Translating Musical Meaning: The Nineteenth-Century Performer as Narrator

Abstract

Abstract Some research into ‘historical performance’ studies the past at the expense of the present, aiming to discover ‘what was done’ in bygone eras rather than to guide the modern performer. This chapter, by contrast, has a practical goal: it enlists both historical and analytical evidence in an effort to capture the ‘spirit’ of a work as a prelude to live performance. Not only does it complement recent speculative writing on what historical performance ‘should’ entail and how analysis ‘should’ inform performance; it also casts light on nineteenth-century performance practice in particular, which remains relatively uncharted research territory. Past forays into this domain have typically concentrated on ‘factual’ matters like editions and instruments, virtually ignoring such issues as how composers conveyed ‘meaning’ (defined in any number of ways) in the score and how contemporary performers translated it into sound. By broaching these issues in terms relevant to this day and age, I shall show how the performer of nineteenth-century music can bring the score to life as a narrator of the expressive message inherent therein.

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