(5. C. Results. I)
NON MUSICIANS SESSIONS: (3) QUALITATIVE RESULTS
Apart from this series of quantitative evaluations, two qualitative questions accompanied these ratings: one about the emotions felt during the playing and the other one about the possible physical reactions during the performance of the little passages. I already knew that, despite defining these terms as best as possible, these responses would not be completely accurate, but I was not worried about it: I could add more nuances to these reflections then. Hence, now I will detail different emotional impressions (much more elaborated than just basic emotions) felt by the listeners during each performance of a musical piece, and the consequent reactions, not only physical responses, that they experienced together with the listening. Another aspect that increased the difficulty of the answer was that the fragments do not always stay in or show a single and stable emotional framework, despite being these fragments as delimited as possible. This fact means that a single listener can recognize a mix of emotions and that several contradictions appear in the filled-in forms.
The tremendously subtle start of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto (6) possibly affected some of the answers about its emotional perception: 'being high', 'lightness', 'gladness', 'nostalgic', or 'risky' were some of the thoughts of the audience. Some of them experienced relaxation of their muscles, lightness in the breast, or even thinking of balance or flying. The music 'touched the soul' of one of them, whereas a couple of attendants felt 'on edge' or 'held their breath', likely due to the almost shaky nature of the beginning.
The less convincing performance of the passage of Bach's Chaconne (4) in D Major provided another varied amount of emotional answers, from classics such as 'beautiful', 'painful', 'exciting' or 'dreamy' to more reflected feelings such as 'shining', 'royal', or one thoughtful 'impermanent'. Some listeners admitted their lower engagement with terms such as 'empty', 'dislike', or 'heaviness', joined with mental/physiological reactions like 'hollow feeling' or 'stillness'. For the more positive listeners, some other effects were a little 'bouncing', the appearance of 'memories', or an increase of focus or imagination.
For Sibelius' Concerto beginning (2) there was a much bigger consense about the sad character of the piece. Apart from a multitude of 'sadness' answers, we can also find the words 'nostalgic', 'nostalgia', or 'grief', as well as a couple of 'fear' responses. At the same time, for sure compatible with the sad component, some listeners experienced the execution as 'exciting' or 'dreamy'. One of them pointed out that he or she felt like 'flying on a hot-air balloon', a metaphor that I can imagine especially with the very opening of the piece. According to reactions, a participant indicated 'slow hanging moves', another one felt 'tickles in the right side', and even a listener claimed that he/she cried. A more mental reaction that another person had was to feel himself/herself like 'inside a movie'.
Saariaho's Nocturne successful interpretation (5) almost reached a unanimous opinion about the emotional state of the piece, close to the 'mysterious' and 'exciting' characters. Some responses mentioned qualifiers like 'fascinating', 'lonely', 'delicate', 'fearful', or 'introvert'. About what I considered reactions, a participant noticed 'fluttering in the chest', or another affirmed that his/her heart 'skipped a beat'. The sense of anticipation or tension was enhanced in the words of other listeners. Another attendee expressed that he experienced an 'ending feeling'.
The reception of Bartok's Rhapsody (7) was the most optimistic one, with a shared 'happy', 'glad', 'vivid', or 'exciting' feeling, just like many of the reactions: 'smiling', 'moving', 'dancing', 'laughing'... A much smaller group of the public felt more attracted to the nostalgic component of tradition, and because of that, they felt closer to sadness and had reactions such as 'pressure in the throat' or 'goosebumps'.
The perception of Tchaikovsky's Concerto (3) fragment was a mix of emotions slightly closer to happiness. Some terms related to a 'lovely' atmosphere were also recurrent, like 'warm', 'tender', or 'enjoying'. One of the listeners wrote down the concept 'love story', exactly the emotional mindset I try to focus on during my performances. Of course, I did not expect to read my own approaches as answers (and thus I am not disappointed), but I must admit that I took this answer with a particular enthusiasm. The reactions in this instance were diverse too, from 'tension' or 'stillness' to 'relaxation' or 'touching'. Some participants said they smiled, and others even jumped.
Bach's Chaconne beginning (1) had probably the most varied (and opposite) comments during the session. Besides 'sadness' and 'happiness', some attractive answers included terms such as 'solemnity', 'magnificence', 'restless', or 'fluency'1, ideas that I do consider while interpreting the piece. In my view, this excerpt was not so contrasting in terms of the variety of emotions. Because of that, I think that the presence of several opposite answers like 'sadness' and 'happiness' lies more in the philosophical approach of Kivy, also attending to several 'rational connections' comments that accompanied these answers. While the expressivity of the music is much nearer to a sad state, if we hear it with a mindset of enjoying the beauty of music, our response could be that we feel happy about listening to how wonderful the music is. We could identify Kivy's 'enthusiasm' as a 'happy' reaction. Other more conventional physical reactions included gestures such as 'moving', 'head moving', 'thrill', sensations in the area of the stomach or belly... Some people included other types of responses, like 'remember little things' or an 'increment of the attention'.
