Max Planck Research Group “Felt Communities? Emotions in European Music Performances”

The Max Planck Research Group “Felt Communities? Emotions in European Music Performances” investigates the historical development of the emotions triggered by music in the 19th and 20th centuries. Focusing on emotions as a public form of communication, the Research Group aims to decipher the emotional structure of communities: What role did and does music play in the development and cohesion of communities? The focus is less on the physiological effects of music than on how they are appropriated by groups. Musical performances have the power to connect diverse individuals within a community – or to create social and political enemies. The Research Group aims to analyze the historical patterns and contexts of these effects.