Abstract

The concept of the musical work plays a central role in the interpretative practices of musical performance. In particular the interplay of artform, work concept and the practices of repeatable concert production lead to an increased reification of the musical work and a focus on technical production. While many recent philosophers are trying to understand what sort of object the musical work is, notably Goehr and Benson have proposed differing alternatives. Goehr (The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works an Essay in the Philosophy of Music. Oxford: Clarendon, 1992) shows that the idea of the musical work is historically regulative of performance practice. Benson (The Improvisation of Musial Dialogue: A Phenomenology of Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) sees work as an onto-existential possibility in which performance takes place and which is transformed by performance in turn. In this discussion I propose to use key concepts of Gadamer’s hermeneutics to develop a further detailed conception of interpretative performance and its relationship to work. Gadamer’s idea that play is ontologically fundamental to art and music, manifests itself in a working structure (Werkgebilde), unfolds within a history of effect (Wirkungsgeschichte) and seeks a blending of horizons (Horizontverschmelzung) are able to open the view towards a concept of the work that resists objectification. The initial and fundamental focus on play (rather than work) also exposes transformed attitudes and modalities of attention in the interpreter and performer.