The Elements of Expression in Music: A Psychological View / Element Ekspresije u Glazbi: Psihologijsko Stajalite Author(s): Robert Tallant Laudon

Source: International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Dec., 2006), pp. 123-133 Published by: Croatian Musicological Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032192 . Accessed: 06/10/2011 16:40
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R. T. LAUDON: ELEMENTS OF EXPRESSIONIN MUSIC, IRASM 37 (2006) 2, 123-133

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THEELEMENTS EXPRESSION MUSIC. IN OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW

ROBERT TALLANTLAUDON EmeritusProfessorof Musicology

- University of Minnesota

UDC:78.01 OriginalScientific Paper Izvorniznanstvenirad Received:January 2006 11, 11. 2006. Primljeno: sijeenja Accepted:May 14,2006 14. Prihvaeeno: svibnja2006.

924-18thAve. SE Minnesota 55414 MINNEAPOLIS, U.S.A. E-mail: laudo001@tc.umn.edu

Abstract- Resume"
Hanslick recognized the importance of the new auditory sciences of physiology and psychology for the study of feelings in music; but, in the auditory science of his day, he found no explanation of emotions within the complex art of music. A concept of the emotions given by William James in 1890 opened new possibilities. The so-called James-Lange theory proposed that emotions started in the motions and tensions of the body and were only later felt by the brain. Donald N. Ferguson in 1922 recognized

the similarity of music's elements of motion and tension to the bodily ones. He put forth a theory that music of great composers could represent, by its elements, an emotion or complex of emotions that humans feel. Two examples of Bach fugue subjects show his method. Reference is made to recent psychological studies. Key Words: Emotion; Feeling in Music; Auditory Science; James-Lange Theory; Ferguson, Donald; Hanslick, Eduard; James, William

EduardHanslick,eminentmusician-critic Vienna,set out in mid-nineteenth of centuryto considerwhetherit was possible to justifythe common conceptionthat music's aim was the expression of feelings. He concluded that while music was capable of stirring emotion, it could not represent specific emotions.' While he
I

Hanslick used the terms, die Empfindungenor die Geffihle.

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wrote partly as a polemic against Wagner's and Liszt's music,2and partly as a achievements the musical>>classics,<< founded of he also championof the remarkable his essay on scientificprinciplesas understood in the 1850sand for some decades thereafter. In the fourthchapterof VomMusikalisch-Schdinen,the MusicallyBeautiful,3 On he consideredwhat explanationsof >>feelings<< arousedby music could be gleaned from psychology and physiology, two intertwinedsciences of his day. This chapter and the following one-contrasting what he termed the aesthetic and pathological perceptions of music-were published in August of 1853 by the Osterreichische und fiir Literatur Kunst,over a year beforethe complete treaBli'tter tise made its appearance;4 early publicationis an indicationof the emphasis he the placed on objectiveand scientificevidence. Laterhe preparedvarious editions of his largeressay and added details to this fourth chapterwithout significantlyaltering his conclusions.5 The >>triumphantly and progressing science of physiology<<6 its hybrid, psywere providing precise informationon how the various senses received chology, and relayed data, how the nervous system sent signals to the brain,and what the limits of discrimination the varioussenses were.Anatomical for evidencewas showing human sensationto be based on commonphysical-chemical processesand not upon supernaturalor spiritualforces as had been thought. Hanslickfound the work of the nineteenth-century physiologist-psychologists and the >>of utmost importance<< welcomed the advances of auditory physiology
2 In the 1850s,the Tannhaiiser Ouverture began to be frequentlyperformed,Wagner'sessays on the music-drama were published,and Liszt'ssymphonicpoemswere in preparation performance. and Hanslick's concern over these is forcefully expressed in the preface to the second edition of Vom Musikalisch-Schdnen and in the prefaceto the thirdedition(1865)--bywhich time he had encoun(1858) tered Tristan, Nibelungenring Wagner's>>doctrine endless melody, raisedto an exaltedprinthe and of ciple of formlessness,a systematicnon-music[Nichtmusik]writtenin melodic-nervousfever on five See Aus 2nd Vereinfiirdeutsche Leben, ed.,2 vols. (Berlin: Allgemeiner lines.<< alsoE.HANSLICK, meinem Hanslickconsidered,as the titleof his essay makesclear,onlythe >>beautiful.<< In Litteratur, 1894),1:236. a mideighteenthcentury anotheraspect of art had developed and been recognized:the >>sublime,<< wilder and more awe-inspiringtype of expression,that continuedto be the aspirationof many ninecomposers.The beautifuland the sublimewere regardedas the opposing poles of exteenth-century and pression-the beautifulfindingvalue in formalperfection the sublimein the violentmoving of the emotions. made 3 The renderingof VomMusikalisch-Schdnen by GeoffreyPAYZANTas On theMusically Hackett,1986)basedon the eightheditionis the firstadequateEnglishtranslaBeautiful, (Indianapolis: tion of Hanslick'sfamous work. 4 See the text in Eduard Historisch-kritische ed. HANSLICK, Schriften, Ausgabe, with comSa'mtliche vol. mentaryby DietmarStrauft, I/2 (Vienna: B6hlauVerlag,1994),232-46. S The variantsin the editions from the first throughthe tenth have now been made availableby in DietmarStraulR his historical-critical editionof VomMusikalisch-Schdnen (Mainz:Schott,1990). 6 G. PAYZANT, VomMusikalisch-Schdnen, 8. verm. und 51; Musically Beautiful, E. HANSLICK, verb.Aufl., (Leipzig:J. A. Barth,1891),133 (hereafter cited as VMS).

