A painting, a piece of music can convey as much, if not more, emotion than a
dozen tomes. Lately, I have been spending a great deal of time listening
to and studying Beethoven's last piano sonata, OP. 111--between work on my
dissertation. When I try to explain to people what this work means to me,
I fail miserably. I can list a dozen adjectives, but none can convey its
meaning. Invariably I say just listen. If it touches you fine, if not
there will be something else. Words just get in the way sometimes.
Interestingly, musical scores contain a great deal of verbiage: directions
on fingering, tempi, dynamics, and so forth. These are all important, but
the key element that brings everything together comes from within: emotion.
You can follow the directions and play all of the notes perfectly, but
without feeling, it's noise.
I've written far more than I meant to.
Robert Faux
Department of Psychology in Education
University of Pittsburgh
rbfst1 who-is-at vms.cis.pitt.edu