The Allure of Appoggiatura

Psychologists and musicologists have analyzed how music produces physical reactions like goosebumps and tears. One reason is appoggiatura:

An appoggiatura is a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound. "This generates tension in the listener," said Martin Guhn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject. "When the notes return to the anticipated melody, the tension resolves, and it feels good." [snip]

Chill-provoking passages, [researchers] found, shared at least four features [bullets added].

They began softly and then suddenly became loud.

They included an abrupt entrance of a new "voice," either a new instrument or harmony.

And they often involved an expansion of the frequencies played. In one passage from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488), for instance, the violins jump up one octave to echo the melody.

Finally, all the passages contained unexpected deviations in the melody or the harmony. Music is most likely to tingle the spine, in short, when it includes surprises in volume, timbre and harmonic pattern.

In the 20tn century we were alarmed by how easily the emotions of the masses could be manipulated by propagandists and hidden persuaders. In the 21st century brain scans and other "advances" have pushed the science far beyond what Riefenstahl could have imagined.

Your humble servant was able to resist the emotional pull of Adele's Grammy winning "Someone Like You", which was analyzed in the article. However, when one adds a dash of patriotism, visual spectacle, a well-known standard, and a great singer at the height of her powers, then yes, I get the chills.