A chilling effect on the listener

"She stood next to the piano, with her arms by her side and a faraway look in her eyes. Occasionally she bent her head forward to read the music, blinking her eyes for a moment. In the low notes her contralto voice took on a mournful intonation which had a chilling effect on the listener ..."

- Madame Arnoux's singing in Gustave Flaubert's Sentimental Education