Klarinet Archive - Posting 000666.txt from 2002/05

From: w7wright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: [kl] A Colour Symphony op. 24
Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 18:50:15 -0400

An article in Harvard Dictionary of Music has a good deal to say about
synesthesia of sound vs. color (under the caption "Color and Music").

The general thrust of the article is that color and sound are both
related to frequency, and therefore they are more likely to interact
with each other than are the other senses.

Composers wrote "music + light" shows as early as the 1800's --- even
before the electric light bulb was invented. The Harvard dictionary
says that the first serious attempt was in the early 1700's. One study
reported that color+sound synesthesia occurs in 18% of the subjects
tested. Another reported 60%.

For that matter, the phrase "tone color" is an obvious indicator of the
linkage! There are so many hints in our language of how our brains
work.

Cheers,
Bill

================

If I had Stadler's mouthpiece, would I play better? Or do I need his
ligature also? Or perhaps he and I are different persons? If I had
Mozart's pen, would I compose better?

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