Study on expectations about the course of pieces of music
Physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) have investigated the extent to which a piece of music can arouse expectations about what will happen next.
How do emotions and meaning arise in music? Almost 70 years ago, the music philosopher Leonard Meyer suspected that an interplay between expectation and surprise was responsible for both. According to Meyer, emotions and meaning in music arise from the interplay of expectations, their fulfillment or their (temporary) non-fulfillment.
Scientists led by Theo Geisel at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the University of Göttingen have asked themselves whether these philosophical concepts can be empirically captured using modern methods of data science. In total, researchers Theo Geisel and Corentin Nelias analyzed more than 450 jazz improvisations and 99 classical compositions, including multi-movement symphonies and sonatas.
According to the study, jazz improvisations are typically less predictable. Differences were also observed in some cases between different composers. For example, the researchers found that compositions by Bach offer more variety and surprises than works by Mozart.
More info: https://www.ds.mpg.de/4072514/241105_music_anticipation?c=148849
