Basic emotions expressed in music: factor analyses on intensity ratings by non-musical professional Chinese university students

Figures & data

Table 1 Information of the 60 musical excerpts: their original sources, start–stop bars, durations (seconds), playing instruments, composers, putative emotions, and acoustic featuresa

Num	Sources	Start–stop	Duration	Instruments	Composer	Putative emotion	Acoustic features
M16	Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, the fourth movement “Gewitter, Sturm”	Bars 41–57	21	Orchestra	Beethoven, Ludwig van	Agitated	Fast tempo, large tempo variability, rapid changes in sound level, fast vibrato rate, wide pitch range, and large pitch contrasts
M17	The Sleeping Beauty (ballet) Op. 66 Act II, No. 17, Panorama	Bars 1–18	38	Orchestra	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Longing	Slow tempo, major mode, medium sound level, small intervals, soft contrasts between long and short notes
M18	Evensong	Bars 1–14	35	Vocal and electronic synthesizer	Rolf, Lovland	Mysterious	Slow tempo, legato articulation, wide pitch range, and medium fast vibrato
M19	Six Pieces, Op. 51, No. 6, Valse Sentimentale	Bars 1–20	34	Violin and piano	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Sad	Medium tempo, minor mode, wide pitch range, and medium–low sound level
M20	Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 31, the third movement	Bars 30–67	31	Piano	Beethoven, Ludwig van	Frustrated	Fast tempo, rapid changes in sound level, wide pitch range, fast tone attacks
M21	Loftus Jones	Bars 1–17	26	Violin, bagpipe	Joanie, Madden	Passionate	Fast tempo, staccato articulation, fast tone attacks, and high pitch
M22	Poem	Bars 5–13	37	Violin and piano	Rolf, Lovland	Graceful	Medium–slow tempo, low sound level, wide pitch range, legato articulation, and slow tone attacks
M23	Radetzky March, Op. 228	Bars 1–20	22	Orchestra	Strauss, Johann, Sr	Happy	Fast tempo, major mode, medium–high sound level, micro-structural regularity, and bright timbre
M24	June: Barcaroole	Bars 1–12	36	Piano	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Bluesy	Slow tempo, minor mode, low sound level, legato articulation, and rubato
M25	L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2, Menute	Bars 1–10	21	Flute, harp	Bizet, Georges	Dreamy	Medium tempo, major mode, ascending pitch, high pitch, soft tone attacks, and legato articulation
M26	The Four Seasons, Spring	Bars 1–10	22	Violin, viola, cello, and doublebass	Vivaldi, Antonio	Passionate	Medium tempo, major mode, large sound level variability, and accents on tonally stable notes
M27	Images, Reflects dans l’eau	Bars 30–33	10	Piano	Debussy, Claude	Agitated	Fast tempo, wide pitch range, disconsonant harmony, and complex rhythm
M28	Nocturne	Bars 45–65	49	Violin and electronic synthesizer	Rolf, Lovland	Longing	Medium tempo, minor mode, wide pitch range, legato articulation
M29	The Moonlight Lover	Bars 5–11	29	Cello and erhu	Tan, Dun	Bluesy	Slow tempo, minor mode, legato articulation, slow tone attacks, and small vibrato extent
M30	Etudes Op. 10, No. 12 in C minor “Revolutionary”	Bars 1–10	16	Piano	Chopin, Frédéric	Dramatic	Fast tempo, wide pitch range, high sound level, high note density, and fast tone attacks
M31	Swan Lake (ballet), Op. 20 Act 1 Scene	Bars 1–9	28	Oboe, harp, violin	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Dreamy	Slow tempo, minor mode, legato articulation, and soft timbre
M32	Prelude of the Spring Festival	Bars 1–34	29	Orchestra	Li, Huanzhi	Passionate	Fast tempo, high sound level, high pitch, bright timbre, and accents on tonally stable notes
M33	The Rite of Spring	Bars 9–24	15	Orchestra	Stravinsky, Igor	Agitated	Fast tempo, dissonance, staccato articulation, and large pitch contrasts
M34	The Pledge of Love	Bars 1–15	43	Piano and electronic synthesizer	Pagès, Philippe	Graceful	Medium tempo, small sound level variability, soft contrasts between long and short notes, and micro-structural regularity
M35	Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27, No. 2, Adagio Sostenuto	Bars 1–4	23	Piano	Beethoven, Ludwig van	Dreamy	Slow tempo, minor mode, low sound level, and rubato
M36	The Carnival of the Animals, The Aquarium	Bars 1–12	39	Piano and violin	Saint-Saёns, Camille	Mysterious	Medium tempo, high note density, high pitch, and medium–low sound level
