Abstract

(This Talk is a Wort Lecture)

The Wort Lecture Series 2012-13 entitled Gloomy Sundays, Wicked Games, and Broken Hearts: The Science of Sad Sounds will be given by David Huron, Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor at the Ohio State University, where he holds joint appointments in the School of Music and in the Center for Cognitive Science.

SERIES ABSTRACT :

What is the appeal of sad music? How does music evoke tears? Or transport a listener to a nostalgic reverie? This series of four lectures focuses on three emotions — sadness, grief, and nostalgia — and their many musical manifestations. Lectures integrate behavioral and physiological studies with cultural and music analyses, in an effort to understand the paradoxical musical enfatuation with negative emotions.