GG: Tuning (happy vs sad keys/chords)

["St-Louis,Robert [NCR]" <Robert.St-Louis@EC.GC.CA>]

This thread has me thinking a great deal about something I have always
wondered (in very much of a layperson way, as I am not a musical academic in
any way).  What makes a piece "happy" and what makes another "sad"?  Is
there something intrinsic in the music that connotates human emotions?
Certainly, some aspects of tempo, key, note sequences (falling or rising)
can be used to provide a distinct "feel" to the piece, but how is
association to emotion accomplished?  As has been said, the use of minor
keys is easily associated to sadder, nostalgic, somber moods, but how does
that happen?  When someone speaks and is sad, we can often tell from the way
he/she speaks, the inflection of the voice, the sentences ending in a
falling tone, lesser intensity of voice, etc.  And the opposite also being
true: someone happy usually having more liveliness in the voice, sentences
ending on an upbeat tone, etc.  Are some of these "human voice"
characteristics for sad/happy moods transferable to instruments, thereby
producing the sad/happy pieces?  How does this translation occur, is it done
consciously or unconsciously, are there principles that are used (no doubt
composers of the past had "formulas" that they would use to come up with
pieces that would match the mood of an occasion - a wedding, a funeral,
etc.).
[One thought I had is that perhaps this is socially transmitted: ie. the
same way that as a child we are told that "this is a tree", "the sky is
blue", etc., perhaps we grow up hearing music associated with images
(especially in our multimedia age), and having the images (and the emotions
they convey in us) convey a related mood to the accompanying music.  The
rock videos really prey on this: having often-banal, totally uninteresting
material (music and lyric wise) associated in our minds with vivid,
attractive or otherwise impressive visual stimulation.  I could think also
of the music used in Kubrick's 2001, or other great films that have lent a
different "feel" to our sensations when we later hear the music in another
context (I guess Gould played with this in some of his film soundtrack
work).]  
A fascinating subject, that has no doubt been discussed by many academics
during the ages.  Interesting to think about...
  --Robert

____________________________________
 Robert St-Louis -- Env.Assmt.Branch, Hull
  Tel 819-953-1524 -- Fax 819-953-4093
      Bonne journée -- Have a nice day!



-----Original Message-----
From: Thayer A [mailto:A.Thayer@RHBNC.AC.UK] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2000 11:32 AM
To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
Subject: Re: GG: Tuning


I know that diatonicism was not officially invented until the times of
Corelli, but I'm quite confident that some composers had associations with
major and minor keys (even if they didn't know them as major and minor
keys). I'm no expert on this, but in the history course I just did I have
been told that Italian madrigalists often have certain emotional
associations with modes. Weelkes (an Italian influenced composer in england)
does actually tend to use keys (or rather hexachordal modes) with a minor
feel for 'sad' pieces and those with a major feel for happier ones. I won't
dispute what others have stated here, as this is certainly not my particular
field, but I'm sure that there were already certain associations with
tonalities (even if they were not officially defined) in the renaissance
times. I don't believe for a moment that we have merely attached particular
emotions to particular keys. I'm quite confident that there is an inherent
emotional differentiation between major and minor keys and that any composer
attempting to override this (eg. writing a sad piece in a major key) must
make a concious effort do so. Often when a piece in a major key is indeed
'sad' it relies on a great deal of chromaticism to be so. It is hard to
generate a 'sad' feel when the standard chords of a major key are used
conventionally.

Andrew