Timmers, R. (2002). On the contextual appropriateness of performance rules. In Proceedings of SRPMME Conference "Investigating Music Performance". London, 12.
Abstract
Previous research has mainly explained the quality of an expressive performance with respect to its relation to the musical structure. The aim of this study was to show the relevance of the performer in setting the rules for expression. The main hypothesis was that the performer initially sets the tone of the performance and following expressive variations are evaluated with respect to this expressive norm. Two experiments tested this hypothesis. In the first experiment, 36 listeners rated the quality of the performance of the continuation (second half of the musical stimulus) given the performance if the initiation (first half of the musical stimulus). In the second experiment, 17 subjects rated the aesthetic quality of six performances of the initiation and continuation separately. A regression model was proposed that predicts the quality rating of experiment 1 on the basis of the similarity in rubato extent, velocity pattern, average articulation and average asynchrony between the two segments. The results of the experiments and the model confirmed that the appreciation of an expressive interpretation depends on its relation to preceding expressive variations.