Generativity, mimesis and the human body in music performance

Musical performance has been studied from a vareity of perspectives, but the most pervasive has been concerned with the relation between structure and expression. Research into this has tended either to be of the “analysis-by-synthesis” variety (e.g. Sundberg, 1988) or performance analysis (Shaffer, Todd and others). This paper examines the relationship between the generative basis of expression around which both these approaches have been based and the role played by directly mimetic and acoustical representations and by body movement. Two studies of performers' attempts to reproduce different types of performances, either real performances or artificial transformations of real performances, are discussed. The results of these studies appear to support the generative/representational approach to performance expression, but it is suggested that a capacity for direct mimesis may play a significant role in determining expression in performance. The results of a further study that sheds light on the influence of body movement on performance expression are then discussed, and it is proposed that a reappraisal is required of the premises upon which many recent studies of performance have been based.