CarlWikeley(cw584)

Isitbetterforperformanceanalysistobuildfromortobypassscorebasedanalysis?
Writeanessayexploringthisissue,backingupyourargumentswithsuitable
examples.

There remains a tendency in the world of musicology to function within

binarisms. It may of course be better for performance analysis to attempt a synthesis of
inward-looking score-based analysis and both the more informal form of analysis arguably conducted by every musical performer-1 and the analysis of recordings, which
itself can entail dynamic and tempo mapping, or shape analysis and more. Arguably,
there are few in the world of musicology who would advocate the implied statement in
the title, nonetheless there are many who observe how synchronic score-based analysis
can have limitations within the field of performance, and suggest procedures through
which to remedy this. Cook and Rink attempt to construct a working relationship
between the two broad types of analysis, while others, including Jonathan Dunsby,
provide valuable information on how the issue of score-based analysis has been
approached pertaining to performance. It may be possible to reconcile what appear to
be differing approaches to analysis, while recognising that performers themselves may
inherently partake in some form of score-based analysis in their own learning of a work.
Since the statement does not stipulate any given score-based analysis to be formal
(e.g. Schenkerian) in its approach, a variety of synchronic approaches can be considered.
As a specific case study, Iannis Xenakis R
ebonds
B

for multi-percussion solo shall be

subsequently investigated, and later related to the arguments evidenced in the relevant
literature.

Rinkstipulatesthisnotioninmultipleinstances.SeeRink,J.
Analysisand(or?)performance
in
Music
Performance:AGuidetoUnderstanding
,ed.JohnRink,(Cambridge,2002).p.36

CarlWikeley(cw584)

In his
Analysing Performance and Performing Analysis
, Nicholas Cook explores
some of the principal pitfalls and uses of analysis in the context of performance. Cooks
initial observation regarding Howells authoritarian definition of analysis pertaining to
performance certainly would seem to support the argument that performance analysis
may be better through bypassing distinctly score-based analysis. Equally, Dunsby
explores the prescriptive approach of some score-based analysts in the second part of
his
Guest Editorial: Performance and Analysis of Music
in
Music Analysis.
According to
Dunsby, Schoenbergian diktat has not been an uncommon phenomenon, and in
particular he references the Schenkerian approach - one whose distinctive and
exclusively score-based technique results in analyses who often ignore any other aspect
of the music in favour of following the due process, for example wholly bypassing the
text of Schumanns
Dichterliebe
in his relevant analysis - as prescriptive in the extreme,
asserting that performers have a responsibility to understand works in such a way so
as to bring these out in a given performance.2 Furthermore, Dunsby explains Stein and
Kolischs perspectives on the matter, both of whom demand an analysis which
penetrate[s]...deeply into the music, so as to realise the composer's intentions.3 These
attitudes eschew the dictatorial and prescriptive nature of some proponents of
synchronic score-based analysts.
This leads us to consider a second, perhaps more fundamental issue, highlighted
by the selected literature, regarding analysis and performance - it could well be noted
that the term issue does not denote an insurmountable obstacle in the reconciliation of
score-based analysis and performance (and) analysis. Explained concisely by Rink, the
score can often be conflated with the musical item4 in its entirety and therefore be

Dunsby,J.
GuestEditorial:PerformanceandAnalysisofMusic
in
MusicAnalysis
,8/12.(1989).p.7
QuotedinJoanAllenSmith,SchoenbergandHisCircle:AViennesePortrait(NewYork:Schirmer,
1986),pp.1056.SeealsoRudolfKolisch,ZurTheoriederAuffiihrung,MusikKonzepte,Vol.29/30
(January1983).
4
Thisismyterm,notRinks.
2
3

CarlWikeley(cw584)

used to demote performance, again, to a subservient and lower level than score-based
analysis: The score is not the music; the music is not confined to the score.5 If
score-based analysis means only to consider the synchronic, and approach the music
inwardly, forgoing all external and contextual factors, then there is perhaps little to be
gained or utilised retrospectively in performance. Is it better then to bypass this form
of score-based analysis entirely? Certainly, this notion leads one to consider a further
argument set-out by Dunsby and Cook in particular:

Understanding and trying to explain musical structure is not the same kind of activity as
understanding and communicating music. There is a genuine overlap between these poles of activity, but it
cannot be a complete overlap.6

What Dunsby alludes to is a potential stumbling-block for synchronic score-based

analysis; that formal analysis may not translate directly and successfully to performance
of performance analysis. A distinction is made by Dunsby between interpretation and
conveyance, the latter a skill to which score-based analysis may not be instantly
conducive. However, a level of cynicism should perhaps be retained in prioritising the
notion of conveyance in performance analysis; Cook highlights the problematic nature
of developing theoretically defined criteria of communicative success such as Lerdahls
charmed hermeneutic circle.7 Cook however proposes a solution to the analytical
quandary, suggesting that in relation to what he terms performative epistemology,
one should make analysis true through, rather than true to, experience.8 This notion
perhaps promotes the analysis conducted by or with a performer or specific

