I currently have the dubious and delightful pleasure of entering my second year of the International Baccalaureate; which at my college means having to start preparing Theory of Knowledge presentations.

Theory of Knowledge is a complete waste of time (in my opinion) something like philosophy, critical thinking and general studies combined. In the presentation we have to choose a topic and highlight the potential "Problems of Knowledge" it involves, (but simply, and it makes as much sense to me!)

Anyway, I was thinking, that a good topic for me would be to look at the "Problems of Knowledge" involved in interpreting music. this would include things like, scores only being a guide, you cannot ever really know what the composer inteded unless you ask them, but does playing it a different way to what the composer intedend make it a less valid interpretation etc.

I also thought that a historical look at it would be useful, for example why can'tyou swing dotted rhythms in Baroque music, how do we know that this wouldn't have been done, how can we know where ornaments would have been most likely fitted in when there are no recordings, why is it I'm told I should go easy on vibrato in early music etc. Can we learn more about this form knowing the limits of comtemporary instruments?

The problem is, I don't actually know a lot about said musical interpretation. Fortunetly, the presentation is assessed on the dicussion of "PoK's" as opposed to background knowledge, but I still need to know enough to stand there for 10mins and support my arguments.

So can anyone give me and book suggestions, website links, or even first hand knowledge (which I will have to cite)? Any help much appreciated.

The AB's books 'The Performer's Guide to the <> period' are quite good - I have the Baroque one out of the library at the moment and it's quite informative.

A few random facts apart from that (cite if you wish)

- There are two historical editions of the Corelli Op. 5 violin sonatas. The first edition, published in 1700, is what one would expect - an accurate account of the music. The second edition, published in 1710 by Estienne Roger in Amsterdam but condoned by Corelli, had numerous ornaments in 12 of the slow movements, written as Corelli himself would have apparently played them.

- To quote Leopold Mozart "There are some players who tremble at every note, as if they had a chronic fever". Vibrato was an ornament, nothing more.

Yes, the AB 'Performer's Guide' books are very good indeed - and have just the sort of information you're looking for!

It's an important part of philosophy (the most important, IMO). To see how much attention has been paid to it, I suggest you read the article "Epistemology" in Encyclopaedia Britannica. A J Ayer wrote a book, "The Problem of Knowledge", that was published by Penguin; however, he later described it as "almost completely false". If you want a somewhat unorthodox slant, Sir Karl Popper's 1934 book, "The Logic of Scientific Discovery", has been hugely influential. For a brief summary of Popper's ideas, there is a book by Brian Magee, in the Fontana Modern Masters series, ("Popper"; Fontana Press, 1985; ISBN 0 00 686008 7).

I agree that this should be a fruitful subject. I was never satisfied with any musical analyst's definition of his subject matter: what the composer thought, what the listener thinks or just marks on paper.

For the evidence of intentions and perceptions, you should consider the writings and statements of composers (e.g. C P E Bach, "Essay on the true art of playing the keyboard instruments", Mozart's letters), of commentators on music (e.g. Burney), and of performers.

I believe that writings about the French Baroque indicate that pairs of quavers were swung (inégal) in many well defined contexts, and I suppose Italian and German music of the same period is thought not to have used this effect because the French were described as being different. As far as vibrato is concerned, there is much evidence (Spohr c. 1840 and Joachim c. 1910 violin methods) that until some time in the 20th C. this was an articulation reserved for special notes in a phrase. Kreisler claimed to be the first string performer who could play with continuous vibrato; and early 20th C. orchestral recordings lack it. Roger Norrington claims that using original or replica instruments was a major influence on his interpretation of Classical and early Romantic music, and that he can now get a modern orchestra to match many of the effects. He also claims that the music of some composers (e.g. Schumann), which balances badly on the modern orchestra, sounds much better on instruments of their own time.

I used Popper's epistemology, as far as I understand it, to criticise the approach of Heinrich Schenker, a musical analyst who died in 1935 but whose writings are still very influential in the USA. It is on my web site here. You may be interested in some of the references.

Ken, very interesting paper you wrote there. I've read Helmholz's book and it provides a lot of food for thought. Schenker does indeed seem all-to-close to Freud etc as you say.

Regarding the harmonic series, have you heard the music of the "spectralists" which is influenced by its laws? I've recently been listening to a CD of Marc-André Dalbavie's music and like it a lot (samples here ). Much modern music is now at the extremes of unlistenable noise or banal repetition, these works strike a new path.

(apologies for hijacking the thread!)

Going back to 'swinging' dotted quavers, you certainly would do this in the Handel A minor recorder (flute) sonata Larghetto. If you have the Barenreiter edition it is clearly indicated in the performance notes. As the continuo is in triplets underneath it would give a very odd effect if they're not swung.

As you're a flautist, tamsin, Quantz's 'On playing the flute' is a fascinating read on Baroque performance practice. It even contains sections on 'What a Beginner Must Observe in His Independent Practice' and 'What a Flautist Must Observe if he Plays in Public Concerts'. Amazingly, it is still in print and can be obtained from most public libraries (check your local library catalogue - Hampshire definitely has a copy).

One problem in exams is the individual preference of the examiner. You said:



and this is absolutely true. Ever hear the story of Yehudi Menuhin's emotional rendition of Elgar's Violin Concerto? The English audience was unimpressed and a British critic wrote a damning view of the Menuhin's 'un-English and therefore inappropriate' interpretation. In the end, Elgar intervened. He was at the performance and had absolutely loved it; he said 'Menuhin played it just as I imagined it'.

Also, a composer, if alive, may very well change their mind on hearing an unexpected interpretation. 'Wow!' he may think. 'I never imagined it like that - but I like it!'.

I think a lot of us are too hung up on trying to produce something that we think is what the composer intended.

Violinia

Rodrigo is apparently very picky about how people play his music, and stops anyone who doesn't play it precisely how he intended. He even frowns upon realising the ornaments slightly differently. With all due respect, it is his music but I think it's a little egotistic for him to presume that he knows what ornamentation will work the most effectively for a given player.


Pseudo-intellectualism as Artur Pizarro dubbed it: slavish adherence to some sort of perception of what is the 'right way' to do it, producing a lifeless rendition without any individuality.

I am awaiting the arrival of those 3 books, I'll let you know what I think tamsin

Thanks.

Yes, I've heard some of Tristan Murail's works. I liked the sounds but didn't identify the logic, if any. I think their aesthetic argument probably has flaws, but what is relevant is that it helps them produce interesting music.

I think it is up to the individual composer what attitude he takes to the performances of his works. My compositions get played by amateurs, and I try hard to get them to deliver performances that don't do violence to my intentions, but rarely bother with minor differences from my initial concept.

Thanks very much for your suggestions everyone, I'll take a look at as many of the various suggested resources as I can get my hands on without spending a fortune (and local libraries music resources are [I]dire[I]!

Will let you know how I get on...! (Which could be interesting with my less than enthusiast attitude to ToK... )