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such as the >>epoch-makingLehrevon den Tonempfindungenof Helmholtz.<7 As a result of these researches one could understand the pathway of nerves, the strucwhole process ture of the inner ear, and even the external effects of acoustics. >>The Hanslick wrote. Yet of tonal sensation is now physiologically comprehensible,8<< despite this successful research, he realized that no science gave an explanation of how the brain interprets the musical elements but only the mechanisms by which sound reaches the brain-what was generally called Gehdrspsychologie, auditory psychology. influence of music upon our nervHanslick acknowledged that the >>intensive ous system supports music's claim to a superabundance of power greater than that of the other arts.<9He knew that psychology recognized the >mesmeric compulsion of the impression which certain chords, timbres, and melodies make upon the whole human organism;<< but, within the psychology of that day, he could find only an explanation of how simple sounds are heard. Any interpretation of the complexity of sounds and the intricate relationships of actual music was lacking. We could say that the sciences of his day were able to determine the vibration rate of A-the opening melodic note of Beethoven's PastoralSymphony-they could measure its intensity and duration, they could trace its waves through the air to the auditory canal and the more intricate structures of the inner ear where that particular note would activate the proper part of the cochlea, they could follow the nerve pathway to the brain. Yet these scientifically-described pathways could not explain the relationship of that note to the accompanying bass drone of F and C, the continuation of the note A into a musical figure that dominates the whole first movement, nor the reaction of the listener to the melody and rhythm of that magical motive which sets both structure and mood. Hanslick despaired of an answer. Whatphysiology has to offer the science of music is of the utmost importancefor our comprehensionof auditoryimpressionsas such, but not as music. In this connection, physiology has gone about as far as it can go. Butwith regardto the centralproblems of music, this is not the case. The science of music has still a long way to go.1'

