Quote:
I think Levitin was on the wrong track here. “High” and “low” are not so much tied to spatial orientation as they are to weight. We know, either from instinct or common experience, that heavy things make low-pitched noises, while light things make high-pitched noises. Thus, use of the word “high” is a metaphor for “lightly pitched”, while “low” is really “heavily pitched”.
Another thing we learn from experience is that heavy things can escalate in pitch as they become more animated. Therefore, once we associate a grouping of low notes with “something heavy”, their ascent into higher registers tends to make us think “more energy” rather than “becoming lighter”. We see the grouping of notes (the melody or theme) as a constant entity, even though it is really no such thing. Constant things do not tend to change in mass, but they do get more or less animated.
It all depends on context, though. If a composer is able to convince the listener that the succession of notes suggests “something getting heavier” (a snowball rolling down a hill, perhaps?), then for it to maintain the same tempo over time means it is gaining energy, even though it is not becoming more animated. This explains the raw power of some of the pedal passages in the music of Bach.