How world views may be revealed by armchair conducting : composer-specific computer animations

People sensitive to music may experience, whether consciously or not, a pulse-like sensation that runs throughout it. With classical music such a sensation is normally retained internally, but it can be rendered externally as a repeated motion sometimes called armchair conducting. The musicologist G. Becking (1928) proposed that such motions have a composer-specific shape and embody the composerââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s world view. Becking represented the motions as curves drawn on paper. The present work provides computer animations of those curves, aiming to advance the study and understanding of them and thus of the composersââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ musical personalities. Brief score excerpts intended to be typical were chosen from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as suitable recordings. A point is shown as moving on the computer screen following the shape of the given Becking curve with a suitable velocity pattern, synchronised with the recorded sound. The point size varies with the strength exerted. The results of these animation attempts seem acceptable, provided they are understood not just as artificial constructs but in relation to genuine responses to the music.