About: Theory of musical equilibration

The theory of musical equilibration (in German: die strebetendenz-theorie or, literally, the tendency to strive theory) is a psychological theory that argues that music does not elicit emotion directly and that, instead, the listener "identifies with musically-encoded processes of will" and interprets them to produce an emotional effect. The theory is rooted in concepts introduced in music theorist Ernst Kurth's Musikpsychologie, except that it proposes that listeners identify with a desire to avoid the resolution of leading-notes. The theory was first proposed in 1997 by German music theorist, Bernd Willimek, who further developed it with his wife and fellow theorist, Daniela Willimek. Between 1997 and 2012, the pair conducted a series of studies throughout the world in which they asked m