was published in 1863. 54; MusicallyBeautiful, VMS, 141. Helmholtz's Lehre 7 G. PAYZANT, Hanslick'sreferencefirst occurredin the third edition (1865)of VomMusikalisch-Schdnen. Hanslick's earlieropinion did not changebut Helmholtz'swork gave him a brilliantfoil for his ideas. 8 G. PAYZANT,Musically 54; Beautiful, VMS, 141: >>der ganze Vorgang der Tonempfindung ist.< physiologischverstiindlich ihr 9G. PAYZANT, 51; Musically Beautiful, VMS,132:>>vindiziert in derTateinen Machtfiberschull vor den anderenKiinsten.<< 10 PAYZANT, G. die 56; Musically Beautiful, VMS,147:>>Was Physiologieder Musikwissenschaft der als bietet, ist von h6chsterWichtigkeitffir unsere Erkenntnis Behorseindriicke solcher,in dieser in wird Beziehungkanndurchsie noch mancherFortschritt geschehen: der musikalischen Hauptfrage dies kaumje der Fallsein.<

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Some seventy years after Hanslick published his fourth and fifth chapters, Donald N. Ferguson approachedthe public with a theory based on principles of psychology, a newer psychology that showed a way out of Hanslick's impasse. Ferguson, in preparationfor his Master'sDegree examinationsin 1922, studied with many subjects.He >>read the interestwhich I am sure it must have evoked in reader,WilliamJames'stwo volumes on the Principles Psychology.<<" every of James devoted a majorportion of his second volume to movement, instinct, and emotion, threeintertwinedtopics, subjectsfor which he is principallyremembered today. He believed that sensationsproduceda movement, movement of ,a the entire organism and of each and all its parts.<< thus was taking account of He movements as subtle as shifts in size of the pupils of the eyes; conditions of the blood vessels; subtle motions of the moving parts;plus changesin circulation,resIn piration,sweat glands, abdominalviscera,and voluntarymuscles.12 the last case, he quoted F6r6's experiment on contraction of the muscles measured by a dynamometer. When certain stimuli were present, the subject'sstrength of grip was increased.Among these >thedynamogenicvalue of simple musical notesseems to be proportionalto theirloudness and height. Wherethe notes are compounded into sad strains, the muscularstrength diminishes. If the strainsare gay, it is inIn creased.<'3 addition to such changes in tension, Jamesalso reported that >obof rage, love, fear,etc., not only prompta man to outwarddeeds, but provoke jects characteristic alterationsin his attitudeand visage, and affecthis breathing,circuand other organicfunctionsin specific ways.<<14 lation, From these observations,James propounded, along with the Danish physiologist, CarlLange, a theory of the emotions-that placed theirbeginnings not in the brain but in the tension and motor impulses of the muscles, limbs, organs of sense, and internalorgans. The basis for emotions themselves was indeed physiological, changes in the body that the brain sensed and felt. While this theory of emotions has a superficialsimilarityto the affectionsof the BaroqueEraand even to the mechanism(thoughnot throughsome imagined>animal this spirits<<), newer concept realized that emotions changed quickly,affectionswere relativelystatic. ForJames,it was the motions and the tensionsof the body that gave power to emotions: the wouldbe purelycogWithout bodilystatesfollowing theperception, latter the on warmth. mightthensee the nitivein form,pale,colorless, destitute emotional of We but the bear,andjudgeit bestto run,receive insultanddeemit rightto strike, should notactually afraid angry.15 feel or
82v. and 83r. HandwrittenAutobiography, 11Donald N. FERGUSON,
12

