Forza emozionale? National discourse and La Battaglia di Legnano

Abstract

This article will suggest how the audience interpreted the music and messages held within Verdi's La Battaglia di Legnano and suggest how far the sentiment within the opera was understood, in turn asking how effective a canone of nationalist images within culture would have been. The use of musical psychological and philosophical studies – such as those by Peter Kivy and Anthony Storr, among others – will offer an insight into the effect of music on the mind, and suggest how music affects the audience.