An Analysis of the Mechanisms Through Which Language Choice in Multilingual Operas Influences Musical Style and Aesthetic Orientation

Abstract

As a quintessential medium of cross-cultural art, the choice of language in multilingual operas not only influences the expression of the plot but may also profoundly reshape the musical style and the audience’s aesthetic preferences through phonological characteristics. Using the Geneva Music Emotion Scale (GEMS) as a measurement tool, this study systematically examined the impact of language choice on opera musical styles (melodic comfort, rhythmic density, dramatic tension, phonological compatibility, and lyricism) and aesthetic orientations (curiosity, transcendence, lyricism, nostalgia, tranquility, power, joy, tension, and sadness). Through empirical analysis, we found that language choice exerts significant effects on the expression of five opera musical styles and six aesthetic orientation dimensions (transcendence, lyricism, nostalgia, power, joy, and sadness). Specifically, the phonological structures, stress patterns, and intonation contours of different languages not only constrain the acoustic trajectory of melodic composition but also, through the phonetic-emotional synesthesia mechanism, independently guide shifts in listeners’ aesthetic orientations—separate from semantic content.