Can Music Function as a Metaphor of Emotional Life?
Jenefer M. Robinson · 2007
Abstract Over the past thirty years or so there has been a significant change in Anglo-American music theory. The idea of “pure” instrumental music as a formal, quasi-mathematical structure with no reference to anything beyond itself has given way to more contextual approaches, in which instrumental music is treated as having meaning and expressive qualities which link it to wider human concerns. Instead of focusing solely on the intricate technicalities of harmonic analysis, music theorists are turning to the study of musical semiotics, so-called musical “topoi,” and, more generally, the psychological and emotional meanings to be found in even the purest of pure music.