Meaningful musical performance: A bodily experience

Abstract

Drawing on an interview in which a self-report of a rehearsal and a performance is given, the current paper explores the elements that constitute a performance and assesses what makes it meaningful to the performer and the audience. Both psychological and philosophical approaches are taken so that concepts are examined as fully as possible. It is argued that the performer does not simply construct an interpretation from a formal musical knowledge base and the refinement of motor skills. Rather, the rehearsal period is shaped out of expressive intentions that emerge primarily from metaphorical projections linking physical experience and meaning production. Thus, a rational and fundamental con..