The folks at Radiolab have done several interviews – one of them with David Cope – talking about musical language. Two of the interviews open the door to considering physiological foundations of experiencing dissonance and consonance in sounds. One of these discusses dissonance and consonance in terms of brain chemistry. The other discusses the similarities of tonal melodies that occur across various cultures and languages when addressing a baby or child.
Listen to the interview at: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2007/09/25