Why Collaborate? Critical Reflections on Collaboration in Artistic Research in Classical Music Performance

Music performance anxiety (MPA) has been studied mainly within the field of psychology and has been defined as a sub-type of social anxiety. Musicians suffering from MPA are commonly referred to individual psychological treatment, but the condition is not yet researched from an artistic perspective. The hypothesis put forward in this article is that the issues concerning MPA are part of a complex system of interactions between performance values and perfectionism and that musicians in general are not given the necessary tools to tackle the anxiety. One of the challenges is that Western classical music performance has many built-in values that need to be problematized and researched in order to address the problems with MPA. Hence, MPA is not to be considered as solely an individual problem but should rather be seen as the result of a wider structural issue related to the commodification of classical Western music and its focus on perfection and virtuosity. This article gives an example from the field of artistic research on how it is possible for the performer herself to develop methods to understand and emotionally regulate the impact of perfectionism in Western classical music.

Download Full-text

Assessment of Health Risks in Musicians of the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Medical Problems of Performing Artists ◽

10.21091/mppa.2004.3023 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 140-145

Author(s):

Rajko Črnivec

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

Classical Music ◽

Music Performance ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Control Group ◽

Length Of Service ◽

Physical Impairments ◽

Musculoskeletal Problems ◽

Performance Ability

This study consisted of medical examination and comparison of results obtained in 70 musicians from the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, Ljubljana. The main goals of the study were to identify performance-related musculoskeletal disorders, to assess the health status and working capacity of the musicians, and to propose measures for improved protection of their health. The results were compared with results obtained in a control group of 28 marketing workers at Philip Morris Enterprise, Ljubljana. Musculoskeletal problems of the studied group of Slovene musicians were compared with problems of 109 musicians of the Berlin Opera Orchestra examined at the Institute of Occupational Health, Berlin, Germany. We identified performance-related diseases (inflammatory and degenerative skeletal disorders and minor occupational hearing impairments) that were most frequent. A significant proportion of performing musicians had overuse syndrome, caused by excessive use of the extremities and characterized by cumulative microtrauma exceeding human physiologic limits, and dermatologic problems, such as finger calluses and “fiddler’s neck.” The most frequent musculoskeletal problems were due to repetitive motion, unphysiologic postures (isometric strain on the affected muscles), and prolonged sitting position during performances. The highest level of musculoskeletal disorders was noted in the double bass and cello sections, followed by violin, viola, woodwind, and brass players. The severity of physical impairments and restricted ability to perform music were correlated with age, duration of classical music performance, and total length of service. In the group of Slovenian musicians, the incidence of health problems in general was twice as high as in the control group, whereas the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders was six times as high as that in the control group. Health status of the musicians in terms of moderate and severe physical impairments was worse than in the control group. Measures for improved health protection and better performance ability were proposed.

Download Full-text

Reflection and the classical musician

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199346677.003.0019 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Mary Hunter ◽

Stephen Broad

Keyword(s):

Reflective Practice ◽

Classical Music ◽

Music Performance ◽

Professional Musicians ◽

Student Practice ◽

Classical Musicians

Reflective practice takes on a particular shape in classical music. The aim of this chapter is to identify some elements of classical music that distinguish it from other genres of music, and to consider how these elements may affect the kind of reflection in which classical musicians—and classical musicians-in-the-making—engage. The chapter, which is partly based on student practice diaries and interviews with professional musicians, argues that the distinguishing elements of classical music performance are a focus on interpretation, interest in following the composer’s intentions, concern about excessive demonstration of the performer’s ego, and a respect for the printed score as the ultimate repository of truth about the work. These elements seem to encourage musicians to frame their choices either with little acknowledgement of their own agency or in terms that reflect some tension between what they feel and what they perceive as the composer’s intentions. Much work remains to be done on the ways in which these self-abnegations or uncertainties play out, but by bringing their underlying ideologies to the surface young performers in particular could fruitfully harness as well as challenge them.

