Elemental emotions in music - Anger

Anger, one of the most basic emotions, can certainly blur our sober judgment from time to time, but how does it appear in different genres of classical music?

You are far more likely to hear and read about the relaxing and emotionally soothing power of classical music than about how it can whip up our emotions to extreme levels. It is easy to identify the signs of anger, as it is the kind of emotion that also has a physical effect on the person: our facial expression changes, often becoming more threatening. Anger is a universal feeling, something we can encounter in both our most immediate environment or when wandering the most distant parts of the earth. While images of anger are often linked to the themes of revenge, fighting, and war, anger can also be an inspirational force. It hints at change, the need for change, and the potential for a new beginning. The closing event for the School of Emotion series will feature the performance of excerpts taken from across the history of music that deal with the subject of anger. We can expect members of the audience to be deeply stirred by the music of Bartók, Schumann, Beethoven and Mozart, though of course there will also be analysis of those effects from the opera singer Szilveszter Szélpál, the programme host.

Bartók: Allegro barbaro, Sz. 49, BB 63
Schumann: Album for the Young for piano, Op. 68 - No. 31. Battle Song
Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48 - No. 7: Ich grolle nicht
Mozart: The Magic Flute, K. 620 - "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen” / Hell's vengeance boils in my heart (The Queen of the Night's aria, Act II)
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor ("Moonlight"), Op. 27, No. 2 - Presto agitato
Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Age: 10-14 year