Michael Tilson "Music and Emotion Through TIme"

On Ted.com there was a video posted by Michael Tilson, a classical pianist and conductor who discussed the emotion he and other prolific stars have behind the music they play. He focused on the concept of emotion in the music reaches the emotion of the audience.

Although Michael Tilson is a classical musician he did not only stress the genre of that style to the audience, but “a new language that is always evolving.” It was interesting to me that he kind of wanted the viewer to understand the psychology of music in terms of perception. The Michael Tilson video on Ted.com is called “music and emotion through time” and throughout the video he even discussed history, education and the art of composition as it evolved overtime.

Tilson described several significant events within music history such as how we have made things like virtuoso and modern day sheet music available in comparison to Gregorian chant hand notation. He talked about the science that makes our perception vary from one moment in a song to another.

What was most fascinating to me was a moment when he brought to the audiences attention that when the musician stops playing the music stops. The idea that something about what was played during the period of time that the performance was going on something was left in the perceiver’s mind that stuck with them even at the end of the performance and sometimes even thereon. Whether it is a melody, rhythm, mood or attitude that has the potential to chance a person’s life. As a musician myself, this was the moment in the video that I knew I have a new take on the music I performance. Immediate, I was inspired. It has helped me develop a deeper understanding to the music I play and listen to.