Philosophy of Music

1
Philosophy of Music
Lecture 4
2
Performance

• Are performances works? (and if not, does it
  follow that jazz is not art?)
• Non-performance music-making
• Ways of being for an audience
• Communication / address
• Failures and flaws in performance

3
Recording

• A recording of music presents music to listeners,
  who access this presentation by replaying the
  recording.
• Rondo alla turca

4
Gracyk on Rock Recordings
In the autographic arts, history of production
rather than notational determination is the key
to individuating the work. (Gracyk)
Some musical works are thick with properties,
others are thinner some works include the
performance-means while others are pure sound
structures. (Davies)
5
Works for performance
Sonate, que me veux-tu? (Fontenelle) The
Sonata should answer I would have you listen
with attention and delight to the ingenuity of
the composition, the neatness of the execution,
the sweetness of the melody, and the richness of
the harmony, as well as the charms of refined
tones lengthened and polished into passion.
(Burney)
6
Authoring a work for performance

• Making a token performance-directive that
  envisages the following sequence of events
• Reproduction of the token
• Planning for the execution of what is directed by
  such a token
• Execution of such a plan

7
Authentic performance

• Following the works constitutive
  performance-directives
• Andreas Staier Rondo alla turca
• Anonymous
• Gould

8
Interpretation

• Representing something in such a way that it can
  be subsumed into a sense-endowing framework
• Hound dog
• Georges Thill
• Elegy