Rink,J.
Analysisand(or?)performance
in
MusicPerformance:AGuidetoUnderstanding
,ed.John
Rink,(Cambridge,2002).p.39

6
Dunsby,J.
GuestEditorial:PerformanceandAnalysisofMusic
in
MusicAnalysis
,8/12.(1989).p.7

7
Cook,N.
AnalysingPerformance,andPerformingAnalysis,inCookandEverist,
(
1999)
.p.252
8
Ibid.

CarlWikeley(cw584)

performance, and arguably alludes to the potential pitfalls of score-based analysis which
may fail to prove flexible enough in analysing a performance. This observation is also
raised by Rink, who like Dunsby, recognises that the communicative ability of a
performer is a vital aspect of both a given performance, and the field of performance
analysis; Rink also proposes a lucid method of considering the various aspects of
performance (and analysis) in a diagram highlighting the performer's artistic
prerogative, represented as a refractive lens, through which is focused the various
impetuses of performance, including analytical aspects of the score. 9
A further problematic implication in score-based analysis, and one that perhaps is
not conducive to the most fulfilling, personal or artistic performance - indeed therefore
lead to the most enlightening performance analysis - is the tendency for said analysts to
find what they are searching for. Astutely observed by Cook, Narmour devises an
analysis of a chosen work, in a process leaning towards the prescriptiveness quandary
discussed previously, before deriving from this an analytically justifiable recreative
interpretation.10 In any given performance, then, Narmour can identify the aspects
which successfully fulfil these justifiable criterea, leading him to find what he may be
looking for; in his analysis of a small passage from D
en Rosenkavalier
, Narmour highlights
Karajans successful realisation of the analysts theoretical findings, subsequently
deeming this recording more or less objectively...demonstrably better...11 How can a
personal and artistic decision be Justifiable or not - surely this should not be judged by
a detached academic? Clearly Narmour is displaying all the prescriptive fervour of which
can affect performance analysis to its determent. However, another crucial downfall of
Narmours approach is, as observed, the phenomenon of focussing on distinct passages

Rink,J.
Analysisand(or?)performance
in
MusicPerformance:AGuidetoUnderstanding
,ed.John
Rink,(Cambridge,2002).p.39
10
EugeneNarmour,'OntheRelationshipofAnalyticalTheorytoPerformanceandInterpretation',in
NarmourandRuthSolie(eds.),ExplorationsinMusic,theArts,andIdeas:EssaysinHonorofLeonard
B.Meyer(Stuyvesant,NY,1988).p.334
11
Ibid.,p.3345
9

CarlWikeley(cw584)

of the musics score, a technique which Rink finds problematic in Cones analyses,12
highlighting an important aspect through structuralist means, and proceeding to locate
(or fail to locate) in a recording of a given performance. Is this structuralist score-based
analytical technique conducive to the most open performance analysis or observation?
Surely Cook and Rinks attempts to mediate between score-based analysis and a less
structuralist and empirical approach is more suitable. Nonetheless it should remain to be
significant that, as has been alluded to, these differing approaches may not in fact
represent two wholly separate poles of activity,13 an observation highlighted by Rink.14
It deserves not to be forgotten that among all these highlighted issues with
score-based analysis in the field of performance lies the crucial problem from which so
many of these derive. Pithily formulated by Dunsby, awareness of the inadequacy of
the musical score as a guide to interpretation should perhaps be observed.15 Cook
recognises that often the score does not reflect what performers do",16 and indeed it is
possible to argue that it
should
not. As suggested by Rink, the score may be understood
through the refractive lens of the performers artistic prerogative, however it will serve
well to highlight ways in which the score may be unreliable and indeed insufficient for
prescriptive or authoritarian score-based analysis, itself designed to inform
performance. Rink observes how inadequate17 the notation of Chopins cadenza is from
Op. 27 no. 1 in C# minor, its beaming indicating a regular beating throughout the
descending passage. Through analysing the perceived shape of the recorded cadenza
passage, and plotting its contour, Rink constructs an alternative notation, differing from
the accepted score at this moment, revealing what may effectively be realised as a 2/4

Rink,J.
Analysisand(or?)performance
in
MusicPerformance:AGuidetoUnderstanding
,ed.John
Rink,(Cambridge,2002).p.36
13
Dunsby,J.
GuestEditorial:PerformanceandAnalysisofMusic
in
MusicAnalysis
,8/12.(1989).p.7
14
Rink,J.
Analysisand(or?)performance
in
MusicPerformance:AGuidetoUnderstanding
,ed.John
Rink,(Cambridge,2002).p.36
15
Dunsby,J.
GuestEditorial:PerformanceandAnalysisofMusic
in
MusicAnalysis
,8/12.(1989).p.8
16
Cook,N.
AnalysingPerformance,andPerformingAnalysis,inCookandEverist,
(
1999)
.p.251
17
Cooksterm.
12

