Most of us would agree that music is a language, arguably humanity\u2019s most expressive and oldest language. What it doesn\u2019t have, unlike speech and writing, is precision.<\/strong><\/p>

Which came first, music or language?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>
These are the pieces of classical music that will make you cry, according to our critics<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>
Music can be used to express, for example, a feeling of love towards someone \u2013 as Gustav Mahler<\/a> <\/strong>did for Alma<\/a><\/strong> in the Adagietto<\/em> of his Fifth Symphony <\/a><\/strong>\u2013 but not to say \u2018where were you till 3am last night?\u2019 (possibly a question he wanted to ask later in their marriage).<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><p>Music has its vocabulary and syntax, just like a verbal language. And its complexity is at least equal to Polish, if not Finnish. But the vocabulary and syntax of music is a self-contained world. It can\u2019t be pinned down or translated, like the meaning of \u2018apple tree\u2019 or \u2018it is raining\u2019.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-does-music-make-us-cry\">How does music make us cry?<\/h2><p>Or can it? In one BBC Music article various contributors including me have written about <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/these-are-the-pieces-of-classical-music-that-will-make-you-cry-according-to-our-critics\/\">music that reduces them to tears<\/a><\/strong> (in a good way). The questions of \u2018why?\u2019 and \u2018how?\u2019 have intrigued musicians for centuries and, more recently, neurologists and psychologists as well. How our brains process physical signals such as sound waves and convert them into \u2018emotions\u2019 is still quite mysterious. <\/p><p>Is it possible, though, to start at the other end of the process: to take passages of music where the effect on the emotions is generally agreed \u2013 whether that effect is happiness, nostalgia, sadness, hope or hopelessness \u2013 and analyse the musical constituents that apparently cause that to happen? Can we get to an answer of the question: why does classical music make you cry (or smile, or leap for joy)? <\/p><div class=\"wp-block-group highlight-box is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\"><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/news\/does-listening-sad-music-actually-make-you-happier\/\">Does listening to sad music actually make you happier?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/what-are-the-saddest-pieces-of-classical-music\/\">What are the saddest pieces of classical music?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/is-music-good-for-you\/\">Just how good is music for you?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><p>Music theorists have been fascinated by that for centuries. In the medieval church, certain modes such as the Dorian or the Phrygian were associated with certain moods, and these rules were rigidly enforced. Indeed, one of the boldest things about early Renaissance composers such as Dufay and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/who-was-josquin-des-prez\/\">Josquin<\/a><\/strong> was their determination to produce more sophisticated emotional effects by breaking those rules. <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-have-composers-written-music-that-pulls-on-our-emotions\">How have composers written music that pulls on our emotions?<\/h2><p>Through the centuries, composers became increasingly sophisticated about using harmonic progressions, melodic phrases or even (in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\/\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s case, for instance) just a rhythmic pattern to convey emotions. So much so that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/richard-wagner\/\">Wagner<\/a><\/strong> was able to organise a whole cycle of operas,<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/what-does-wagners-ring-cycle-mean\/\"><i>The Ring<\/i><\/a><\/strong>, using \u2018<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-a-leitmotif\">leitmotifs<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 \u2013 recurring snippets of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-a-melody\">melody<\/a><\/strong> or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-harmony-in-music\">harmony<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 to enrich the drama and guide our ears through it.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Valkyrie: The most important leitmotifs of Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QfsEt4-cSEw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p>The English musicologist Deryck Cooke \u2013 best known for completing Mahler\u2019s Tenth Symphony \u2013 attempted to broaden this way of understanding music\u2019s emotional power in his book<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Language-Music-Clarendon-Paperbacks\/dp\/0198161808\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><i> The Language of Music<\/i><\/a><\/strong>. Published more than 60 years ago, it\u2019s still a fascinating read. Cooke\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/books\/music-theory-books\/\"><strong>theory<\/strong><\/a> was that what Wagner invites us to do \u2013 identify a network of harmonic or melodic snippets, each with a specific dramatic or emotional function \u2013 is something many other composers have done subconsciously.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-group highlight-box is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\"><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/books\/music-theory-books\/\">Best music theory books for 2022<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><p>What\u2019s more, he argues, those composers have often adopted similar melodic or harmonic figures to achieve the similar expressive effects. In other words, they deployed a common language of music, using a stock of what today we might call soundbites with meanings that can be specifically identified. To illustrate his argument, he applies this analysis to two symphonies by composers who lived more than a century apart: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/mozart\/\">Mozart<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ralph-vaughan-williams\/\">Vaughan Williams<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-music-s-infinite-means-of-expression-make-it-the-most-fascinating-of-artforms\">‘Music\u2019s infinite means of expression make it the most fascinating of artforms’<\/h2><p>Well, the shortcomings of this approach were pointed out by critics at the time and haven\u2019t diminished since. Cooke drew his examples not just exclusively from European art music, but (on the whole) from a narrow historical strand of it. The musical vocabulary he identified would be unlikely to apply to, or explain the expressive potency of, an ancient <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-folk-music\">folk music<\/a><\/strong> melody from Africa or Asia.<\/p><p>In a way, though, that doesn\u2019t matter. Cooke wasn\u2019t suggesting that every piece of music ever created uses the same pathways to touch us emotionally. We’re not seeking an answer to the question ‘why does classical music make you cry?’ because no such rule is present. Instead, music engenders a huge range of different emotional responses.<\/p><p>Indeed, it is music\u2019s infinite means of expression that makes it the most fascinating of artforms. What he did argue, however, was that if a particular piece is affecting you emotionally it should be possible to identify the musical ingredients that created this effect.<\/p><p>In other words, you can work out why. Whether that makes it any easier to answer the more complicated question of \u2018how?\u2019 is debatable. For that task we probably need scientists who understand music inside-out, or musicologists with a PhD-level understanding of the brain. <\/p><p>I hope many more such polymaths appear soon. If we can learn more about the way that created sounds impact on our brains, it wouldn\u2019t affect our love of music \u2013 but it would open up new possibilities for using music to treat both mental and physical illness. <\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Tuesday, 18 June 2024 at 13:22 PM Most of us would agree that music is a language, arguably humanity\u2019s most expressive and oldest language. What it doesn\u2019t have, unlike speech and writing, is precision. Which came first, music or language? 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