Music and the Message: When, Where, Who, What?

Finally, the question of what the music evokes demands attention. This question has already been discussed at length in chapter 1, and suggested as well at several earlier points. It is arguably the most complex and murky. For different perceivers specific music will evoke different things. As Leonard B. Meyer argues,

Further complicating Meyer’s model of cultural or personal meaning are subcultural musical practices and genres. But we can at least begin by considering the usual or dominant meanings of any example of film music.