CarlWikeley(cw584)

bar in the initial dotted rhythm, propelling the music into perhaps a more recognisable
and familiar shape. How might a score-based analysis of this cadenza passage appear,
and would it be conducive to an involved personal performance? Does Rinks
remodelling display a more flexible approach? Certainly, Rinks method reflects Cooks
suggestion that one should make analysis true through, rather than true to,
experience... 18
What then may be gained from score-based analysis in the purview of
performance? In order to consider this, it is perhaps prudent to observe the findings of
the following case study: Iannis Xenakis
Rebonds
for percussion solo. A striking feature
of Xenakis
Rebonds b
is the sparsity of performance directions such as dynamic
markings. The movement begins with a
forte
marking, and the only exceptions to this
are the indications in b.48 and those more specific directions between bb.65-75. How
does this indicate a shape that may be interpreted from the music? If a dynamic map
were to be derived directly from score-based analysis, the moment of climax might be
designated at b.48, where the strongest dynamic marking is utilised, perhaps indicating
an arch-like shape, descending to the
pianissimo m
arking at b.65. If an analysis were to
continue in this manner, no climax would be reached before the introduction of the
virtuosic coda-like pattern from b.75. How then would the overall shape be designated
through this score-based analysis of dynamics? A structuralist approach might indeed
perceive an arch form, with the
fff
markings approximately half-way through the
movement providing both the dynamic-contour peak and the overall high-point of the
piece. However this may not fit well with the overall increase in rhythmic density and
virtuosity within the final ten bars. Furthermore, a formal analysis could potentially fail
to explain the consistent
forte
dynamic which persists throughout the first 47 bars of the

18

Cook,N.
AnalysingPerformance,andPerformingAnalysis,inCookandEverist,
(
1999)
.p.252

CarlWikeley(cw584)

movement without reprieve, failing to provide any momentum or drive towards the
dynamic peak.
This leads us to consider another difficulty with analysing R
ebonds b
in this
manner: it may be virtually impossible to derive any form of pitch-contour map of the
movement, since the scoring for two bongos, tumba, concert tom and bass drum, while
providing a wide sound world for the composer to work within, is not conducive to a
pitch analysis from which to devise a structuralist analysis based on inherent or organic
form. The only feature which a score-based analysis of
Rebonds b
might be able to
utilise and indicate is the widening of pitch range from b.74, whereby consecutive
rhythms are heard on drums far apart from each other, resulting in the virtuosic passage
from bb.84-86. Does this moment therefore constitute the crucial moment in the shape
of the score?
Perhaps not: there may be multiple rebuttals to this score-based reading of the
movement - observations which can arguably only be made through performance and
analysis of performance, not inward-looking analysis of the score itself. In performance,
and indeed contextualised by the possible intentions and interests of Xenakis himself,
this final passage may begin to lose the significance that it could gain through
score-based analysis. The passage from b.84 in
Rebonds b
is virtually mechanically
impossible to perform at the specified tempo. This begs the question: how significant
can this passage be in the context of the movement, when the score itself may provide
inadequate information for the performance of the music - this evokes the difficulty
highlighted by RInks exploration of the cadenza from Chopins Op. 27 no. 1 in C# minor.
Furthermore, a score-based analysis could arguably entirely miss the point of the
movement itself. According to Gilly, Xenakis seeks to explore the resonances of the
percussion and its capabilities, much in the same way which he approaches string

CarlWikeley(cw584)

glissandi and their sonorous potential in

Metastases
.19 Therefore, a score-based analysis
which seeks to locate a structuralist and empirical form may fail, and indeed provide
little mettle upon which to inform a given performance; more successful impetus may be
provided from a performance analysis of reciprocity, or one which examines the
sonorities heard in a recorded performance and focuses these implications through the
performers artistic prerogative.
Nonetheless it may not be reasonably to so quickly forgo the impetus of
score-based analysis in approaching Xenakis R
ebonds b.
As explored by Beyer in his
discussions of the influence of the
Golden Ratio
in the inception of Xenakis work,
score-based analysis, while not representing t
he
interpretation,20 (an important
observation made earlier by Dunsby, Cook and Rink), may result in an analysis able to
provide a given performance with the aid of concrete musical anchors, from which to
derive an involved and cohesive performance.21 Briefly in explanation of this context: the
Golden Ratio
, a means of mathematically providing structural proportion within larger
forms, favoured by
Le Corbusier
and indeed Xenakis in his capacity as an architect, can be
observed in multiple guises within R
ebonds.
Le Corbusier

s approach to structure, leading

to the use of modular forms, can be observed in R
ebonds b
- more so than with the first
movement. The wood-block passages which rip into the otherwise constant percussion
texture results in a modular design effect and results in what Beyer terms Recursive
Systems.22 What does this mean for the shape of R
ebonds b
? Beyer argues that
significance, related to the
Golden Ratio,
lies in the placement of both the bongo roll at
b.34-5, and the bass drum roll at b.46-7. The bass drum roll, placed at the 183rd
sixteenth note of the reprise of the regular material from b.35, is located exactly

