who claim that imagery is perceived differently by each individual and everyone should choose their own imagery to heighten expression.
Formalistic views concur with a break in trend. This occurred in two instances: Subject Y used more rubato in structures representing love when asked to think of his own programme invoking sadness; in the second, Subject Z used more rubato in structures representing sadness when asked to think of my programme invoking love. This suggests that there are no watertight barriers between these two emotions even though Meyer has done his best to contrast them in terms of valence and intensity. In the case of Subject Z, he had to conjure up a memory of experienced “affectionate love.” Perhaps the subject had not experienced this emotion, or he perceived it differently to how I did. As Ekman states, love is a higher-cognitive and more complex emotion, and can be perceived differently in different cultures. In either case, this validates the use of free imagination as the subject did not break the trend when he was asked to think of his own programme. In 116
See Appendix 3
79 the case of Subject Y, maybe she could not visualise that memory particularly well –it could have been a bad choice as it appears that she visualised other memories well. Plessinger and Willbourn have noted that this occurs. In the future, subjects could spend more time invoking the most associated memories which induce the strongest emotions before playing.
It appears that, rather than advocating formalistic approaches, the above suggests flaws in methodology of which Sloboda has warned. As discussed in Chapter 2, there are many ways of making improvements, and, on similar reflection to Sloboda, a primitive and open-minded study such as this will no doubt add to the many other studies which have not been accepted completely. However, it appears that the overall objective has been reached by the means chosen. Cultivating a careful method of self-expression, ideas from both expressionism and formalism have been integrated and tested by a successful, initial study.
CONCLUSION This dissertation has proved that a relationship can exist between mental imagery from the memory, emotion from the memory, harmonic structure, and rubato. Having supported isolated aspects of the relationship from a wide range of secondary sources, and having supported the relationship in its entirety by conducting an empirical study, one hopes that performers who fail to self-express might consider trying out the method in which this relationship has been manifested. We have seen that this is a harmless
80 method which can be used up until one achieves a more natural access to real emotions indicated by harmony and context.
I advocate this method as it appears that, due to the influence of constrained, rational thinking in Western society, many performers and teachers now underestimate the importance of natural, expressive communication. However, most of us favour it. Indeed, new aesthetical research at Cardiff University confirms this substantially, indicating the many problems of musical autonomy.117 Even though it is a shame that we are compelled to prove the essence of music in this way, we live in a society that demands such proof before considering consideration. Let us hope, therefore, that the substance of this dissertation can further interest in performers and teachers so that they may carry forward the legacy of this essence to future generations.
APPENDICES Appendix 1: Harmonic Intervals and their Representative Functions according to Deryck Cooke118 Tonic: Emotionally neutral; context of finality. Minor Second: Semitonal tension down to the tonic, in a minor context: spiritless anguish, context of finality.
117
‘Hanslick and Problems of Musical Autonomy,’ incomplete doctoral dissertation, (Accessed 1 April 2006) < http://www.cf.ac.uk/music/pg/researchprogrammes.html> 118 Cooke, D, op. cit., pp. 89-90
81 Major Second: As a passing note, emotionally neutral. As a whole-tone tension down to the tonic, in a major context, pleasurable longing, context of finality. Minor Third: Concord, but a ‘depression’ of natural third: stoic acceptance, tragedy. Major Third: Concord, natural third: joy. Normal Fourth: As a passing note, emotionally neutral. As a semitonal tension down to the minor third, pathos. Sharp Fourth: As modulating note to the dominant key, active aspiration. As ‘augmented fourth’, pure and simple, devilish and inimical forces Dominant: Emotionally neutral; context of flux, intermediacy. Minor Sixth: Semitonal tension down to the dominant, in a minor context: active anguish in a context of flux. Major Sixth: As a passing note, emotionally neutral. As a whole-tone tension down to the dominant, in major context, pleasurable longing in a context of flux. Minor Seventh: Semitonal tension down to major sixth, or whole-tone tension down to minor sixth, both unsatisfactory, resolving again down to the dominant: ‘lost’ note, mournfulness. Major Seventh: a passing note, emotionally neutral. As a semitonal tension up to the tonic, violent longing, aspiration in a context of finality.
