Theory Into Practice: Composition, Performance and the Listening Experience

Theory into Practice. Composition, Performance and the Listening Experience is the second publication in the series Collected Writings of the Orpheus-Institute. The series comprises articles concerning the activities of the Orpheus Institute. The centrale theme of this book is the relationship between the reflections about and the relization of a musical composition. In his paper Words about Music, or Analysis versus Performance, Nicholas Cook states that words and music can never be aligned exactly with one another. He embarks on a quest for models of the relationship between analytical conception and performance that are more challenging than those in general currency. Peter Johnson's article Performance and the Listening Experience: Bach's 'Erbarme dich' shows that a performance is an element within the intentionality of the work itself. He looks for scientific methods capable of proving the artisticity of a performance. The composer Hans Zender, in his A Road Map for Orpheus?, states that a composer must be capable of questioning obvious basic principles (such as equal temperament) and finding creative solutions.