Beyond the Interpretation of Music

Abstract

The idea of a musical performance as an “interpretation” cannot be dated before the 1840s, yet we use the term unthinkingly as a synonym for a privileged performance of any music from the past. Tracing a history and pre-history of the metaphor and its usage sheds light on the eclipse of more richly textured models of music-making from previous eras as well as on an esthetic predicament within contemporary “historicist” performance. The limitations of the metaphor suggest moving “beyond interpretation” in favor of more experiential and intuitive notions of making music.