Multimodal cognitive operations in classical music

Abstract

This work explores the net of conceptual mechanisms structuring musical understanding. Classical music has been mainly approached in Cognitive Linguistics from the perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT). However, this article claims that CBT offers an insufficient explanation of multimodal phenomena since (a) it does not specify the degree of integration between inputs or (b) the principles regulating the integration. In order to fill these theoretical gaps, this article offers a twofold analysis of two case studies of program classical music, musical compositions intended to evoke images or remind the listener of events. First, I analyze the network of conceptual integration patterns structuring their multimodal expression. For that purpose, I introduce the Multimodal Conceptual Integration Model (MCIM). Second, I address the patterns of conceptual interaction between metaphor and metonymy. The results of the analysis expand previous research on multimodal metaphor, including metaphoric amalgams and different patterns of interaction between metaphor and metonymy.