Performative Analysis

Reimagining Music Theory for Performance

This book proposes a model for understanding the musical work in which both analysis-based and performance-based modes of interpretation are integral to the work. Jeffrey Swinkin explores the important role that performance plays in elucidating a work and argues for the performative nature of music analysis itself, focusing in particular on Schenkerian analysis. Swinkin's aim is to show that music analysis is grounded in the same kinds of physical and emotional experiences that performers are necessarily concerned to project. Analysis and performance are thus deeply compatible and can enjoy an equitable, fruitful relationship. The first three chapters theorize this stance; the last three apply it to works by Chopin, Beethoven, and Schumann, respectively. Jeffrey Swinkin is assistant professor of music theory at the University of Oklahoma.