SIMON MUZENDA SCHOOL OF ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS

NAME: DENVER CHINGOMBE

REG NUMBER: M181447

PROGRAMME: BA HONS MUSICOLOGY AND ETHNOCHOREOLOGY

LEVEL: 4.2 CONVENTIONAL

MODULE TITLE: INTERPRETATION OF MUSICAL PRACTICES

MODULE CODE: HME 423

LECTURER: MRS. P. ZINHUKU

ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 01

QUESTION: Explain the following concepts of Musical Practises utilized in

Interpreting musical art works

.Musical meaning

.Textual analysis

. Coding

MARK:
LECTURERS REMARKS:

1.0 Introduction
Musical compositions and musical art works the world over have ways in which they can be
analyzed and interpreted by the performers and listeners. To do a thorough analysis and
interpretation with less challenges, there are certain ways and even theories that can be used to
do an analysis and interpretation in any given musical composition or musical art works. In this
essay, the writer will identify and explain skills and techniques which can be utilized in
interpreting musical art works.

2.0 Definition of key terms

2.1 Musical works

Musical works are works done by musicians either compositions or the actual performances. In
defining musical works, Lawinsider.com (2022) says, “musical work means a work consisting of
music, exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the
music”.

3.0. Discussion

There a number of types, approaches, forms and essentials of interpretation which one may
follow in trying to do a thorough and honest interpretation of musical arts. These techniques have
been identified as key in carrying out a musical arts interpretation.

3.1 Types of musical arts interpretation

Firstly the discussion will look into the types of interpretation. Levinson (1993) mentions the two
types of interpretation as the Critical interpretation and the Performance interpretation.

3.1.1 Critical interpretation

By using the critical analysis, you will be definitive and describing and looking into aspects and
fundamentals of sound like elements that will have been used by the musician. Concurring to
this, Cain (2017) says:
 An analysis can be conducted on a single piece of music, on a portion or element of a piece or on
a collection of pieces. The student goes through the process of critical listening in order to offer
an opinion on the different elements of music used within the piece chosen.

3.1.2 Performance Interpretation

By using performance analysis as a way of interpreting musical practices, one will be performing
the piece of music as given on a stave. Alluding to this, Lerch (2012) says:

Music Performance Analysis (MPA) aims at studying the performance of a musical score rather
than the musical score itself. It deals with the observation, extraction, description, interpretation,
and modeling of music performance parameters as well as the analysis of attributes and
characteristics of the generation and perception of music performance. Different areas of research
contribute to the field of MPA, including musicology, (music) psychology and engineering.

3.2 Forms of musical interpretation

When interpreting musical practices, there are forms which can be applied as techniques in order
to come up with a good interpretation. These forms are the Re-interpretation and Transcription.

3.2.1 Transcription interpretation

Talking about transcription, it is whereby one listens to a piece of music and then transcribes it or
notates it on a piece of stave in their own styles and performance directions or dynamics. Edney
(2021) says:

Transcription is the process of listening to a piece of music and notating it down note for note.
Whether you notate it down in traditional sheet music, tablature, or your own style of notation,
notating music is about understanding the structure of a song you’re listening to. Music transcription
is all about the analysis of an acoustic musical signal. the aim is to grasp and write down the
pitch, onset time, duration, and source of each sound that occurs in it. In Western sheet music, we
use note symbols to direct the performer of these parameters in a particular piece of music.

3.3 Approaches to musical interpretation

There are a number of approaches to music interpretation which one can follow in order to carry
out an interpretation that is best. Hall (2022) outlined a number of approaches that were ranging
from Re-imagining a piece of music, Realization of the composers intentions and Historical
informed performance analysis.

3.3.1 Re-imagining a piece of music

In re-imagining a piece of music, he states that one has to completely use creative interpretation
and imagination to it their own interpretation.

3.3.2 Realizing the composers intentions

In realizing the composers intentions, the interpreter is encouraged to understand the composer’s
culture and know about the time they composed the piece. This is achieved through studying the
life and music of the composer.

3.3.3 Historical informed performances analysis

Historical informed performances analysis is said to be an approach to interpret music that aims
to remain faithful to the style of the era in which the music was written.

3.4 Essentials of musical practices interpretation

There are also some essentials of interpretation which one has to adhere to in order to carry out a
desirable interpretation. These essentials are to:

a) Capture the mood, style and tempo of the song.

b) Shape the dynamics.
c) Colour the tone – dark or bright to understand the mood conveyed.
d) Take note of the Rhythm of the music.
e) Take note of the Form of the music and
f) Look at the musical elements that have been used

These are the essentials that one must have to adhere to when doing a musical art interpretation.
Pimentel (2019) concurs when he says:

Your interpretation of the music should be based on synthesizing lots of factors. One of the most
crucial ones is hints from the composer, so pay close attention to any markings or words the
composer uses. (Sometimes they are in a foreign language—it is your job to find out what they
 mean.) Your interpretation might also be informed by tradition: maybe there is some broad
consensus among performers of the piece that it should be played a certain way. That doesn’t
mean 100% that you have to go along, but it’s something you should think seriously about. If you
are collaborating on the performance with other musicians, you’ll need to work out some
agreement with them about various aspects of interpretation.

The musical interpretation- an extension of an hermeneutic process- can in my view, benefit from
an analysis that has in mind various kinds of symbols and codes, acting not only in a endogenous
musical ground but also with other things exterior to the music.

Being by nature dependent on all the subjective circumstances involved- the time, the place, the
moment, the public, the interests involved, all the context of interpretation- musical interpretation
must be aware of all the symbolic implications arising from the musical works in order to be
more effective, at least more conscious of its significance.

-January 1999 Francisco Monteiro-

Many composers have played with musical cryptography in their compositions, including J.S.
Bach, Schostakovich and also Elgar who implanted messages to family and friends in his musical
works. For example, in serial composition (also known as 12-tone Composition), the building
block of the 12 notes of the chromatic Scale, which cannot be played out of sequence.

4.0 Conclusion

Skills and techniques which one can employ when carrying out an interpretation of musical
practices have been outlined aptly in this discussion. Notable are the types of interpretation,
forms of interpretation, approaches and essentials which one may have to follow when doing a
musical interpretation. These have been explained and described with reference to the
philosophers and theorists who came up with these useful techniques and skills in aiding a
musical art interpretation.
5.0 References

Cain, J. (2017, June 18). Materchristi.libguide. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from
materchristi.libguide.com: https://www.materchristi.libguide.com

Conor, E. (2021, December 21). Mixxed. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from mixxed.com:
https://www.mixxed.com

Hall, D. (2022, June 19). Hall Music Productions. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from
hallmusicproductions.com: https://www.hallmusicproductions.com

Lerch, A. (2012, July 30). Onlinelibrary.wiley. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from
onlinelibrary.wiley.com: https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Levinson, J. (1993). Performative VS Critical interpretation. In M. Krausz, Interpretation of

Music (pp. 33-60). Oxford: Cloredon Press.
Pimentel, B. (2019, April 09). Bret Pimentel. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from bretpimentel.com:
https://www.bretpimentel.com