Abstract
This chapter outlines how I address my own insecurities about the process of interpretation as a conductor, and how autoethnographic study enabled the development of an approach to performance based on the multiplicity of possible interpretations of the score. Conductors who admit to there being multiple interpretations of the score are, in effect, saying there is no single correct way for a work to be performed. Many conductors have declared such a view, and the philosophical inquiry of Stephen Davies, Laurence Kramer, and Michael Krausz converges on the idea that interpretation is an open and unending process. Even though the existence of multiple valid interpretations should not be controversial, it can still be a difficult path for a conductor to follow. Daniel Leech-Wilkinson’s list of “performance police” or Laurence Dreyfus’s “agent[s] of authority” would all have an opinion about the liberties that a conductor can and cannot take. The inspiration for my inquiry came from participation in the 2012 Järvi International Academy for Conducting. During the course, Neeme Järvi conducted Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on two occasions. I remember being in awe of how both performances were distinctively shaped in differing ways: the symphony was different in terms of its surface detail and temporal unfolding. My assumption was that it was all Neeme’s doing and that he was somehow “authoring” the interpretations of the orchestra each night. To understand what Neeme might have been doing and how I might be able to reproduce it myself, I designed an “experiment” based on conducting five orchestral scores on two different occasions. Many existing studies of conducting take quantitative or “how to” approaches and in doing so, often divorcing technique from interpretive issues and overlooking the importance of collaborative practice. This chapter reveals how reflecting on video material and autoethnographic field notes illuminated otherwise concealed connections in the process of interpretation.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Routledge companion to music, autoethnography, and reflexivity |
Editors | Peter Gouzouasis, Christopher Wiley |
Place of Publication | Abingdon, Oxon |
Publisher | Routledge Taylor & Francis Group |
Chapter | 4 |
Pages | 57-69 |
Number of pages | 13 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780429330049 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780367351472, 9781032804453 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 18 Dec 2024 |