Music theory is often seen as independent from - even antithetical to - performance. While music theory is an intellectual enterprise, performance requires an intuitive response to the music. But this binary opposition is a false one, which serves neither the theorist nor the performer. In Interpreting Chopin Alison Hood brings her experience as a performer to bear on contemporary analytical models. She combines significant aspects of current analytical approaches and applies that unique synthetic method to selected works by Chopin, casting new light on the composer’s preludes, nocturnes and barcarolle. An extension of Schenkerian analysis, the specific combination of five aspects distinguishes Hood’s method from previous analytical approaches. These five methods are: attention to the rhythms created by pitch events on all structural levels; a detailed accounting of the musical surface; 'strict use' of analytical notation, following guidelines offered by Steve Larson; a continual concern with what have been called 'strategies' or 'premises'; and an exploration of how recorded performances might be viewed in terms of analytical decisions, or might even shape those decisions. Building on the work of such authors as William Rothstein, Carl Schachter and John Rink, Hood’s approach to Chopin’s oeuvre raises interpretive questions of central interest to performers.

Through the systematic analysis of data from music rehearsals, lessons, and performances, this book develops a new conceptual framework for studying cognitive processes in musical activity. Grounding the Analysis of Cognitive Processes in Music Performance draws uniquely on dominant paradigms from the fields of cognitive science, ethnography, anthropology, psychology, and psycholinguistics to develop an ecologically valid framework for the analysis of cognitive processes during musical activity. By presenting a close analysis of activities including instrumental performance on the bassoon, lessons on the guitar, and a group rehearsal, chapters provide new insights into the person/instrument system, the musician’s use of informational resources, and the organization of perceptual experience during musical performance. Engaging in musical activity is shown to be a highly dynamic and collaborative process invoking tacit knowledge and coordination as musicians identify targets of focal awareness for themselves, their colleagues, and their students. Written by a cognitive scientist and classically trained bassoonist, this specialist text builds on two decades of music performance research; and will be of interest to researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in the fields of cognitive psychology and music psychology, as well as musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, and performance science. Linda T. Kaastra has taught courses in cognitive science, music, and discourse studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University. She earned a PhD from UBC’s Individual Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program.

This collection of essays highlights different questions concerning music theory, interpretation, and performance. Organized into four chapters, the first section looks into interpretation from a hermeneutic perspective, whereas the second analyses the application of this knowledge in musical practice. The discussion turns, in the third part, to a new field of music theory broadly labelled as performance studies. Focused on physical and psychological events, this section broaches fundamental issues such as gesture, bodily movement, expression, emotion, a whole set of processes that act within the framework of performance. The final section addresses the artistic practices in the 21st century across present-day cultural contexts. Proposing a space for reflection in which one tries to imagine the relation between the scientific field and the interpretative process, this volume reflects the central issues of research in performance analysis, establishing connections between different disciplines, methodologies and research trends. It will be of essential interest to researchers, musicians and performers, and music students.

The two-volume 'Oxford Handbook of Music Performance' provides the most comprehensive and authoritative resource for musicians, educators and scholars currently available. It is aimed primarily for practicing musicians, particularly those who are preparing for a professional career as performers and are interested in practical implications of psychological and scientific research for their own music performance development; educators with a specific interest or expertise in music psychology, who will wish to apply the concepts and techniques surveyed in their own teaching; undergraduate and postgraduate students who understand the potential of music psychology for informing music education; and researchers in the area of music performance who consider it important for the results of their research to be practically useful for musicians and music educators.

A Guide to Library Research in Music introduces the process and techniques for researching and writing about music. This informative textbook provides concrete examples of different types of writing, offering a thorough introduction to music literature. It clearly describes various information-searching techniques and library-based organizational systems and introduces the array of music resources available. Each chapter concludes with learning exercises to aid the students' concept application and skill development. Appendixes provide short cuts to specific topics in library organizational systems, including Library of Congress Subject Headings and Classification. The concluding bibliography provides a quick overview of music literature and resources, emphasizing electronic and print publications since 2000, but including standard references that all music researchers should know.

This collection addresses different issues involving performance and musical creation in contemporary piano music. Organised into three sections, it examines the aesthetic and technical aspects of musical creation in the 20th century, and evaluates the questions that these aspects pose regarding the interpretative and performative process. It also offers a reflection on artistic practices in the 21st century, and explores their contribution to redefining the contemporary performative field.

Most music we hear comes to us via a recording medium on which sound has been stored. Such remoteness of music heard from music made has become so commonplace it is rarely considered. Musical Performance: A Philosophical Study considers the implications of this separation for live musical performance and music-making. Rather than examining the composition or perception of music as most philosophical accounts of music do, Stan Godlovitch takes up the problem of how the tradition of active music playing and performing has been challenged by technology and what problems this poses for philosophical aesthetics. Where does does the value of musical performance lie? Is human performance of music a mere transfer medium? Is the performance of music more expressive than recorded music? Musical Performance poses questions such as these to develop a fascinating account of music today. musicians - but via some recording medium on which sound has been stored.

Drawing on the fields of dramaturgy, music theory, and historical musicology, this book answers a question about twentieth-century music: Why does tonality persist in opera, even after it has been abandoned in other genres?