The Mystery of Music: What about it has such power over human beings?

The ever-fascinating writer Terry Teachout discusses a new study on the power of music.

A paper published by two researchers at the University of London claims to prove that music affects our responses to visual images. People who look at a picture of a human face can be influenced in how they evaluate the emotion shown by that face if they listen to a 15-second snippet of music before viewing it. If the music is "happy," then the subject is more likely to judge the facial expression shown in the picture as happy—even if the expression is neutral—and vice versa.

Music - What's It All Mean? - The Wall Street Journal 10/17/09