M37	Swan Lake (ballet), Op. 20 Act 2, Danses des cygenes	Bars 1–9	23	Tuba and violin	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Happy	Fast tempo, minor mode, staccato articulation, and bright timbre
M38	River of Sorrow	Bar 1	60	Orchestra and cello	Huang, Haihuai	Sad	Medium–slow tempo, large timing variability, falling intonation, small vibrato extent, and ritardando
M39	Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68	Bars 17–41	32	Orchestra	Beethoven, Ludwig van	Frustrated	Fast tempo, high sound level, wide pitch range, and high note density
M40	Piano Sonata No. 2 in d minor, Op. 31	Bars 1–21	17	Piano	Beethoven, Ludwig van	Fanciful	Fast tempo, smooth and fluent rhythm, small timing variability, and medium sound level
M41	Symphony No. 3 in Eb major Op. 55 “eroicae”	Bars 382–398	47	Orchestra	Beethoven, Ludwig van	Sacred	Medium tempo, accents on tonally stable note, firm rhythm, and narrow pitch range
M42	Swan Lake (ballet), Op. 20 Act 3, No. 23, Mazurka	Bars 1–24	34	Orchestra	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Passionate	Fast tempo, high sound level, small sound level variability, and high pitch
M43	Adagio	Bars 2–6	17	Violin, cello, and electronic synthesizer	Rolf, Lovland	Graceful	Slow tempo, high sound level, legato articulation, soft timbre, and slow tone attacks
M44	The Carnival of the Animals, The Swan	Bars 1–5	33	Cello and piano	Saint-Saёns, Camille	Bluesy	Slow tempo, falling intonation, medium–low sound level, legato articulation, and soft timbre
M45	Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55, “Solveigs sang”	Bars 8–17	36	Flute, harp	Grieg, Edvard	Dreamy	Slow tempo, minor mode, legato articulation, slow tone attacks, and soft timbre
M46	Five Orchestra Pieces, Op. 16, No. 5	Bars 1–17	24	Orchestra	Schoenberg, Arnold	Agitated	Large tempo variability, disconsonate harmony, atonality, sharp contrasts between long and short notes
M47	Symphony No. 4 in f minor Op. 36 Finale	Bars 17–59	62	Orchestra	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Dramatic	Fast tempo, high sound level, high note density, accents on tonally stable note, and firm rhythm
M48	Homesick Song	Bars 1–8	24	Violin and piano	Ma, Sicong	Bluesy	Slow tempo, minor mode, legato articulation, and narrow pitch range
M49	Symphony No. 6 in b minor Op. 74, fourth movement	Bars 19–25	25	Orchestra	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Frustrated	Slow tempo, minor mode, large timing variability, and rubato
M50	Poem	Bars 69–75	31	Violin and electronic synthesizer	Rolf, Lovland	Sad	Medium–slow tempo, minor mode, legato articulation, and soft timbre
M51	The Girl With The Flaxen Hair	Bars 7–17	41	Violin and piano	Debussy, Claude	Longing	Slow tempo, high pitch, medium–low sound level, and legato articulation
M52	Double Concertos	Bars 1–10	29	Violin and viola	Bach, Johann Sebastian	Sacred	Medium tempo, firm rhythm, minor mode, and micro-structural regularity
M53	Children of the River	Bars 1–9	32	Bamboo flute and electronic synthesizer	Rolf, Lovland	Mysterious	Medium tempo, large timing variability, and small vibrato extent
M54	Couleur Tendresse	Bars 1–9	30	Piano	Pagès, Philippe	Graceful	medium tempo, medium–low sound level, slow tone attacks, and soft timbre
M55	Swan Lake (ballet), Op. 20 Act 3, Danse Napolitaine	Bars 5–15	25	Trumpet and orchestra	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Happy	Medium tempo, staccato articulation, syncopation, and bright timbre
M56	Dance of Sarasvati	Bars 1–16	38	Electronic synthesizer	Masanori, Takahashi	Mysterious	Medium tempo, medium–low sound level, and large pitch range
M57	Serenade to Spring	Bars 4–28	49	Violin and piano	Rolf, Lovland	Longing	Medium tempo, medium–low sound level, narrow pitch range, simple rhythm, and bright timbre
M58	Swan Lake (ballet), Op. 20 Act 3, No. 21, Danse Espagnole	Bars 1–18	23	Flute and orchestra	Tchaikovsky, Pyotr	Dramatic	Fast tempo, large sound level variability, staccato articulation, syncopation, and bright timbre
M59	Divertimento in D major, K. 334, third movement, Menuetto	Bars 1–16	26	Violin and electronic synthesizer	Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus	Fanciful	Medium tempo, major mode, simple rhythm, soft contrasts between long and short notes
M60	The Blue Danube	Bars 2–11	33	Orchestra	Strauss, Johann, Jr	Sacred	Slow tempo, minor mode, large timing variability, rubato, and slow tone attacks

