Audiences, juries, and critics continually evaluate performers based on their interpretations of familiar classics. Yet formally assessing the perceptual consequences of interpretive decisions is challenging – particularly with respect to how they shape emotional messages. Here, we explore the issue through comparison of emotion ratings (using scales of arousal and valence) for excerpts of all 48 pieces from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. In this series of studies, participants evaluated one of seven interpretations by highly regarded pianists. This work offers the novel ability to simultaneously explore (1) how different interpretations by expert pianists shape emotional messages, (2) the degree to which structural and interpretative elements shape the clarity of emotional messages, and (3) how interpretative differences affect the strength of specific features or cues to convey musical emotion.

观众、陪审团和评论家不断根据他们对熟悉经典的诠释来评估表演者。然而，正式评估解释性决定的感知后果是具有挑战性的——尤其是在它们如何塑造情感信息方面。在这里，我们通过比较巴赫的 48 首温律钢琴片段的情绪等级（使用唤醒量表和效价量表）来探讨这个问题。在这一系列研究中，参与者评估了备受推崇的钢琴家的七种解释之一。这项工作提供了同时探索（1）专家钢琴家的不同解释如何塑造情感信息的新颖能力，（2）结构和解释元素塑造情感信息清晰度的程度，以及（3）解释差异如何影响强度表达音乐情感的特定特征或线索。