| dc.description.abstract | Placing the perceptions of ten contemporary professional pianists at its centre, this study explores how ‘intangibles’ in contemporary piano performance can be approached, understood, communicated and operationalised. Through a methodological approach of in-depth interviews recorded on video, coded and placed in the context of relevant literature and the experiences of other musicians, this study aims to locate the spaces in which intangibles play a role in classical piano performance, and determine the factors that influence how performers access and engage with intangible aspects of their music-making. In this way, it seeks to complement a vast body of literature on more tangible aspects of the instrument and its music, and contribute to a broader, more inclusive and balanced understanding of the constructs underlying piano performance as a process rather than product. It brings to the fore the actual voices of those who perform, yet have been downplayed or forgotten in much academic literature to date.
Organised in three parts, Part One outlines the research questions and methodological approach, considers multiple perspectives on the intangible from a range of (sub) disciplines, and introduces the ten pianists interviewed for this study (Chapters One-Three). Part Two presents views on locating and understanding the intangibles, organised by emerging topics and themes, and prominently presenting the voices of the pianists themselves on each issue (Chapters Four-Six). This is also the key feature of Part Three, with the next two chapters on accessing and communicating intangibles respectively, gradually bringing each pianist to life through their values and attitudes (Chapters Seven-Eight). The final Chapter (Nine) brings together the main strands of the discourse, the overall perceptions to emerge, and discusses their implications for intangibles in music-making. | |
