Music

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Why did bloody knights write love songs about spring blossoms?

The masculinity of medieval knighthood was expansive enough for both graphic violence and the joys of a flower meadow

by Jennifer Saltzstein

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Courtly love songs are a window into medieval sex lives

Song lyrics acted as a sexual script for aristocrats, revealing some edgy practices that ignited their imaginations

by Elizabeth Eva Leach

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I learned to hear the music of Earth’s underwater musicians

If we consider the sounds of whales and other organisms with an open mind, we find a strange beauty – and can even join in

by David Rothenberg

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Ancient Greek ideas of attunement can breathe new life into music

In Athenian philosophy, attunement is important not only in music, but also for moods, attitudes and states of mind

by John Bagby

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What is it about musical hooks that makes them so catchy?

From hummable riffs to striking lyrics, the catchiest hooks tell us something about the limits of human attention and memory

by Tim Byron & Jadey O’Regan

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Is the attunement of abstract art and music more than a metaphor?

How does the abstract art of Kandinsky and Klee imitate the meaning and emotion in the music of Shostakovich and Bach?

by Michelle Liu