W. 2:379 13 JAMES, Principles,

2 WilliamJAMES, Principles Psychology, vols. (New York:H. Holt, 1890),2:372ff. The of

2:442. 14W. JAMES, Principles, 15 JAMES, W. 2:450. Principles,

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As Ferguson studied James's Principles, he was seized by a sudden insight: I realized from that reading something of the process of emotion as nervous tension and motor outlet; and one day it struck me that the nervous tension was possibly portrayable the tonaltensions of music, and the motoroutletby its rhythm.I began by to look into music of significancein that light;found that it seemed to illuminatethe imaginative process which created the masterpiecesI had been dealing with in my and new course; [Bach-Beethoven-Wagner-Brahms] have spent the rest of my life in to formulatea general hypothesis of musical structurein accordwith that notrying tion.16 In tonally-oriented music of those composers, the height or depth of pitch, its movement up or down, the use of rest tones of the tonic harmony or more active tones, and the inclusion of chromatic tones are some of the factors that awaken tension or relaxation. Tempo, meter, variety of note values, and various rhythms are some that arouse the feeling of motion. These two concepts of tension and motion, what Ferguson termed the >elements of expression in music,< were to him just as essential as the structural and formal elements of music.17 Two examples drawn from Volume One of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavierwill show how Ferguson's theory can be applied. These are chosen because one can concentrate upon the fugue subjects themselves without more complex interplay of several themes and their dramatic presentation such as could be found in the Post-Baroque Era. Fugue 17 in A-Flat Major and Fugue 24 in B Minor both avoid the force of an initial downbeat. They outline the notes of the tonic triad, the first, third and fifth notes of the scale, the tonal pivot around which the pieces will revolve. They both

16 N. FERGUSON, D. 82 Autobiography, v. and 83 r. Fergusonwrote an essay on the topic which he submittedto TheMusicalQuarterly which had alreadypublishedhis articleon piano techniqueand expression.OscarSonneckfound it >quiteunsuitable.< Fergusonnext expressedhis ideas for national audiencesat the 1925conventionof MTNA,the MusicTeachers NationalAssociation,at thattime still the organization which shelteredmusicology.Laterhe addressedthe 1940conventionof MTNAwhere the group gave him a standingovationfor his essay >>Whata MusicalIdea?<(MusicTeachers is National Association for His work on this questionis Proceedings 1941,113-120). most important large-dimension Musicas Metaphor, Elements Expression the of (Minneapolis: Universityof Minnesota,1960).Even at age 100he was laboringon a book (neverfinished)to help listenersgainmoresensitivityto music.Ferguson probablyreceived some impetus for the study of psychologyfrom his friend,Harlow StearnsGale, a studentof WilhelmWundtand otherGermanphysiologistswho foundedpsychologybased on experimentalprinciples.As early as the late 1890s,Gale gave at the Universityof Minnesotaa course in the psychology of music which consideredmusic as a living art ratherthan as an auditoryphenomenon, seemingly the firstsuch coursegiven anywhere-an event thatremainedlost on the greaterworld. 17 D. N. FERGUSON, Metaphor, ChapterFive, discusses in detail the role of emotion in life and thought. Psychologistsof today who are exploring the evolutionaryaspect of man's emotional self might be interestedto observethatFergusonrecognized)not merelytransientemotionbut the whole natureof man'spast emotionalexperiencein the character (whichis literallythe engraving)of his facial (D. Metaphor,61). expression<( N. FERGUSON,

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rise to the sixth degree, an active melodic tone, a note out of the tonal center,and they are constructedfrom a series of eighth notes. Despite these superficialsimilarities,they differ greatly in detail and in the type of feeling that they arouse. Example 1: Fugue in A-flat Major

