Reading ¨First Defeat¨ analysed from the emotional perspective.

Abstract

This article proposes an interdisciplinary reading of First Defeat (Nils Frahm) through four complementary theoretical frameworks: Ernst Kurth’s Musical Energetics, Bernd and Daniela Willimek’s Theory of Musical Equilibration, David Huron’s ITPRA Expectation Theory, and Tuomas Eerola’s dimensional and empirical models of musical emotion. The piece, characterized by its pulsating texture and harmonic economy, provides an ideal laboratory for studying the affective translation of contemporary minimalist pianism. The score analyzed corresponds to the piano arrangement by myself (Almudena Longares)

1. Introduction

First Defeat belongs to a Central European minimalist tradition in which emotional meaning is not constructed through elaborate progressions or discursive melodies, but through micro-variations in rhythm, repeated pulses, and subtle harmonic inflections. The score shows a solid structure based on an ostinato pattern in the right hand and a stable bass pedal in D♯/E♭ (see measures 1–4)  .

This type of design invites examination of how repetition generates internal forces (Kurth), suspended tensions (Willimek), micro-temporal expectations (Huron), and shifts in emotional valence–arousal (Eerola).

2. Kurth: Inner Energy and Dynamic Forces

Kurth asserts that music is experienced as forces before it is experienced as objects: impulses, inner directions, energies that flow. In First Defeat, this quality is palpable in the opening (measures 1–8), where the right hand executes a steady rhythmic figure over repeated notes (F♯–G♯–A), while the left hand sustains a deep bass pedal on D♯/E♭.

In Kurthian terms:

2.1. Energy Accumulated Through Repetition

The repeated sixteenth-note pattern creates a stable but unresolved energetic field, a kinetic flow without a clear directional vector. The energy is contained rather than discharged.

2.2. The Piece as Suspended Energy

For Kurth, the listener experiences the physical sensation of retained energy: the piece moves without moving, maintaining a kind of “static kinetic tension.” This intensifies in measures 9–16, where the texture grows denser while still avoiding teleological motion.

In Musikpsychologie, Kurth describes how a tone becomes “charged” when another tone producing tension is introduced. This is clearly reflected in measures 13–14, where the appearance of F-natural creates modal friction over the pedal point.

3. Willimek: Musical Equilibration and the Experience of Will

Willimek revises Kurth’s view: we do not experience physical forces, but rather processes of will with which the listener identifies. This is essential in First Defeat, a work built on small alterations that generate micro-desires.

3.1. The Pedal Tone as a Will Toward Permanence

A core idea in the Theory of Equilibration is that listeners identify with the desire for a tone not to change. The repeated D♯ pedal (virtually unbroken throughout measures 1–38)   is a perfect example of this static will.

The listener “wants” it to continue, producing:

• restrained calm

• suspended nostalgia

• a sense of prolonged breath

3.2. The F-Natural in Measures 13–14 as an Emotional Rupture

According to Willimek, harmonic frictions produce experiences of “contradicted will.” The introduction of F-natural (non-diatonic) briefly disrupts modal stability and induces:

• a feeling of soft ache or unease

• a sense of emotional movement rather than tonal direction

This altered harmony fits Willimek’s category of “emotionally stirred” sonorities: tensions the listener unconsciously wishes to maintain, yet perceives as fragile.

4. Huron: ITPRA and Micro-Expectational Dramaturgy

Huron’s ITPRA model (Imagination–Tension–Prediction–Reaction–Appraisal) is ideal for explaining how First Defeat produces emotion with minimal materials.

4.1. Micro-Temporal Expectations

The repeated rhythmic pattern continuously activates:

• Imagination: the listener imagines continuity.

• Tension: each measure creates anticipatory readiness.

• Prediction: the prediction is fulfilled… until it is not.

The most notable deviations occur in:

• measures 13–14: modal change

• measures 32–36: rhythmic-harmonic variation with altered accents

As Huron describes in Sweet Anticipation, musical pleasure often arises when a prediction is fulfilled after a small deviation. In this piece, the return to the original pattern after F-natural produces a quiet sense of relief.

4.2. The “Pessimistic Bias” and Emotional Vulnerability

Huron argues that the human emotional system is evolutionarily biased toward pessimism, amplifying feelings of relief or comfort when a feared event does not occur.

The piece plays with this mechanism:

the minimal deviation activates alertness;

the return activates comfort.

5. Eerola: Valence–Arousal, Roughness, and Emotional Perception

Eerola’s empirical framework describes musical emotion along two axes:

• Valence (pleasant ↔ unpleasant)

• Arousal (low ↔ high activation)

5.1. Sustained Low Arousal

The slow tempo (♩ = 59), soft dynamics (ppp–p), and steady repetition match Eerola’s traits for:

• low arousal

• introspective states

• emotional calm

This is especially present in the opening measures (1–8).

5.2. Moderate Roughness as Emotional Color

Momentary frictions (e.g., D♯ pedal + F-natural in measures 13–14) introduce a small rise in roughness, which—according to Eerola and Lahdelma’s studies—produces:

• slight increases in arousal

• subtle decreases in valence

• a tinge of melancholy or disturbance

Because the roughness is mild and brief, it functions as an emotional sigh, not a dramatic climax.

6. Synthesis: The Emotional Aesthetic of a Soft Defeat

First Defeat does not portray a heroic collapse but a quiet inward faltering. All four theories converge in describing this emotional landscape:

Theory	Contribution
Kurth	The piece as suspended energy and static kinetic tension, evoking fragility.
Willimek	Identification with the will toward permanence (pedal point) and the soft sting of modal deviations.
Huron	Micro variations generating tension–relief cycles; an intimate emotional oscillation.
Eerola	A profile of low arousal + mildly negative valence, nuanced by momentary friction.

Conclusion

First Defeat is a study in emotional vulnerability through minimalism. Its repetitive architecture activates the most fundamental mechanisms of musical perception described by Kurth, Willimek, and Huron, while its acoustic profile aligns seamlessly with Eerola’s dimensional model of musical emotion. The work does not narrate a grand defeat but the quiet acceptance of a wound, a type of musical emotion Frahm masters and articulates through every tiny deviation in the pattern.