The paper presents reflections on emotions and emotional reactions which music causes in human beings. The starting point of the paper is the problem of defining the above-mentioned phenomena based on the various theoretical understandings and the results of the related research. The paper begins with the conceptual definition of music in the narrow sense and continues with the conceptual definition of emotions and emotional reactions. The second part of the theoretical discussion relates to the emotions evoked by music. More precisely, it deals with the definition of meaning behind the emotional experience of music and the definition of the way in which humans experience music emotionally. It also investigates the influence of enculturation on emotions as well as the influence of humans’ psychophysical dimension on emotions. Understanding the functioning of all these components separately is necessary for the overall comprehension of the topic. The research part of the paper discusses the results of the conducted study. The study was carried out with the aim of examining the impact of music on emotions and emotional reactions of people with regard to their age and gender and with regards to the tempo and dynamics of the given musical pieces composed by foreign authors of serious music.