Name:Julianne Heitelman

School/Affiliation:McMaster University

Co-Authors:Cameron J. Anderson, Michael Schutz

Virtual or In-person:In-person

Abstract:

Composers convey emotion in music by manipulating musical cues. Psychoacoustic cues, such as timing and loudness, are widely associated with perceived arousal (low—high emotional intensity), whereas structural cues like a piece’s major/minor mode contribute to valence (negative—positive quality). However, musicological studies suggest that composers' use of these cues changed markedly between different musical periods. For instance, during the Classical era, it was typical to compose major pieces with fast tempi and minor pieces with slow tempi, whereas this pattern reversed in the Romantic era. To clarify how differences in composers’ cue use affect perceived emotion, the present study explores the compositions of two Classical and two Romantic composers. We chose to explore prelude sets because of their consistency in instrumentation and balanced representation of major and minor modes. Across four experiments, groups of 30 non-musicians rated valence and arousal in 24 musical excerpts, with each experiment focusing on works by one composer. Quantifying the unique and combined roles of pitch, timing, and mode on emotion ratings suggests that cues’ effects are more consistent for the two Romantic composers than the two Classical composers. Further analyses will explore a broader range of musical cues to provide further insight into historical differences in emotional communication through music.