Nuove frontiere per la metodologia di ricerca sull’esecuzione musicale: il connubio tra arte e scienza

Abstract

Music performance analysis is today a shared territory of research for musicians-researchers and scientists. On the one hand, artist-researchers are discussing on the possibilities to apply empirical methods in order to give objective validity to the artistic investigation on music performance. On the other, scientists recognize the need to integrate the artistic perspective in the analysis and interpretation of the quantitative data, related to musical performance (such as the tracking gesture and the audio detections). To define the path that determines the transformation of music performance practice into a research on music performance, this article highlights the problems related to the choice of methods and proposes the interdisciplinary approach (performerassistive method) developed at the IPEM, the Department of Systematic Musicology of the University of Ghent. The aim is to integrate the subjective/phenomenological approach and the objective/empirical approach to facilitate the documentation and the analysis of the performers’ movements and the sound produced on the instruments. The advantages of this interdisciplinary method, which encourages a dialogue between art and science and the implementation of technology, are presented and discussed. The aim is to open new perspectives for the enrichment and the innovation of both the artistic and scientific research on music performance.