Black onyx : Emotional responses to music and sounds

Black Onyx is a musical concert work for flute, cello and piano with electronics. The piece has five sections of music and sounds targeting five human emotions: Anger, Sadness, Surprise, Contempt and Fear. Some sections are written in reference to memory and the practice of music therapy. The entire work is based on research of music psychology including the psychological Circumplex model developed by James A. Russell. The work invites the attention of the listener to the auditory world of mental illness and human sufferings to create atmospheres of negative emotional responses. By the end of the performance, the psychological atmosphere shifts to positivity. The five human emotions are the primary focus of this project, both in terms of induction and perception. The individual listening experiences, such as feelings of tension and calm are left to the listener.