PLATO said it gave “soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life”. Dr Johnson called it “the only sensual pleasure without vice”. And for Tolstoy, it was the “shorthand of emotion”. From our earliest societies, we have filled our lives with music. Almost everything we do has some musical association – try going through a day without hearing any. But why does music affect us so powerfully? How does it exact such a pull on our emotions?
Until recently, these questions went largely unanswered, but the study of music and emotions…