The meter of the A-flat Fugue, common time, 4/4, sets a straightforward marchingbackgroundwith none of the circularmotion we might experiencewith triple meter.No tempo was indicatedby Bach.Thatwould be dictatedby the perThe formerwho would judge by the Affect of the composition.'1 melodic motion within this meter is composed of two contrastingelements, (1) the Fugue Subject in skipwise motion of eighth notes and (2) the Countermelodiesof continuous Theserhythms stepwise motion in sixteenthnotes, double the speed of the Subject. remainunchanging;even the Episodes are built from the same material.The Subjectbecomes a rhythmicforegroundthat suggests stabilityand assuranceover the continuous runningbackgroundof the Countermelodies19 particularlyas well because the bright majormode predominatesthroughoutmost of the piece. Bach chose a Fugue Subjectof seven notes, all rest tones except the fifth and sixth notes-F and D-flat-which, however, do not move on to something new and exciting but act more as ornamentaltones that circle around the dominant tone, the last note of the Fugue Subject,giving us a tension/relaxationcomponent that is restful.20 This Subjectrequiresa tonal answer which means that the fundamental tonality will be sustained for extended periods of time (about21 measures The out of a 35 measurecomposition),anothersign of a restfulnature.21 only break in the unfolding of the musical materialscomes at the thirdmeasurefrom the end (measure 33) after which the inner voices become harmonicinstead of melodic in and the Subjectin the soprano voice and its running Countersubject the bass of this piece, are given an voice, the most basic elements of the musical structure impressive summation.If we were to considerthe feeling quality that arises from
18 Tempo must be governed also by the number of differentnote values. If there were many differentnote values, it would be impossible to performas fast as if there were few. The harmonic backgroundalso had to be considered. An 19 notable example of the nobility given to a slow-moving theme when set against a backgroundof steady runningnotes of double the speed of the themecan be found in the setting of >>Herr, Du bist wiirdig<in Movement6 of Brahms's deutsches Ein Requiem. 20 Thatis, outside of the basic tonic triad. 21 The fugue is worked out in four separatevoices, a texturethat could become ratherthick, however this is relievedby many passageswrittenfor threevoices alone.

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this combinationof assured movement and relative lack of tension then the primary emotion might be one of happiness with a prominent attendant feeling of well-being.
Example 2: Fugue in B Minor

The meter of the B Minor Fugue is also 4/4, again a steady marchingbackground. The pace of the fugue was specified by Bach as Largo, an Italian term or one meaning ylarge<< )broad,<< of the slowest temposin music.Suchtempo markareextremelyrarein Bach'smusic and indicatesomethingof unusual profunings dity, something far removed fromthe commonplace.ThisSubjectconsists of nineteen eighth notes-much more lengthy than the Subjectof the A-flatMajorFugue. The Subjectends with a penultimatehalf note, a breakin the movement,leading to a concludingresolutiontone.Twelve of these notes aremarkedby Bachinto slurred groups of two notes so that the steadiness of the consecutive eighth notes is broken. The second note of each pair is a half-stepbelow the first creating the wellknown rhetoricalfigure of sorrow known as the Seufzer, >>sigh.<<22 Seufzer the Each a jagged, torturedmotion. While the leaps up or down to the next Seufzer giving countermelodies have some runningeighthnotes,this movementis by no means do steady and the motion is frequentlyinterruptedby leaps and by a variety of note values, a more agitatedmotion than that of the A-flatMajorFugue.The disturbed motion of this composition might well arouse a feeling of unease. The minor mode of this composition gives a darker,more unsettled quality than that of the major mode of the A-flat MajorFugue.23 extreme tension is An found in this Fugue Subject.The constantuse of chromaticsemitones negates the stability of the tonic notes, the rest tones. Three tones of the Subjectdo not even belong to the key of B Minor:C natural,E sharp,and B sharp, the last belying the In keynote itself.24 measure2, the Subjectmoves upward by largeleaps, the higher notes bringinggreaterand greatertension, especiallywhen they go to unexpected
22 The feeling tone of the Crucifixus of Bach'sB MinorMass is set by a slowly revolving triple meter and an ostinatobass with chromaticmotion above which the word cru-ci-fi'-xus set with a is on Seufzer the accentedsyllable,a well-acceptedtopos of tragedyin the BaroqueEra. 2 Musiciansworking within the tonal system have long recognizedthat the minor third is less stablethanthe majorthirdand basedon this recognition have allowed the minorthirdto be doubled in othervoices to give it morestabilitywhereasthe brightermajorthirdis not doubled.In Bach'sB Minor Fugue, the minorthirdwould not have made a stableand definitiveconclusionand so Bachused the de majorthirdfor the final cadence(measure76), a practiceknown as the tierce Picardie. 24 Thatnote is really the dominantof the dominant.

