ABSTRACT
Many theorists claim that to say music is expressive of emotion is simply to attribute to the music “expressive qualities.” Others claim that music can be an expression of emotion in a more full-blooded way. In this chapter I will be defending the idea that at least some music can be a genuine expression of emotion in the sense that it can be a manifestation of emotion that someone (although perhaps a fictional someone) actually feels. I will not be talking directly about the emotions music arouses in listeners, although what the music arouses and what it expresses, if anything, are clearly connected. And I will not be arguing that all music expresses emotions. The mature compositions of Milton Babbitt, for example, exhibit little interest in emotion. My discussion will be focused on Western art music that is clearly emotionally expressive, most notably, music in the Romantic and post-Romantic style.
