Dorottya Fabian

Expressive Devices and Perceived Musical Character in 34 Performances of Variation 7 from Bach's Goldbergvariations

Ninety-eight undergraduate music students rated thirty-four commercial sound recordings of Bachs variation 7 from the Goldberg Variations in an attempt to better understand the relationship between performance features and perceived musical character. The movement is in 6/8 and is characterised by a repeating dotted pattern. The piece is known to be played to express a variety of musical characters because of the two versions of the piece, one implying a pastorale interpretation, the other a gigue. Past literature predicted the performance of dotting to be the most important determining factor in establishing musical character in eighteenth century compositions where dotted patterns prevail. However, recent research suggests that the perception of dotting is convoluted by articulation and tempo. Using clustering techniques, five distinct and varied musical characters were evoked consistently across the performances (each cluster represented by the word bright, playful, delicate, majestic or agitated), as judged by the participants using an adjective checklist. The same participants rated the following performance features: tempo, articulation, dotting and loudness. Each of these features made statistically significant contributions in distinguishing between character clusters. However, dotting made a relatively small contribution. Regression analysis indicated that 65% of variation in judged dotting response could be explained as a linear combination of articulation and tempo. The study suggests that reducing musical character to dotting neglects the more significant contribution made by articulation, tempo and loudness.

The dimensions of baroque music performance: a semantic differential study:

A semantic differential inventory consisting of 40 baroque-performance descriptors was used by 44 participants in response to 5 interpretations of two pieces by J.S. Bach. The aim of the study was to gain insight into the aesthetic dimensions which underlie baroque performances. Factor analysis identified two dimensions, one pertaining to the stylishness of the performance. Stylishness described those performance devices that contribute to the success of the performance. The second dimension indicated either an amount of expression (regardless of appropriateness or success), or a mainstream perception of expressiveness, not necessarily appropriate to baroque music. A third, weaker, dimension also emerged which grouped together tempo-related variables. The three factors were compared with Osgoods dimensions of connotative meaning, and aligned reasonably well with the evaluative, potency and activity dimensions respectively.

Performing solo Bach: A case study of musical decision-making

This study explores how an expert period instrument musician makes musical decisions, focusing on the distinction between intuitive (Type 1) and deliberate (Type 2) processes as defined by dual-process theories of cognition (Evans, 2008). A case study of the cellist Daniel Yeadon was conducted over 2 years, during which extensive quasi think-aloud and performance data were collected regarding Yeadon’s interpretation of the Suites for Solo Cello by J. S. Bach (BWV 1007–1012). Analysis of this data resulted in the categorization of 134 musical decisions as intuitive, procedural, deliberate, or deliberate HIP (historically informed performance). Procedural decisions were a subset of intuitive, defined as previously deliberate decisions that had become automatic over time. The category of deliberate HIP consisted of decisions that were explained with reference to specific knowledge of historical performance practices. A large proportion of deliberate decision-making was found (65% overall), with deliberate processes dictating the majority of decisions across all performance features except for tone color and ornamentation. Musical decisions discussed in the study demonstrate that performers often manipulate several features of the music simultaneously (making coding and analysis complicated), whether consciously or otherwise. The highest number of musical decisions related to articulation and phrasing, a result that highlights important components of current HIP style. Implications for dual-process theories include the novel category of procedural that demonstrates differences within intuitive (Type 1) processes.

A Musicology of Performance : Theory and Method Based on Bach's Solos for Violin

This book examines the nature of musical performance. In it, Dorottya Fabian explores the contributions and limitations of some of these approaches to performance, be they theoretical, cultural, historical, perceptual, or analytical. Through a detailed investigation of recent recordings of J. S. Bach’s Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, she demonstrates that music performance functions as a complex dynamical system.