Appendix 2: Harmonic Intervals and their Representative Functions according to Costa, Bitti, and Bonfiglioli et al. 119
Minor Second: Dissonant, painful, uptight, afflicted, discouraged, humiliated. Major Second: Dissonant, in suspense, tormented, sad, uptight, eager, pleasant. Minor Third: Painful, severe, languid, sweet, melancholy, frank, still, submitted. Major Third: Sonorous, joyous, furious, strong, cheerful, pleasant, 119
Costa M., Bitti, P. E. R., Bonfiglioli, L., Psychological Connotations of Harmonic Musical Intervals (University of Bologna, 2000), 28, 4-22
82 happy, right, pure, quiet, stable, shining. Normal Fourth: Lugubrious, active, tense. Sharp Fourth: Hostile, averse, destructive, mysterious. Dominant: Consonant, pleasurable, stimulating, gentle, acrimonious, healthy, agreeable. Minor Sixth: Pleasant, consonant, painful, discontented, strained, distressing, active, unstable. Major Sixth: Pleasant, consonant, unstable, sweet, desirous, bright, Tense. Minor Seventh: Dissonant, sad, painful, empty, melancholy, severe, strained, bewildered, lugubrious, unsatisfied. Major Seventh: Dissonant, tense, bitter, disagreeable, gloomy, optimist.
Appendix 3: Pitch-Directions and their Representative Functions according to Deryck Cooke120
Ascending Major, 1-2-3-4-5: Expresses outgoing emotion of joy. Ascending Major, 5-1-2-3: Expresses outgoing emotion of joy. Ascending Minor, 1-2-3-4-5: Expresses outgoing feeling of pain, sorrow, complaint, a protest against misfortune. Ascending Minor, 5-1-2-3: Expresses pure tragedy (aiming at the minor 3rd), strength of purpose (firmly and decisively). Descending Major, 5-4-3-2-1: Expresses incoming emotion of joy passively, relief, consultation, reassurance, fulfilment, ‘having come home’. 120
Cooke, D., op. cit., pp. 115-166
83 Descending Minor, 5-4-3-2-1: Expresses incoming emotion of pain in a context of finality; acceptance of, yielding to, grief; discouragement and depression; passive suffering; and despair connected with death. Minor, 5-3-2-1: Expresses a passionate outburst of painful emotion which does not protest further, but falls back into acceptance –a flow and ebb of grief. Restless sorrow – neither complete protest nor acceptance. Minor, 1-2-3-2-1: “To look on the darker side of things” in a context of immobility, neither rising up to protest, nor falling back to accept. Expresses brooding, an obsession with gloomy feelings, a trapped fear, or sense of inescapable doom, especially when repeated over and over. Major, 5-6-5: (Major 3rd on the subdominant – I-Vc-I). This is a “simple assertion of joy,” also an element of longing or pleading when played slowly; a joyful serenity also. Minor, 1-2-3-2: Gloomy, both Beethoven and Tchaikovsky used this in works called ‘Pathétique.’ The 6-5 of the dominant is an appoggiatura. In a slow tempo it expresses a sense of brooding self grief swelling out briefly into a burst of anguish and dying away again. When it’s quick, the feeling is of agitated obsession. Major, 1-2-3-4-5-6-5: Expresses the innocence and purity of angels and children, or some natural phenomenon which possesses the same qualities in men. It is an affirmation of maximum joy. Minor, 1-2-3-4-5-6-5: Expresses a powerful assertion of fundamental unhappiness, the “protest” of 1-3-5 being extended into the anguish of 1-6-5. Major, 8-7-6-5: This is a fall from the tonic to the dominant. Expresses incoming emotion of joy, an acceptance