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active tones.25Even though Bach dwells on the subject almost relentlessly, he does give the listener some relief and contrast (measures 17-20, 26-29, and 65-68) when he constructs episodes in major keys. None of these is extended in length to the point of alleviation.26 Such a fixation upon elements of disturbance intensify the feeling tone of this composition. The Fugue Subject and its treatment arouse a primary feeling of sadness and are tense enough to suggest suffering and grief.27 In discussing emotion and feelings, we always are confronted with questions of terminology. Some believed, as Mendelssohn did, that music itself was more definite than any verbal expression. People often complainthatmusic is too ambiguous;thatwhat they should thinkwhen they hear it is so unclear,whereas everyoneunderstandswords. Withme it is exactly the reverse, and not only with regard to an entire speech, but also with individual words. These, too, seem to me so ambiguous,so vague, so easily misunderstoodin comparisonto genuine music, which fills the soul with a thousandthings betterthan words. The thoughtswhich areexpressedto me by music thatI love arenot too indefitoo nite to be put into words, but on the contrary, definite.And so I find in every effort to expresssuch thought,thatsomethingis rightbut at the same time, thatsomethingis lackingin all of them.28 Emotions and feelings as experienced by humans are seldom something simthat can be adequately explained in one word such as sad, happy, or even in a ple short phrase. The two fugue subjects just discussed derive a major portion of their impact from their Countersubjects and their use in the total fabric as they do from their intrinsic nature. It is the arts that have been most successful in conveying attendant feelings in all their complexities. A poet or novelist may take a whole
in 25Climaxes music aremadeby upwardmotion.Thegreatertensionof higherpitchescan even be found in the human voice where cries of alarmare made with the higherpitchesof the tense vocal cords. One can observe a similarqualityin the high pitchesand fast repetitionsof the cries of threatened birds or in the tense yelps of a wounded or alarmeddog. Darwinnoticedthe changesin voice of JennyOrangfrom the silent laugh to the agitatedwhine. The Frenchphilosopheswere aware of the du close connectionof sounds of speechand feeling-especially Diderotwho saw in this fusiona langue coeur. with deathat this time evident in such phrases 26 One is remindedof the Lutheran preoccupation as >>Liebster wann werd'ich sterben< [World, [Dearest God,when will I die] or >>Welt, Nacht<< Gott, gute good night] in the Bachcantatas,frankrecognitionbalancedby the convictionof resurrection. to some of the accepted 27 In the analysis of Bachfugues, offeredabove, I have made reference thoughts in the society of Bach'sday, beliefs constitutinga topos made concreteby the musicalsymbols of sorrow and tragedy.Ferguson,well awareof changingsocietalbeliefs and conventionswhich would impactthe elementsof expression,studied historyand wrote a work significantlytitledA His(New York: Crofts,1935)in which he triedto describenot only the techniquesof Thought toryofMusical various composersbut a valuationof theirworkswithin the largerhistoricalperspective.This history went througha numberof printingsand two furthereditions.Itappearedat a timewhen a one-volume work in Englishwas lacking.It remainedfor many yearsa standardin the field. 28 Mendelssohnto Marc-Andre Souchayfrom Berlin,15 October1842,in: G. Selden-Goth,ed., FelixMendelssohn: (New York:ViennaHouse, 1973),313-314. Letters,

