The Practice of Practising

by Cervino, Alessandro; Laws, Catherine; Lettberg, Maria; Lisboa, Tania

• ISBN13: 9789058678485
• ISBN10: 9058678482
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-29
• Publisher: Leuven Univ Pr

Summary

The process of practicing is intrinsic to musical creativity. Practicing may primarily be thought of as technical, but it is often also musically meaningful, including elements of interpretation, improvisation, and/or composition. The practice room can be a space in which to explore a field of creative possibilities, a place to experiment and to refine ideas.To date, the literature on practice has been primarily pedagogical and psychological. Little attention is paid to the significance of practice, and especially to the role of embodied experience-of understanding gained through doing-in the forming of musical ideas. The Practice of Practising is primarily concerned with considering practicing as a practice in itself: a collection of processes that determines musical creativity and significance. The volume comprises four diverse case studies, in relation to music by J. S. Bach, Elliott Carter, Alfred Schnittke, and Morton Feldman, presenting both solo and ensemble perspectives.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 5
A self-study of learning the Prelude from Bach's Suite No. 6 for cello solo: Comparing words and actions	p. 9
Prologue	p. 9
Effective practice	p. 9
The investigation	p. 10
Stages and cycles in learning the prelude	p. 13
Relating practice and reports	p. 15
Comparing practice and comments	p. 17
Stage 1: exploration	p. 18
Stages 2 and 3: smoothing out and listening	p. 20
Stage 4: re-working technique	p. 22
Stage 5: preparation for performance	p. 24
Connecting theory and practice	p. 26
Coda	p. 29
References	p. 30
Acknowledgements	p. 31
Performer's harmony: towards a performance of Elliott Carter's Piano Sonata	p. 33
Preliminary remarks	p. 33
Getting started	p. 33
The process	p. 35
The practice of practising: a tool for knowing	p. 43
Afterword	p. 44
References	p. 47
Morton Feldman's Late Piano Music: Experimentalism in Practice	p. 49
Memory and subjectivity in Feldman's late music	p. 51
The problem of interpretation	p. 53
Palais de Mari and the contingencies of performance	p. 55
Practice as an experimental process	p. 65
References	p. 67
Alfred Schnittke's Piano Trio: Learning and Performing	p. 69
Introduction	p. 69
Preparation for rehearsals and recording	p. 71
Achieving affinity	p. 79
Conclusions	p. 84
References	p. 87
Personalia	p. 89
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