What is it?

Sadness is a primary emotion that is expressed and perceived equally across cultures. Basic emotions such as anger, happiness and sadness are innate and universal. Understanding basic emotions in music is very quick and does not require musical training. For instance, hearing a sad cello performance may induce a genuine state of sadness in a listener. Sadness is generally seen as a negative emotion. But we tend to find it pleasurable in an aesthetic context, which is known as the paradox of enjoying sad music.