The Art of Performance (review)

The Art of Performance. By Heinrich Schenker. Edited by Heribert Esser. Translated by Irene Schreier Scott. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. [xxvi, 101 p. ISBN 0-19-512254-2. $45.]

Although best known for his theoretical works, Heinrich Schenker took an active interest in musical performance--as pianist, pedagogue, editor, and critic. Many of his writings concentrate on aspects of performance, and several of his analytical essays conclude with lengthy discussions of performance issues. In spite of Schenker's insistence on editions that reflect the notation of the composer, he never advocates slavish fidelity to the text in performance. On the contrary, he often recommends that the performer depart from a literal interpretation of the text in order to capture the inner meaning of the composition. Indeed, it is likely that the search for this inner meaning led to the analytical approach developed in Schenker's theories.

In 1911 Schenker wrote a rough draft for a book on matters of performance, dealing primarily with keyboard music. In the following few years he tinkered with his draft a bit, and for the remainder of his life he jotted down notes for ideas to be included in this monograph. At his death in 1935, the book on performance was far from being ready for publication. Had he lived longer, no doubt he would have revised and expanded his ideas considerably.

The present volume is by no means Schenker's Art of Performance as he would have completed it; it is rather a conglomeration of his sketches for the book. Normally, an attempt to organize and publish a draft in such an unfinished state as this is pointless. Yet there were good reasons for making an exception in this instance, for the ideas Schenker puts forth here are profound, and even in their sketchy and incomplete state they will prove valuable to both music theorists and serious performers.

After Schenker's death, his notes for The Art of Performance were pieced together and set in some semblance of order by his student Oswald Jonas, in consultation with Ernst Oster. Heribert Esser built on this work and brought the book to its present form. Esser was faced with many formidable decisions concerning what to include and how to arrange the materials. One of his decisions seems odd: he presents two chapters only in summary, promising their full publication elsewhere. Other than this, the editing and translation of the book is impressive and provides a lucid and elegant presentation of Schenker's ideas.

A performer need not be familiar with Schenker's tonal theories in order to appreciate this volume. Though a handful of the discussions are a bit cryptic, for the most part the book is extremely clear, much easier to understand than most of Schenker's other publications. There are no voice-leading graphs, nor is there any mention of complex prolongational techniques or concepts like the Ursatz. Rather, the book focuses on performance details of short passages, examining methods of creating shadings of expression through the subtle use of dynamics, tempo, articulation, pedaling, and fingering.

A number of issues that are central to other books on performance are not dwelt upon in this volume. For instance, The Art of Performance does not concern itself with performance practice matters, nor does it give much advice on how to improve technique or gain facility in tackling difficult passages. If anything, Schenker encourages the performer to take advantage of technical difficulties for their expressive possibilities. He delights in the unevenness of the fingers and in awkward hand shifts for their ability to add subtle nuances to performances, and often he will purposely suggest a difficult physical maneuver in order to bring out some essential aspect of the music.

A representative example of his approach may be seen in his fingering suggestions for m. 20 of the allemande of Johann Sebastian Bach's French Suite in E Major, BWV 817 (pp. 34-35). Many would be tempted to play the left-hand leap...