The interactive effects of conjoined music and visual art processing

Abstract

Music is a powerful medium for conveying emotions. Here it was investigated whether music was able to transmit precise conceptual meanings, similarly to figurative art. Fifty University students took part in this investigation. 273 photographic reproductions of artworks, mostly oil paintings on canvas (dated between 1600-1900), were initially presented to a group of students that had to categorize them semantically. In addition, 22 excerpts of instrumental music by Bach, Mozart, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Mussorgskij, and others were also categorized for their semantic content. Stimulus semantic distinctiveness, familiarity and artistic value were also assessed. 160 artworks and 16 musical pieces were finally selected for being strictly associated with 8 semantic domains: namely, ‘Love’, ‘Play’, ‘Relax’, ‘Lullaby’, ‘Tragic Love’, ‘Requiem’, and ‘Battle’. Stimuli were presented randomly mixed to observers in a silence condition, or during listening to a semantically congruent/incongruent musical background. The ability to recognize the semantic content of visual art was reduced by the music semantic incongruence. The present findings indicate that music is capable of transmitting precise meanings able to alter the semantic comprehension of conflicting visual information.