Beschreibung:
<jats:p> The study of musical emotion is currently witnessing a renaissance. However, the literature on music and emotion still presents a confusing picture. The conceptual terrain is still being mapped, and considerable refinement is still needed in how we study music and emotion. With all the research currently devoted to this subject, it is all the more important that we have a good grasp of the current state of the art, so that we do not invent the wheel twice. With this aim in mind, the present authors organized a symposium at the Sixth International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition in Keele, UK, August, 2000. The intention was to bring together several researchers who have made theoretical and empirical contributions to the field in order to display “Current trends in the study of music and emotion”. This special issue presents extended and revised papers from that symposium, including a number of additional contributions. In this paper, we provide an introduction. We discuss the historical background, highlight the primary issues as they relate to the contents of the others contributions, and finally consider the gap that exists between art and science. </jats:p>