Cornell university press fosters a culture of broad and sustained inquiry through the publication of scholarship that is engaged influential and of lasting significance musical meaning and expression by stephen davies paperback cornell university press. Musical meaning and expression this edition was published in 1994 by cornell university press in ithaca. Davies considers and rejects in turn the positions that music describes like language or depicts like pictures or symbolizes in a distinctive fashion emotions similarly he resists the idea that musics expressiveness is to be explained solely as the composers self expression or in terms of its power to evoke a response from the audience musics ability to describe emotions he believes is located within the music itself it presents the aural appearance of what he calls emotion . Musics ability to describe emotions he believes is located within the music itself it presents the aural appearance of what he calls emotion characteristics the expressive power of music awakens emotions in the listener and music is valued for this power although the responses are sometimes ones of sadness davies shows that appreciation and understanding may require more than recognition of and reaction to musics expressive character but need not depend on formal musicological training. Musical meaning and expression by davies stephen 1994 paperback on amazoncom free shipping on qualifying offers new copy fast shipping will be shipped from us