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passage that involves many diverse mattersto portraythe depth of emotion.Juliet but is indeed says >>parting such sweet sorrow,<< this bald statement-almost a commonplace,a maxim- only sums up a whole scene half-hiddenby night which cloaks her feelings and ours in the wonder and uncertaintyof young love. Ferguson, as a historian and classical scholar,wanted to answer Aristotle's As query: >How is it that melody and rhythm express ethos?<<29 a teacher, performer,composer, and lecturerin aesthetics,Fergusonhad to confrontthis problem daily. Above all, he wanted to explain somethingof the depth of understanding that he received from music of his great heroes, something that would show music to be of the same high level as literature.He recognized various levels of music and could enjoy entertainmentand lightermusic but his majorinterestlay in the well acceptedkeyboard,chamber,symphonic,and operaticworks-the repertoryconsidered by the philosopherswho have debated this matter.30 Ferguson's theory must stand or fall upon the validity of the James-Lange theory of emotions. For that question, we must turn to present-day psychology which, aftera long hiatus, has turnedonce more to researchpertainingto emotion. Antonio Damasio, prominentresearcherin the relationshipof neurologicalprocesses and emotion, recognizes the complex natureof body-brainevents attendant within each upon emotion. He maintains that emotions are frequently>>nestedp other.Even his divisions into backgroundemotions,primaryemotions, and social a emotionsdo not have,in his view, completelydistinctdividinglines,31 view similar to that of artists. The arts-visual literary,and auditory-have remarkableresourcesfor mirroring the shifting emotional life of mankind. They can introduce contrast,can shade the material,can employ metaphor,and can color the artwork with various hues; in short, they can act with the same richness and subtlety as the emotions themselves. It was Ferguson'scontentionthat music and the artsdealt more with emotion than with the representationof objects.If we accept that view and couple it with the psychological view of complex/nested emotions, then we can understand
Problems, ARISTOTLE, Chapter19, Problem29. in MusicandEmotion UniverRecentlyGeoffreyMADELL Philosophy, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh that sity Press,2002)has shown, to his satisfaction, Hanslickwas wrong, thatmusic in its own properties of tensionand releasecan arouseemotionalreactionsin the listener.Madell,like Ferguson,places majorattentionupon the musicalfabricitself althoughhe does not relatehis ideas to a unified theory such as the James-Lange has theory.AaronRIDLEY writtenextensivelyon this topic,and in his Music, ValueandthePassions CornellUniversityPress,1995)evaluatedFerguson'stheoryas shown in (Ithaca: Musicas Metaphor. RidleyacknowledgedthatFerguson'stheoryis less vague thanHanslick'salthough the Ridleyis perturbed the questionof description, problemthatMendelssohnraised.None of these by philosophicalwritersseem to acknowledgefully thatHanslickwas writingin responseto a contemporaryquarrel,that his essay was a polemic againsta specifictype of music, the so-calledNew German School. 31 Antonio DAMASIO, TheFeeling What (SanDiego:Harcourt,1999),51-53. of Happens
3
29

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Mendelssohn's statement that music-an art of infinite gradation-is more precise than words. Likewise the modern view of emotions surely helps us to understand the difficulty we have often found in trying to explain music's effects in words. The James-Lange theory of emotion-upon which Ferguson based his own theory-has been subjected to severe criticism in the twentieth century particularly after Walter Cannon showed that bodily states occur quite slowly, after one or two seconds, whereas the emotional state is recognized much quicker; factors which he thought negated James's theory that it was the body that was the basis of over several secemotions.32 More recent work has confirmed that feelings >>occur But two to twenty seconds being common.<<33 the actual process involves onds, both bodily response and brain response to what Damasio calls the perception of an emotionally competent object, in this case the music. Damasio concludes that James's theory still holds but must be modified in light of advancing knowledge. Even in the most typical course of events, the emotionalresponses targetboth body properand brain.The brainproducesmajorchangesin neuralprocessingthat constitute a substantialpartof what is perceivedas feeling.Thebody is no longer the exclusive theaterfor emotionsand consequentlythe body is not the only sourcefor feelings, as Jameswould have wished.34 Damasio continues: One might say thatthereis no need to respondto the criticsof WilliamJamessince his seminal idea is so plausible,but thatwould be a mistakefor severalreasons.First,the accountofferedby WilliamJameswas understandably incompleteand it must be extended in modern scientificterms.Second,partof the accountthatwas completewas arisnot correctin the detail.Forinstance,Jamesreliedexclusivelyon representations in the viscera,gave short shriftto skeletalmuscles as a source for the representaing tion of feelings, and made no mention of the internalmilieu. The currentevidence suggests thatmost feelings probablyrely on all sources-skeletal and visceralchanges as well as changes in internalmilieu. The thirdreasonis that the misconceptionsthat are part of the critiqueand that are still cited stand in the way of a comprehensive understandingof emotion and feeling.35

