Yа. Serdyuk

Virtual structures of musical notation as the source of polysemy of musical interpretation

The article reviews performer’s interpretation as a reproductive-proactive creative process, connected with finding virtual structures of musical notation – the hidden elements of musical composition that are not defined graphically, that exist as hidden capabilities, actualized in the sound. Virtual structures are presented as a hierarchical system, the levels of which are classified according to their relation to percipient consciousness, and according to the levels of musical composition’s arrangement, studied by E. Nazaikisnky: textural, syntactic, compositional. Using Prelude in A‑minor, BWV 889, from Well‑Tempered Clavier, Book 2 by J. S. Bach as an example, by comparing the Urtext with different performers’ versions of this composition, multitude and variability of sound implementations of virtual structures of texture-phonetic and intonational-syntactic levels are demonstrated. Being the objectively existing part of a musical composition, virtual structures receive specifically subjective expression in singular interpretation by a performer, being, therefore, one of the sources of its polyvariety and polysemy.

Key words

interpretation, virtual structures, texture, syntax, hidden polyphony.

• Read full article