Plenary: Physics and Music

I will trace a typical work of music from composition to emotional reaction. It starts with the printed page as a reflection of the composer's ideas and goes through the stages of, the artist's interpretation and performance, the technical aspects of instruments generating the sound waves, the physiological perception by the audience and culminating with an emotional reaction. The technical aspects of creating sound will be illustrated by recent research in a comparative study of stringed instruments. This presentation will address what goes into the production and performance of the sound resulting in an emotion of the audience.