or welcoming of comfort, consolation, or fulfilment. Ending on dominant, it has an open, continuing feeling towards the future. No finality. Minor, 8-7-6-5: Expresses a painful emotion, an acceptance of, or yielding to, grief; passive suffering; and despair connected with death. Minor, descending chromatic scale: Expresses a despairing descent; more “weary,” lament, death. If it’s slow, it is like a slow, painful sinking; ebbing away. Major, chromatic scale: Expresses a feeling of passionate love: Godly in Bach, erotic in Tchaikovsky, and a lullaby in Schubert.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Ahsen, A., ‘ISM: The Triple Code Model for Imagery and Psychophysiology’ in Journal of Mental Imagery (1984) Bandler, R, and Grinder, J., Frogs into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming (Real People Press, 1979) Bannister, D., and Fransella, F., Inquiring Man: The Theory of Personal Constructs (Penguin Books, 1971)
84 Barnett, D., The Performance of Music (Universe Books, 1972) Barzun, J., ‘The Meaning of Meaning in Music: Berlioz Once More’ in Music Quarterly (1980) Budd, M., Music and the Emotions: The Philosophical Theories (Routledge, 1994) Callen, D., ‘The Sentiment in Musical Sensibility’ in Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (1982) Castiglioni, N., Il Linguaggio Musicale dal Rinascimento ad oggi, (Ricordi, 1959) Cole, T., ed., Acting: A Handbook of the Stanislavski Method (Crown Publishers, 1955) Cooke, D., The Language of Music (OUP, 1959) Cooke, J., F., ed.,Great Pianists on Piano Playing (Dover Publications, 1999) Costa, M., Bitti, P. E. R., and Bonfiglioli, L., Psychological Connotations of Harmonic Musical Intervals (University of Bologna, 2000) Dalgleish, T., and Power, M., eds., Handbook of Cognition and Emotion (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 1999) Davies, J., B., The Psychology of Music (Hutchinson, 1978) Davies, S., Musical Meaning and Expression (Cornell University Press, 1994) Dowling, W. J., and Harwood, D. L., Music Cognition (Academic Press, 1986) Finck, H. T., ed., Success in Music and How it is Won (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927) Galilei, G., ‘Dialoghi Intorno a Due Nuove Scienze’ in G. Galilei, Opera Omnia (National Library of Italy, 1966) Gay, P., Freud -A Life for Our Time (W. W. Norton & Co., 1998) Gervasoni, C., La Scuola della Musica in Tre Parti Divisa (Niccolo Orcesi, 1800) Gianelli, P., Grammatica Ragionata della Musica, Ossia Nuovo Metodo Facile di Apprendere a Ben Suonare e Cantare (A. Santini, 1801) Gurney, E., The Power of Sound (Basic Books, 1966)
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87 Willbourn, H., The Human Emotions (Bantam Press, 2003)
DISCOGRAPHY Ignacy Jan Paderewski: Etude in E, Op. 10 No. 3 by Chopin, from Ignacy Jan Paderewski: Great Pianists of the 20th Century (Philips, 1999) CD 456919 Rebecca Penneys: Etude in E, Op. 10 No. 3 by Chopin, from Chopin Etudes: Complete (Centaur Records, 1994) CD 2210
The Art of Piano - Great Pianists of 20th Century (NVC Arts, 2002), DVD B00004UF01
88
WEBOGRAPHY Garcia, S., (Accessed 10 December 2005) <music.sc.edu/ea/keyboard/PPF/5.1/5.1.PPFpp.sec4.html > Kirkpatrick, A., (Accessed 10 December 2005) <musicteachermag.com/motivationalrepertoire.htm>
89 Plessinger, A., The Effects of Mental Imagery on Athletic Performance (Accessed 5 October 2005)
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