Engaging with interpretation means engaging with somebody’s relation to music. However, who is this ‘somebody’? We can concentrate on at least two sites here: first, the site of the musician/performer (Jerold Levinson would call this a ‘performative interpretation’) and second, the site of the listener, who interprets a performance which is itself an interpretation of a musical work (Levinson’s ‘critical interpretation’). And, what about the composer? Perhaps s/he can be considered the first interpreter of her/his music.
Dealing with interpretation in music means evaluating what
exactly is subjected to interpretation. Should we pay attention to the
intentions of the composer as, for example, Peter Kivy
proposes? In other words, is it important to know how a certain composer (would
have) performed her/his own work? Or is it sufficient to pay close attention to
the score? And how far can someone go before the performance is no longer
considered a (re)presentation of that particular piece? Perhaps we should
distinguish between the score and the work as Roman Ingarden
suggests when he states that on the one hand the score guarantees the identity
of a work whereas on the other hand it is nothing more than a schematic
representation of a work. Paying attention first of all to the work itself
might imply that we prefer to let the music speak instead of its author. It
might imply that we agree with the idea that a musical piece always says more
than what its author intended. Are various interpretations, that is, readings
of a particular piece in different contexts, only possible because the work is
somehow detached from its producer?
Considering various interpretations: perhaps what is
interpreted in music are other, previous interpretations (cf. Gadamer’s Wirkungsgeschichte).
Somehow, both musicians and listeners are influenced and formed by preceding
performances, recordings, and other reflections upon that music.
Dealing with interpretation also means investigating the
role of the reader (performer and/or listener). Is every new and original
performance a further realization of the composition? In other words, is the
possibility of coming up with more than one interpretation an intrinsic
characteristic of a text? Is the work thus invariable, and are readers constantly discovering new aspects of it? Or should
we emphasize the creativity of the reader and regard her/his interpretative
acts as the completion, alteration and enrichment of a musical work, sometimes
presented within the score? Do pieces become redefined with every performance,
every listening act?
These questions can be regarded as a kind of framework
within which this course is presented.
Authors whose texts will be discussed: Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jerold Levinson, Peter Kivy, Theodor Adorno, Bruce Ellis Benson, and many others.