Are you colour deaf?

Phoebe Rousochatzaki

About this exposition

Originating from antiquity, the idea of associating colour with music has been researched extensively in recent decades. The terms for this phenomenon include crossmodal correspondences and synaesthesia (or chromaesthesia), both of which refer to associations our brain makes from stimuli that it perceives through different senses. Correspondence between sound and music, and light and colour, has been a scholarly topic for years—mostly from a scientific point of view. This thesis aims to investigate different views on the subject, focusing on its artistic/aesthetic rather than neurobiological components. Music-colour correspondence was born from the need of philosophers to make sense of both music and the world. Linguistics has proven ambiguous when used to explain or make sense out of music, hence colour has been a very powerful replacement. It is possible to draw parallels between sound and light because of their similar ontological nature (vibration). The goal of this thesis is to prove that such an association can enhance a classical music performance for the audience (as related to engagement) and for the performer (as related to analysis, artistic input). As a case study, Olivier Messiaen’s Theme and Variations is analysed in this rather unconventional colour-coded way. Keywords: synaesthesia, chromaesthesia, crossmodal correspondences, Olivier Messiaen, colour and music.

type	research exposition
keywords	synaesthesia, chromaesthesia, crossmodal correspondences, Olivier Messiaen, colour and music, Colour, music
date	19/10/2023
published	02/09/2024
last modified	02/09/2024
status	published
copyright	Phoebe Rousochatzaki
license	CC BY-NC-ND
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2345490/2590639
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/koncon.2345490
published in	KC Research Portal
portal issue	1. Master Research Projects

name	David Ramsay Hay_1
copyright	David Ramsay Hay
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name	newton_wheel
copyright	Isaac Newton - Opticks, 4th ed., 1730. From Book I, Part II, Proposition VI, Problem 2.
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name	newton_manuscript_colour
copyright	Isaac Newton, Cambridge University Library
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name	Castel
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name	kruger clavecin oculaire
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name	guyot clavecin oculaire
copyright	Courtesy of Utrecht University Library
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name	castel table
copyright	Kenneth Peacock
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name	Aristotle
copyright	https://www.colorsystem.com/?page_id=31&lang=en
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name	kepler-harmun-planet-tunes
copyright	https://www.openculture.com/2019/05/johannes-kepler-created-a-theory-that-each-planet-sings-a-song.html#google_vignette
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name	Korsakov vs Scriabin
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name	Booba-Kiki
copyright	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect#/media/File:Booba-Kiki.svg
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name	stained glass
copyright	https://www.musicandpractice.org/volume-2/visualizing-visions-the-significance-of-messiaens-colours/
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name	table cc
copyright	Coloured hearing, colour music, colour organs, and the search for perceptually meaningful correspondences between colour and sound. I-Perception, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695221092802, p.11
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name	Ward et all 2016
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name	loksias_program
copyright	Phoebe Rousochatzaki
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name	loksias_program_2
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name	Loksias
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name	table_loksias
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name	cc_list
copyright	Andrey Anikin, N. Johansson, "Implicit associations between individual properties of color and sound Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics" (2019) 81:764–77, https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-018-01639-7, p.766
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name	goethe_background
copyright	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Colours#/media/File:Goethe,_Farbenkreis_zur_Symbolisierung_des_menschlichen_Geistes-_und_Seelenlebens,_1809.jpg
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name	hay_1.1
copyright	David Ramsay Hay
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name	hay_1.2
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name	hay_1.3
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name	hay_2.1
copyright	David Ramsay Hay
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name	hay_2.2
copyright	David Ramsay Hay
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name	hay_2.3
copyright	David Ramsay Hay
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name	hay_3.1
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name	hay_3.2
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name	hay_3.3
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name	Mode 2.1
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 2.2
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 2.4
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 2 chords
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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usages	slideshow

name	neapolitan sequence
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 3.1
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 3.2
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 3.3
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 3.4
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode 3 chords
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	theme et variations
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	Mode 6
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	Mode 7
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	Mode 7_chords
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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usages	slideshow

name	mode 7_transpositions
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	mode_2_visual
copyright	Håkon Austbø
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name	visualisation mode 3.3
copyright	Håkon Austbø
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name	Mode 2_1
copyright	Phoebe
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name	Mode 2_2
copyright	Phoebe
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name	Mode 2_3
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name	Mode 3_1
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name	Mode 3_2
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name	Mode 3_3
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name	Mode 3_4
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name	Mode 6_1
copyright	Phoebe
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name	Mode 6_2
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name	Mode 6_3
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name	Mode 6_4
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name	Mode 6_5
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name	Mode 6_6
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name	Mode 7_1
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name	Mode 7_2
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name	Mode 7_3
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name	Mode 7_4
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name	Mode 7_5
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name	Mode 7_6
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name	theme
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	messiaen 1
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	messiaen 1.2
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	messiaen 2
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	messiaen 3
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	messiaen 4
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	messiaen 5
copyright	Olivier Messiaen
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name	colour circle Goethe
copyright	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Colours#/media/File:Goethe,_Farbenkreis_zur_Symbolisierung_des_menschlichen_Geistes-_und_Seelenlebens,_1809.jpg
license	Public domain
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Are you colour deaf? (2024)

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