Gilly,C.
Rebonds
,
http://brahms.ircam.fr/works/work/12869/
.Accessed:31.1.16
Beyer,G.
AllisNumber
in
PercussionNotes,
Feb.2005.p.56.TheemphasisisBeyers.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.,p.51
19
20

CarlWikeley(cw584)

identically relative to this subsection as the bongo roll is relative to the whole.23 Beyer
recognises that this refers to both a Micro-macrocosmic rhythmic structure,24 a
concept utilised by John Cage, but also crucially to itself. This self-referential, almost
recursive rhythmic phenomenon may be crucial to the understanding of
Rebonds
as a
cohesive entity. To contextualise this within the purview of performance, the question
should be posed: does this score-based analysis provide any valid impetus which can be
passed through Rinks artistic prerogative model? Arguably, it does; in performing and
rehearsing
Rebonds b
, I have found that the recognition, whether overtly in the form of
physical emphasis, or more subtly in terms of feelings of shape, the modular and
recursive model which a
Golden Ratio-
based analysis of the work provides is useful in
constructing and critiquing a performance. As Beyer observes, it can provide a personal
anchor, from which to focus other artistic and analytical impetuses. Nonetheless, it
should perhaps not be forgotten that the communication of this new-found internal
architecture may not be so simple. Beyer himself observes that, from the audience
perspective, perception of Golden Section proportion requires that one be aware of the
whole as well as the particulars simultaneously, adding that this may be an
impossibility.25 While arguably not beyond the bounds of possibility, a certain cynicism
should be retained as to the real-life applicability of these concepts. However, if as
observed, these models provide the basis upon which to build a cohesive performance,
which itself can be informed by recursive performance analysis, then what is the harm in
undergoing this score-based analysis?
So, is score-based analysis irreconcilable with a desirable approach to
performance analysis? Certainly, the prescriptive and authoritarian nature of various
previous approaches to the subject indicate a possible incompatibility, and the

23

Ibid.,p.52
Ibid.
25
Beyer,G.
AllisNumber
in
PercussionNotes,
Feb.2005.p.56.
24

CarlWikeley(cw584)

problematic nature of analytical models from those such as Narmour may inhibit a
performers artistic prerogative, reducing the notion of informed intuition to a state
of subservience.26 Furthermore, troublesome works such as Xenakis R
ebonds p
rovide a
debatable basis upon which score-based analysis might aid performance and its
analyses. However, methods such as those explored in the case study may in fact
provide the performer with a helpful impetus to bring forward into performance
(analysis). Keeping in mind the useful notions of a possible reciprocal relationship
between score-based analysis and performance analysis proposed by Cook and Rink, it
might be asked: what is the danger in introducing score-based analytical methods
incorporating such concepts as the presence of the
Golden Ratio
in
Rebonds b?Indeed,
surely a plurality of perspectives is prudent?

Bibliography:
Beyer,G.
AllisNumber
in
PercussionNotes,
Feb.2005

Cook,N.
AnalysingPerformance,andPerformingAnalysis,inCookandEverist,
(1999)

Dunsby,J.
GuestEditorial:PerformanceandAnalysisofMusic
in
MusicAnalysis
,8/12.(1989)

Narmour,E.'OntheRelationshipofAnalyticalTheorytoPerformanceandInterpretation',inNarmour
andRuthSolie(eds.),ExplorationsinMusic,theArts,andIdeas:EssaysinHonorofLeonardB.Meyer
(Stuyvesant,NY,1988)
Rink,J.
Analysisand(or?)performance
in
MusicPerformance:AGuidetoUnderstanding
,ed.John
Rink,(Cambridge,2002)
Smith,J.A.SchoenbergandHisCircle:AViennesePortrait(NewYork:Schirmer,1986)

Onlinesource(s):

Gilly,C.
Rebonds
,
http://brahms.ircam.fr/works/work/12869/
.Accessed:31.1.16

Supplementarymaterialprovided:
Rebonds
IannisXenakis.

26

Rink,J.,reviewofBerry,
MusicalStructure
,in
MusicAnalysis
,9(1990),323,324,328

CarlWikeley(cw584)