and A Examination an Alter32WalterCANNON,TheJames-Lange Theoryof Emotions: Critical 39 native Theory,American Journal Psychology, (1927),106-124. of Brain(Orlando: and Harcourt, Joy, Looking Spinoza: Sorrow, theFeeling for 33 Antonio DAMASIO, FranLACHAUX, 2003), 112 with referenceto Antoine LUTZ,Jean-Philippe JacquesMARTINERIE, cisco VARELA, Guidingthe Study of BrainDynamicsby Using FirstPersonData:SynchronyPatterns Acadwith OngoingConsciousStatesduringa SimpleVisualTask,Proceedings theNational Correlate of 99 emyof Science, (2002):1586-91. 288. Happens, Feeling What of 34A. DAMASIO, 288-289. A. Happens, of Feeling What 35 DAMASIO,

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Just as the physiological-psychological knowledge of the brain and body have been modified from mid-nineteenth century till the present day, so the scholarly study of music has changed greatly. More and more, researchers have recognized that purely technical analysis is inadequate They have expanded their vision and have attempted an interpretation-the connection of musics with their societies and with their histories-what Ferguson was attempting to do in his study of the elements of expression and his History of Musical Thought. Ferguson's theory of the two basic elements of expression in music adds rigor to the ongoing musicological search for meaning and adds one more facet to the body-brain considerations of modern psychology. Music can be >expressive of defined emotionu-even as we recognize the limitations of our nomenclaturethrough the elements of tension and motion, shared elements both of the body and of music.

Safetak ELEMENTI U EKSPRESIJEGLAZBI. PSIHOLOGIJSKO STAJALIbTE Godine 1853.i kasnijeHanslickje priznaova2nost kojusu nove znanosti fiziologijei psihologijesluha mogle imati za glazbu. Istrativaoje objasnjenje su one mogle dati za koje >emocije>ili osjedajeu glazbi. Zakljutio je da - premda ove znanosti mogu objasniti proizvodnju,prijenosi dolazakvibracijana pu2nicuuha te njihovulazak u 2iveani sustav - one ne mogu objasnitisloZenuumjetnostglazbe. Godine 1890.WilliamJonesiznio je novu idejuo emocijama, poznatukaoJames-Lange teoriju.On potetak emocijanije smjestiou mozak, nego u napetost i motoriCke impulse udova, organaosjetai unutarnjih miSika, organa,odnosno tjelesnihnapetostii akcijakojeje mozak osjecaosa sna2nimposljedicama. Godine 1922. Donald N. Fergusonproutio je Jamesovodjelo Principles Psychology of i (NaCela psihologije)iznio teorijuda glazba ima elementeglazbenihnapetostii ritmovakoji su paralelnis tjelesnima,te kojese pomoiu tih elemenatamo2e dovesti u vezu s bilo kojom emocijomili kompleksomemocija.PronaSao da takavpristupmoZerazjasniti je djelavelikih Analiza mo2e tako i'i s onu stranu6isto tehniCke analize. skladatelja. Da bi ilustriraoFergusonovuteoriju,analiziraoje dvije Bachovefuge, jednu s mirnim a kretanjemi napetokdu, drugu s uzbudujudimkvalitetama.Fergusonovateorijamora se priznatiili odbacitiprematome va2i li ili ne James-Langova psihologkateorija.Kakoje ova u s izvjesnim sada teorija uvijekprihvadena modernoj joS psihologiji modifikacijama, mo2emo elementimaekspresijekoji istodobno pripadajutijelu i umjetnosti govoriti o zajedniCkim glazbe.