The Effect of Instruction on Children’s Perceived Musical Tension in Debussy’s Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maisons

Abstract

The study explored possible effects of instruction (highlighting a choral composition’s historical and social context) on perceived musical tension recorded by children (N = 62). Children listened to a recording of Debussy’s Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maisons (The Christmas Carol of the Children who No Longer Have a House/Home) performed by a children’s choir in French. Responses were recorded using the Continuous Response Digital Interface. Examination of graphs showed the mean responses of groups, control (with text translation only) versus experimental (with text translation plus instruction), to be quite similar. Differences between groups were minimal, individualized by participant, and most likely, not significant. When comparing responses of the children in the current study to college music majors in a previous study using the same recording, directional similarities in the graphs were noted (consistent with other research comparing perceived tension of children and adults).