The State of Play in Performance Studies

Abstract

Scholarly research on musical performance has been gaining in momentum to the point that 'performance studies' might now be regarded as a musicological discipline in its own right. More and more universities and conservatoires offer courses encouraging the interaction of theory and practice, rather than their traditional separation, while professional performers increasingly present themselves as both 'doers' and 'talkers'. Of course, the study of musical performance has a long tradition within musicology, mostly in the fields of 'historical performance practice' and the psychology of performance. The chapter presents a survey of its constituent parts, briefly summarizing the main aims of three overlapping domains: historical performance practice, the psychology of performance, and analysis and performance. It identifies both fundamental dichotomies and constraints imposed on the performer. The case study of Chopin's E minor Prelude will suggest how the research strands can be interwoven in building an interpretation.

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