Studying at York
Performing in Time; Timing in Performance - MUS00144C
- Department: Music
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Jennifer Cohen
- Credit value: 10 credits
- Credit level: C
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
Module summary
This module will explore the relationship between time and performance through historical, analytical, ideological and hermeneutic perspectives.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
In the words of Leopold Mozart, ‘time is the soul of music’.[1] Its fixed, objectified manifestation in notation is, however, often dissimilar to its corresponding sonic externalisation. As Jonathan Kramer states, ‘performers do not render even the simplest of rhythms exactly as notated’ and ‘no musical performance rigidly adheres to metronomic invariance of tempo’.[2]
Focusing on Western Classical music, this project will examine the relationship between time and performance. After an exploration of philosophical discourse concerning time and music in general, the course will focus specifically on performative temporal devices, such as note length, articulation, rhythmic alteration, tempo and rubato. These issues will be studied from historical, analytical, ideological and hermeneutic perspectives. The course will include exploration of the evolution of rubato throughout history, as well as critical consideration of different ideological approaches to musical timing. Furthermore, the expressive and aesthetic implications of shaping time in performance will be examined. In particular, the ways in which different forms of knowledge influence temporal expressivity will be considered, and the role of embodied cognition in our understanding, experience and execution of musical timing explored.
The module will be taught through a combination of seminars, group discussions and practical exercises.
[1] Leopold Mozart, A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing [1756], 2nd ed., trans. Editha Knocker (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1951), 30.
[2]Jonathan D Kramer, The Time of Music: New Meanings, New Temporalities, New Listening Strategies (New York: Schirmer Books, 1988), 73, 99.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the taught part of the module, students should:
- have engaged meaningfully, creatively and critically with the key literature on the relationship between music and time
- have engaged meaningfully, creatively and critically with the complexities of musical time as a phenomenon
- have considered the relationship between time, timing and performance
- have considered the relationship between time as represented in notation and time as represented in performance
- have explored different temporal aspects of performance, such as articulation, rhythmic alteration, tempo and rubato, from historical, ideological and hermeneutic perspectives
- have an understanding of the evolution of rubato throughout history
- have an understanding of the role of embodied cognition in our experience, comprehension and execution of musical timing
- be able to contribute to high-level musical activity, for example by performing, listening, thinking critically and analysing
- be able to apply the musical and transferable skills gained through the module in contexts such as performance, composition, teaching and academic work
- be able to communicate with clarity and critical insight on a range of issues relating to the relationship between time and performance, using appropriate written and oral media and music-making activities
On completion of the module, in their independent work, students should demonstrate learning outcomes A1-6: https://www.york.ac.uk/music/undergraduate/modules/learning-outcomes/
Indicative assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay |
N/A | 100 | A |
| Practical Performance with commentary |
N/A | 100 | B |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
The assessment for this module is a choice of a 2500-word essay (100%), or a 15-minute performance with a 500-word commentary (100%). The essay / performance topic will be agreed in a tutorial with the module leader.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
Report form with marks to student no later than 20 working days from submission of assessment.
Indicative reading
Brower, Candace. ‘A Cognitive Theory of Musical Meaning’. Journal of Music Theory 44, no. 2 (Autumn 2000): 323-379.
Epstein, David. Shaping Time: Music, The Brain, and Performance. New York: Schirmer Books, 1995.
Kramer, Jonathan D. The Time of Music: New Meanings, New Temporalities, New Listening Strategies. New York: Schirmer Books, 1988.
Hudson, Richard. Stolen Time: The History of Tempo Rubato. new ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
Johnson, Mark. The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Rosenblum, Sandra P. ‘The Uses of Rubato in Music, Eighteenth to Twentieth Centuries’. Performance Practice Review 7, no. 1 (Spring 1994): 33-53.
Todd, Neil. ‘A Model of Expressive Timing in Tonal Music’. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary. Journal 3, no. 1 (Fall 1985): 33-57.
Vial, Stephanie D. The Art of Musical Phrasing in the Eighteenth Century: Punctuating the Classical “Period”. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008.
Further reading will be suggested during the module.