A spiral model of musical decision-making

This paper describes a model of how musicians make decisions about performing notated music. The model builds on psychological theories of decision-making and was developed from empirical studies of Western art music performance that aimed to identify intuitive and deliberate processes of decision-making, a distinction consistent with dual-process theories of cognition. The model proposes that the proportion of intuitive (Type 1) and deliberate (Type 2) decision-making processes changes with increasing expertise and conceptualizes this change as movement along a continually narrowing upward spiral where the primary axis signifies principal decision-making type and the vertical axis marks level of expertise. The model is intended to have implications for the development of expertise as described in two main phases. The first is movement from a primarily intuitive approach in the early stages of learning toward greater deliberation as analytical techniques are applied during practice. The second phase occurs as deliberate decisions gradually become automatic (procedural), increasing the role of intuitive processes. As a performer examines more issues or reconsiders decisions, the spiral motion toward the deliberate side and back to the intuitive is repeated indefinitely. With increasing expertise, the spiral tightens to signify greater control over decision type selection. The model draws on existing theories, particularly Evans’ (2011) Intervention Model of dual-process theories, Cognitive Continuum Theory Hammond et al. (1987), Hammond (2007), Baylor’s (2001) U-shaped model for the development of intuition by level of expertise. By theorizing how musical decision-making operates over time and with increasing expertise, this model could be used as a framework for future research in music performance studies and performance science more generally.

Variety in Performance: A comparative Analysis of Recorded Performances of Bach's Sixth Suite for Solo Cello from 1961 to 1998

There exists a commonly held belief amongst musicologists that there has been a ―general globalisation of styles‖ within recorded performances of the latter half of the twentieth century. For many, this is evidenced by an increased interaction between mainstream (MS) and historically informed performance (HIP) practices as well as a general decrease in the diversity of performances. Through a comparative aural and software-assisted analysis and measurement of performance features such as tempo, rhythmic flexibility, vibrato, portamento, bowing, and articulation in key interpretations of Bachs Suite No. 6 for Solo Cello recorded in between 1961 and 1998, this study investigates the relationship between MS and HIP performances in the latter half of the 20 th century. By limiting analyses to those performers who have made two recordings during the designated period (Tortelier, Starker, Bylsma, Ma, Wispelwey), it has been possible to identify overarching trends and individual differences. These have been examined with reference to their broader social and cultural context in order to test commonly held musicological assumptions about the modernist and postmodernist foundations of performances from this era. The results indicate that by the 1990s increased interaction between MS and HIP practices has resulted in a wider variety of differing performances and that this can be seen to be symptomatic of the postmodern condition that has become prevalent since the last decade of the 20 th century.

A Baroque Träumerei: The Performance and Perception of two Violin Renditions

This study investigated the performance decisions a professional violinist made to produce a baroque sound when playing a well-known piece of romantic music (Schumanns Träumerei). We tested whether listeners (n = 28 musically experienced) could detect these decisions. The baroque interpretation was compared with a more conventional interpretation of the same work. Participants rated the baroque-interpreted version as being more ‘baroque expressive’ than its ‘romantic’ counterpart, and identified various characteristics associated with baroque performing conventions. The results were consistent with the intentions of the performer and reflected current aesthetic norms in expectations with regards to performance style.

Quantifying the Use of Dynamics in Western Keyboard Music: Lessons and Problems

Ladinig and Hurons (2010) investigation of the relationship between mode (major-minor) and dynamics in Classical and Romantic piano music indicated higher levels of dynamics for compositions from the Classical period but only in major-mode pieces. This was contrary to the expectation that minor mode pieces from the Romantic era would be louder because romantic composers may have intended to convey seriousness, passion or even aggression, rather than sadness. Although the methodology was carefully crafted to enable necessary control for a quantitative study, it also contributed to the questionable relevance of the results. It is arguable whether the chosen repertoire is typical, whether initial markings in the score have a true bearing on the dynamic characteristics of a piece and whether notated dynamics are reliable data due to historical notation conventions and later editorial practices.

Musical Character and the Performance and Perception of Dotting, Articulation and Tempo in 34 Recordings of Variation 7 from J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations (BWV 988)

The performance of dotted rhythms has received considerable scholarly attention in the recent past. Historical musicologists mostly examined it in the context of baroque performance practice while music psychologists studied it primarily in relation to rhythm perception or emotion in music. This paper builds on our previous work that examined the perception of dotting in 34 commercial recordings of Bachs Goldberg Variations and its role in defining perceived musical character. In this study we compare this earlier data of perceived dotting, articulation and tempo with newly measured performed dotting, articulation and tempo in the same 34 recordings. We also investigate the relationship between performed parameters and judged musical character. Correlation analysis indicates a difference between performed and perceived dotting. It also shows that in a baroque piece of music where dotted rhythms are prevalent, performed dotting contributes less to judged musical character than do performed articulation and tempo. The results demonstrate that perceived dotting and judged character are at least as dependent on articulation and tempo as on performed dotting. On the basis of these findings the paper posits that the “dottedness” of an interpretation is more a judgment of musical character than an assessment of rhythmic execution.