Musical expression

Musical expression is the art of playing or singing with a personal response to the music.^[1]

At a practical level, this means making appropriate use of dynamics, phrasing, timbre and articulation to bring the music to life.^[2] Composers may specify these aspects of expression to a greater or lesser extent in the notation of their musical score.

The nature of musical expression has also been discussed at a theoretical level throughout of the history of classical music. One common view is that music both expresses and evokes emotion, forming a conduit for emotional communication between the musician and the audience. This view has been present through most of musical history, though it was most clearly expressed in musical romanticism.^[3] However, emotion's role in music has been challenged on occasion by those like Igor Stravinsky who see music as a pure art form and expression as an irrelevant distraction.