How strange the change from major to minor may have relationship with speech patterns

I've often wondered why certain keys lend themselves to different moods in music -- B minor is the key of great drama, C major is for sun and simplicity, for example.

The New Scientist has published a little tidbit, "Songs in the Key of Life: What Makes Music Emotional?" that suggests the possibility that musical intervals may have a link to speech patterns. Major keys mirror excited speech. Minor keys mirror subdued speech. The researchers also suggest that these patterns cross cultures.

Here is an example of contrasting major and minor from my other favourite set of 24 Preludes & Fugues, the ones written by Dmitri Shostakovich. Sviatoslav Richter performs the A Major, followed by A Minor set from Op. 87. These were recorded in 1956.

Comments

[Jordan]

John, this issue of the "quality" of keys -- even within major or minor tonalities, like "majestic" C major vs. "joyful" G major -- has always fascinated me. Key choice based on emotional factors beyond major vs. minor has been attributed to the major composers too.

As an amateur musician, particular keys have associations for me /when I'm playing/ based on tunes customarily played in those keys. But I wonder if those associations can exist outside of a cultural frame of reference, for non-musicians, unless the non-musician in question happens to have perfect pitch and can distinguish the "sonority" of e.g. a low A vs. a low A-flat.