Download Full-text

Biological Specifics of Musical Performing Memory Essence for Musical Performance Efficiency

Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies ◽

10.24203/ajhss.v8i2.6122 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Maria Dymnikowa ◽

Elena A. Ogorodnikova ◽

Valentin I. Petrushin

Keyword(s):

Music Education ◽

Classical Music ◽

Music Performance ◽

Musical Instrument ◽

Emotional Memory ◽

Musical Performance ◽

Music Pedagogy ◽

Target Level ◽

Structural Components ◽

Effective Work

In classical music art discipline, the memory for musical performance (i.e., music performing memory MPM) at typological analysis level is the type of musical executive prospective memory. based on executive functions and biological conditions. Its structural components are semantic declarative, kinesthetic, and emotional memory. Musical performance concern the production of musical artwork by vocal or musical instrument forms. The efficiency of this process is conditioned by ergonomic, effective work on learning, and memorizing the music. It is regulated and organized from the level of â€˜reading a vistaâ€™ the musical notes text until completed memorizing for target level of music performance. The article, from the health psychology mainstream, presents methodical, practical tips with recommendations resulting from the biological principles, regularities, and specifics of this process revealed in the empirical data of such areas as neuropsychology, psychophysiology, cognitive psychology, biological psychology, and music pedagogy, with additional independent empirical verification in counseling of musicians at professional music education level.Â

Download Full-text

Conference report: Doctors in performance, Tallinn, 1-3 September 2021

Trio ◽

10.37453/trio.113282 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 41-48

Author(s):

Mieko Kanno

Keyword(s):

Music Performance ◽

Conference Report ◽

Fourth Edition ◽

Online Participation ◽

Hybrid Event ◽

Artistic Research

This report chronicles the author’s participation in the Doctors in Performance (DiP) Festival Conference, September 2021, at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Tallinn. It is the fourth edition of DiP since its inauguration in 2014 at the Sibelius Academy, Uniarts Helsinki. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe in early 2020, most conferenceshave been either postponed, cancelled or held online. This Conference is one of the first to be held as an in-person event as Europe starts to move towards a post-pandemic period. Some participants gathered in person (including the author), while parallel online participation was also enabled as a hybrid event. This report records the conference events as DiP enters into maturity with a focus on artistic research and music performance. It also describes the author’s impressions regarding issues of ‘liveness’ in varied categories, including spoken presentations, music performances, their online equivalents, live or prerecorded presentations and online or live participations.

Download Full-text

Gaya Bernyanyi dengan Teknik Bel Canto: (Re)Konstruksi Subjektivitas Penyanyi Perempuan dalam Pertunjukan Musik

RESITAL JURNAL SENI PERTUNJUKAN ◽

10.24821/resital.v11i2.503 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Susi Gustina ◽

Timbul Haryono ◽

G.R. Lono L. Simatupang ◽

Triyono Bramantyo

Keyword(s):

Classical Music ◽

Music Performance ◽

Feminist Perspective ◽

Bel Canto ◽

Subjective Experiences ◽

Cultural Perception ◽

Research Questions ◽

Music Genre ◽

The Difference ◽

Western Classical Music

Bel Canto Singing Technique. This article attempting to understand the subjectivity of a woman singer in musicperformance. The poststructuralist feminist perspective is used to focus on the historical and cultural backgroundof the woman’s experiences. Based on the perspective, the research questions refer to: 1) the application of womansinger’s knowledge and cultural perception in songs reproduction so that she can (re)construct her subjectivity; and2) the intention of woman singer to use Western classical music or seriosa in music performance. The life historymethod is used to understand all the subjective experiences of woman singer based on her perspective. The fi ndingsof this research are: 1) subjectivity (re)construction of a woman singer is depend on her knowledge and culturalperception so that her subjectivity is differ from others; and 2) the difference that a woman singer do in musicperformance is related to her intention, i.e. to struggle a music genre that she loves since in the early of her life.

Download Full-text