Interpretation (the Main Form of the Manifestation of Music)

Based on the author’s course at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. 16.1. The Origin and Meaning of Interpretation. The work exists as a possibility of an undefined set of interpretations: so long as it exists like this, it exists not for us; we only make it our own through interpreting it (A. Maceina). Before something becomes interpretable, it first has to be understood. Performance vs. interpretation. Hermeneutics, exegesis and interpretation. Whoever wants to understand a text projects a meaning of the whole (H. Gadamer), as well as the sequence of musical events—the narration. Lived experience (Erlebnis) and understanding (W. Dilthey). Interpretation and style. 16.2. Interpretation as Action. Cohesion of person and action must be present in interpretation (K. Wojtyla). To actualise a work calls for interpretation, i.e. the transformation of a musical work from its situation of potential into real being. 16.3. The Specific Character of Musical Interpretation. Exteriorisation is a prerequisite for the performer who wants to become an interpreter: without understanding “what” the work is speaking “about”, we cannot find adequate means of expressing the “what” (M. Heidegger, P. Ricoeur, R. Steiner; V. Daujotytė). The rare example of essays by another professional musician, A. Cortot. 16.4. Is a Single True Interpretation Possible? The author’s criticism of the position that a musical work is the communication of a particular fact, which cannot have multiple meanings (A. Šliogeris; H. Gadamer, G. Steiner). Existence of a standard interpretation would question creativity. The text is always the same, but it is revealing itself in a different way depending on a person’s changing experience (A. Šliogeris). If the composer performs their own work, they become just one of a number of interpreters. The creativity of the performer is stimulated by the conditionality of marking of the composer‘s intentions. 16.5. Identity (Invariance). Remarks on the limits of interpretive freedom. When a work is interpreted, the main elements of the work are preserved: the melody, the harmony, the rhythmic design, although both the melody and the rhythm acquire new features. The variation of the work in the process of interpretation must preserve features and qualities which do not jeopardise the idea of the work. 16.6. The Whole and the Detail. Structural analysis: the whole (of a musical work) is not the sum of its parts: they are dependent on it, and on it having been understood. The form is a particular totality of intonations, which dictates its expressions from within. “Hermeneutic circle”: the parts, determined by the whole, determine this totality as well. Harmonising all the particulars with the whole is the criterion of correct understanding (H. Gadamer). Entelechy: the intonational potential of the work is turned into reality through the act of interpretation.