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Freedom of Speech. Understanding flexibility in the score (last edited: 2023)

Bart van Oort
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Flexibility in performance is an important element of the classical style and probably of all musical styles. While about 'freedom', this article is not about tempo rubato - tempo fluctuation - but about the subtle gesturing of musical figures, akin to pronounciation of words in speech: together with dynamics the most important tool for shaping a musical figure. This 'freedom of speech' is excercized independently of the rhythmical pulse and is supported by the historical sources. But in spite of that, the dominating performance style of the 20th century was the 'Strict style' - the antithesis of flexibility in performance. Sometimes also referred to as the 'Modern Style' or the 'Straight Style', it also manifested itself as the ’Sewing Machine Style’ in the early days of early music. Chapter I deals with the need for the rethorical classical style to be performed with speech-like diction and gesturing. Chapter 2 investigates the origins of the strict style and its influence on present day music life. Together with the strict style, the highly expressive piano technique of dislocation (striking the left hand and right hand not together) became more important, to the point of dominating performances. Chapter three is an attempt to answer the question whether there is a relation between the strict style and this (no less strict) technique of dislocation? The fourth and last chapter documents the (often coded but undisputable) historical directions and tools for a speech-like flexibility found in treatises between 1740 and 1990.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsrubato, flexibility, strict style, performance, piano performance, performance aesthetics, modern style, sewing machine style, articulation, messa di voce, dislocation, rhetorical style, historical performance, fortepiano, gesturing, speech, diction, shaping, agogic accents, KonCon Lectorate
date05/01/2021
last modified14/08/2023
statusin progress
share statusprivate
affiliationRoyal Conservatory, The Hague
copyrightBart van Oort
licenseAll rights reserved
languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1106005/1106006


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