The Reflective Musician

Håkon Austbø

The relationship between performance and reflection is rich and complex. Great performances can sometimes seem the spontaneous products of mysterious inspiration; however, most musicians would agree that, to attain its full potential, a performance must arise from a thorough investigation of the artistic acts of interpretation and expression appropriate to the work. When this investigation becomes an overt research process, artistic choices begin to be based on conscious critical and self-reflective evaluations and decisions — and the resulting performance to be informed by a wide range of hermeneutic and analytical approaches. But the promise of such a multi-stranded approach is vulnerable, and sometimes compromised, when the performer’s skill and knowledge in the associated disciplines does not measure up to their performative artistry and insight. Since Artistic Research, in particular, often posits a model in which all associated knowledge should reside within the performer, this can be problematic. So, is there an alternative model that, nonetheless, maintains the skills of artist and scholar in a mutually beneficial configuration? And, if so, how does such a model uncover the kinds of performing knowledge that may lead to a specific, unique interpretation? This exposition reveals a constellation of approaches around a central premise, namely that musical interpretation may be read as an inherently creative activity based on its own systems of knowledge which, whether conscious or intuitive, ought to be capable of being articulated in words as well as in practical music-making. In articulating this premise within the project, the process of interpretation is seen as emerging, ideally, as a form of co-creation, as it were, in which the performer ‘composes’ the work anew from inside the act of performance and, in doing so, works in a creative partnership with both composer and audience. Among the possibilities offered by such a model is the prospect that the term ‘performer’ can become a multiple entity of individuals engaged in a creative partnership of their own and articulating in words the impulses and mechanisms at work in this partnership.

Intellect and emotion

Chopin's Third Ballade - an analytical approach

- by Håkon Austbø

Chopin's Third Ballade is a particularly rewarding composition to investigate, due to its clear structure and subtle contrast. It is also a widely known piece and often performed.

In this article, different approaches to the analysis of the work are presented, as well as the impact these will have on the interpretation.

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Does thinking enhance performance?

- By Håkon Austbø

Account of a process leading up to the performance of Bartok’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion, and Brahms’ Piano Quintet.

The question whether thinking, and in particular analytical thinking, can make musical performances more genuine and unique, is the core matter of The Reflective Musician. To be sure, we are not so much concerned about performances being better, but simply about whether this knowledge does anything to the performer, and therefore to the performance.

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Extreme Interpretation

- by Lasse Thoresen

Many published studies emphasise the importance of analysing musical scores in order for the performer to prepare a high quality musical performance. The present essay is a study of the opposite approach: It shows how musical structure emerges, embodied in sound and time, in a full-fledged interpretation, and as a result reveals metrical functions beyond those traditionally found in a score analysis.

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