Space and Place: The Emotions of Musical Experiences

Along with hearing different composers and musical genres, we have seen many different concert halls and experienced many different audiences. How does the specific space and place impact your musical experience?

    While studying abroad, my class and I had the opportunity to attend various musical events such as operas and concerts. Throughout these musical events, I have realized the power of truly listening to music without being distracted by visual components. The first musical event we attended was the opera of Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera at the Landesberger Theater in Salzburg, Austria. I absolutely loved the opera and how the story was carried out in a more modern context with new-age set designs and costumes. However, I realized after the opera that I paid more attention to the acting rather than the music during the performance. I was still attentive to how the music changed regarding the multiple tone switches at the beginning or end of every scene, but for some reason, I felt more influenced by the acting rather than the music. During the opera, I felt more emotional relating to how Sandrina/Violante was treated by the rest of the characters rather than being emotional from the actual music itself. Therefore, before attending our next musical event at the Chamber music concert at Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, I reminded myself to pay close attention to the music rather than the visual aspects of the performance. During the concert, I noticed that I was emotionally influenced by the tempo of each piece more so than at the opera. Some of the pieces performed made me feel relaxed and at ease in my mind due to the slow nature of the song; however, other faster-paced songs made me feel either energized or ominous depending on the tone of the piece. After making this realization that the specific place of musical events influences my emotions in various ways, I began to think about the space revolving around these musical events and how it influences me as well. At the opera, the space is very large and the room is constructed in a U-shaped manner so that opera singers can be heard from any point in the room. However, at the Chamber music concert, the space was very condensed to a small room so that people are able to hear the full clarity of the instruments in a more up close and personal setting. After taking the space of different musical events into account, I noticed that when I attended the Chamber music concert I was most likely more emotionally influenced because I was closer to the sound and vibrations of the music. During the concert, I felt as if I was part of the music itself rather than just listening as if I was at the opera. This realization that the space and place of musical events deeply affect my musical experience has helped me to become more intentional. Now when I attend music events I am not only attentive to the musicians/performers, but I am engaged with the actual music itself.

This photo was taken from Google and the proper citation is below. This photo depicts the inside of the Landesberger Theater in Salzburg, Austria. Unfortunately, I was so absolutely astonished by the ceiling of the theater that I forgot to take a picture of the layout of the space before the opera started. The inside of the theater is U-shaped so that the sound is able to travel to the back of the room. Although I enjoyed the music during the opera, I felt less emotionally influenced compared to my experience at the Chamber concert. I believe that the space of the room impaired my ability to emotionally connect with the music on a personal level. Compared to the concert hall I was further away from the vibrations of the music and personally, I feel that when music is at a louder volume I am more prone to feel connected and emotionally influenced. 

Citation: "Salzburger Landestheater : Event Location : salzburg.info" by Tourismus Salzburg GmbH, https://www.salzburg.info/en/events/event-venues/salzburger-landestheater. 

This photo was taken while attending the Chamber music concert at Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, Austria. The shape of the room was somewhat small compared to the Landesberger Theater and therefore I felt as if the vibrations from the music were much stronger. I believe that the music was much louder while attending the concert rather than the opera, which led me to feel much more in tune and emotionally congruent with the music. Although I was a couple of rows back from the performing musicians, the loud vibrations from the music made me feel as if I was part of the music and playing alongside them.