What happens when you listen to music? What happens in your brain? And what makes music sad, poignant or joyful?

Emma Ayres from ABC's Classic FM hosts this discussion recorded for ABC's Big Ideas program. Professor Andrew Schultz – composer and head of the school of Arts and the Media at UNSW, and music psychologist Associate Professor Emery Schubert, from the same school provide insights into composition and our emotional response to music.

The program features two compositions by Andrew Schultz - "After Nina" and "One Sound", performed by the musicians of the Australia Ensemble at UNSW:

Geoffrey Collins - flute?

Dimity Hall - violin?

Catherine McCorkill - clarinet

?Irina Morozova - viola?

Ian Munro - piano

?Dene Olding - violin?

Julian Smiles - cello