Note:

a The 38 excerpts finally retained are given in bold for clarity.

Figure 1 Flowchart of the experimental design.

Figure 2 Scree plot from the exploratory factor analysis of the intensity ratings on 60 musical excerpts in 488 participants.

Table 2 Model fit parameters based on the first-order analyses in 488 participants

Factor model	χ^2/df	Goodness of fit index	Adjusted goodness of fit index	Tucker– Lewis index	Comparative fit index	Root mean square error of approximation	Standardized root square residual
Three-factor model	2.78	0.72	0.70	0.79	0.80	0.060	0.070
Four-factor model	2.77	0.72	0.70	0.79	0.80	0.060	0.073
Five-factor model	2.71	0.73	0.71	0.80	0.80	0.059	0.070
Six-factor model	2.57	0.75	0.73	0.81	0.82	0.057	0.066

Abbreviation: df, degrees of freedom.

Table 3 The internal consistencies of seven music domains (second-order level) in all participants (n=488) and the intensity ratings (mean ± SD) of each domain in female (n=274) and male (n=214) participants

Emotion	Music excerpts	Internal a	Intensity rating
			Female	Male
Tenderness	M01, M03, M10, M24, M31, M43, M45	0.85	4.30±1.26	4.22±1.34
Happiness	M02, M11, M37, M57, M59	0.80	5.02±1.25	4.97±1.30
Sadness	M04, M28, M29, M50	0.72	5.07±1.20	4.92±1.27
Anger	M08, M16, M20, M33, M39, M41, M42, M52, M58	0.87	5.38±1.13	5.33±1.32
Passion	M14, M21, M23, M32	0.80	6.09±1.15	5.97±1.21
Depression	M35, M44, M46, M48, M54, M60	0.81	4.30±1.29	4.23±1.20
Anxiousness	M27, M30, M40	0.69	4.61±1.23	4.48±1.20

Table 4 Inter-relationships between seven musical emotions in 488 participants

	Tenderness	Happiness	Sadness	Anger	Passion	Depression
Happiness	0.72
Sadness	0.62	0.62
Anger	0.38	0.47	0.48
Passion	0.45	0.66	0.53	0.64
Depression	0.75	0.65	0.52	0.47	0.44
Anxiousness	0.54	0.51	0.47	0.68	0.47	0.62

Note: All correlations were significant at P<0.001.