Notes

As art forms go, music has a unique ability to tap into our most primal emotions. It can shape our perceptions, change our moods, literally alter our brain function. Yet we often view music as safe. We see ourselves as in control of the music in our lives. We can, after all, choose what we listen to, switch songs, or simply turn it off. We forget that there are times we do not have such control. There are times that we might not even consciously register that music is being played, like when watching television or a movie. Even when we do notice the music in these environments, we rarely consider its effect on us. Paul Christiansen's book addresses this exact situation. Christiansen offers an in-depth rumination on the power of music to persuade voters and potentially alter election results in a medium where viewers are neither actively choosing nor often aware of the music they are hearing.

In Orchestrating Public Opinion, Christiansen argues that music is one of the most, if not the most, influential components of political advertising. He makes the case that the other elements in advertising rely on music to convey emotional content. In the most effective ads, the use of music can circumvent logical reasoning and activate an autonomic emotional response. Christiansen notes that in previous work regarding political ads, music is barely mentioned or is given perfunctory treatment. He seeks to fill this void and provide a historically informed and musically literate perspective on how music can be used in televised political ads to persuade voters. His stated goal in this is to help viewers understand and counteract this form of persuasion.

Christiansen is an associate professor of music at Seton Hall University. Though much of his early career was devoted to research on Czech music, he has spent the last decade focused primarily on music in political advertisements. His research interest in this area grew out of his undergraduate work in media and television production as well as a seminar he taught on music in television commercials. Several of the discussions in Orchestrating Public Opinion are taken from earlier [End Page 616] published articles and conference papers on the music used in specific election cycles.

The main body of the book follows the historical evolution of political ad music from its jingle-like origins in the days of Dwight D. Eisenhower to its more cinematic iterations today. The discussions are limited to the general elections, and the ads Christiansen chooses are generally one minute long or less. Certain ads are presented in more detail, particularly those seen as groundbreaking. He begins each chapter with a short summary of major world events during the year being discussed. This helps the reader understand the societal context within which the election was happening and, therefore, the issues that influenced voters. He follows this with a short overview of the candidates, the election, and the ways music was used in the election. Often this introduction serves as a conclusion of the chapter's findings as well.

Following these introductory portions, Christiansen offers several case studies of specific ads from each year that exemplify the musical devices in use at that time. He describes all aspects of each ad, including the visuals, voice over, on-screen text, and of course, the musical/aural elements. These aural elements are contextualized as to how they accentuate, detract, or give meaning to the other components of the ad. The case studies range from short to in-depth. In the more detailed discussions, Christiansen provides theoretical dissections of musical elements. For a musically literate audience, these provide a concrete way of understanding the ways that music can be used to manipulate a listener's emotional response. Throughout the book, Christiansen...