Music Interpretation and Emotion Perception: A Computational and Neurophysiological Investigation

These authors contributed equally to this work. ABSTRACT This study investigates emotional expression and perception in music performance using computational and neurophysiological methods. The influence of different performance settings, such as repertoire, diatonic modal etudes, and improvisation, as well as levels of expressiveness, on performers' emotional communication and listeners' reactions is explored. Professional musicians performed various tasks, and emotional annotations were provided by both performers and the audience. Audio analysis revealed that expressive and improvisational performances exhibited unique acoustic features, while emotion analysis showed stronger emotional responses. Neurophysiological measurements indicated greater relaxation in improvisa-tional performances. This multimodal study highlights the significance of expressivity in enhancing emotional communication and audience engagement. 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, the study of music performance has become a prominent area of research. While traditional analysis of music often relied on the score, modern research highlights the importance of performance-specific features that distinguish one rendition from another.