Music as Expression

Chapter 6 demonstrated that there is some agreement among listeners about what emotion pieces of music express, and that music performers may communicate at least some emotions to listeners in a reliable manner. Yet such findings do not by themselves prove that this is how musicians or listeners conceive of music. This chapter addresses problems and objections surrounding the notion of music-as-expression-of-emotions. There are scholars who are strongly critical of this view on music. Issues concerning expression, communication, and emotion tend to invite controversy, and some authors go to extreme lengths to reject any link between music and emotion. One example of a critical voice can be found in an essay by philosopher Nick Zangwill (2004). He argues that, ‘it is not essential to music to possess emotion, arouse emotion, express emotion, or represent emotion. Music...has nothing to do with emotion’.