Re: GG: Tuning (happy vs sad keys/chords)

[Bradley Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

At 11:50 AM 5/17/2000 -0400, St-Louis,Robert [NCR] wrote:
> 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.).  (...) A fascinating subject, that has no doubt been discussed by
> many academics
> during the ages.  Interesting to think about...

Yes, you're asking about the "Doctrine of Affections" which was one of the
fundaments of Baroque music.  There were specific musical gestures for all
sorts of things, and it was sometimes also tied in principle to classical
(Greek) rhetoric.  It was an objective science.  Speakers, composers, and
performers studied the *craft* of how to move people with gestures and
form.  Music was a language full of specific meanings and associations,
pretty much like speech.  You'll find some pretty good introductions here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=doctrine+affections (plus of course in music
dictionaries and encyclopedias).

And if you can find a copy of Nikolaus Harnoncourt's book _Baroque Music
Today: Music as Speech_, that's a fascinating one to read on this
topic.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0931340918

His book _The Musical Dialogue: Thoughts on Monteverdi, Bach, and Mozart_
is also good.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574670239


Bradley Lehman
Dayton VA
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl