Flexibility of Expressive Timing in Repeated Musical Performances.

Alexander P Demos,Tânia Lisboa,Roger Chaffin

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01490

Alexander P Demos, Tânia Lisboa + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01490

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Abstract

Performances by soloists in the Western classical tradition are normally highly prepared, yet must sound fresh and spontaneous. How do musicians manage this? We tested the hypothesis that they achieve the necessary spontaneity by varying the musical gestures that express their interpretation of a piece. We examined the tempo arches produced by final slowing at the ends of phrases in performances of J. S. Bach’s No. 6 (Prelude) for solo cello (12 performances) and the Italian Concerto (Presto) for solo piano (eight performances). The performances were given by two experienced concert soloists during a short time period (3½ months for the Prelude, 2 weeks for the Presto) after completing their preparations for public performance. We measured the tempo of each bar or half-bar, and the stability of tempo across performances (difference of the tempo of each bar/half bar from each of the other performances). There were phrase arches for both tempo and stability with slower, less stable tempi at beginnings and ends of phrases and faster, more stable tempi mid-phrase. The effects of practice were complex. Tempo decreased overall with practice, while stability increased in some bars and decreased in others. One effect of practice may be to imbue well-learned, automatic motor sequences with freshness and spontaneity through cognitive control at phrase boundaries where slower tempi and decreased stability provide opportunities for slower cognitive processes to modulate rapid automatic motor sequences.

Highlights

In order to be reliable under the pressures of the concert stage, musical performances by concert soloists in the Western classical tradition are prepared and practiced until they become thoroughly automatic (Chaffin and Imreh, 2002)
Visual inspection suggests that tempo and stability were relatively independent, an impression confirmed by their low mean correlation (r) within performances for both the Prelude, M = 0.146, SD = 0.115 and performances of the third movement (Presto), M = 0.004, SD = 0.081
The quadratic effect of phrasing was not affected by the inclusion of practice in Model 2, indicating that the tempo arches were not a product of differences in the amount of practice received by different serial positions in a phrase

Summary

Introduction

In order to be reliable under the pressures of the concert stage, musical performances by concert soloists in the Western classical tradition are prepared and practiced until they become thoroughly automatic (Chaffin and Imreh, 2002). These performances should sound fresh and spontaneous (Chaffin et al, 2007). As the Russian pianist Emil Gilels notes, “When I am in top form... I must say it is different each time I play, and it is a process which. Includes mastery of the work, knowing the details, being comfortable with it, and adding the fantasy” Gilels clearly believes that his ability to be spontaneous is a reflection of both his artistry and his thorough preparation

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