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ABSTRACT: Empirical research on expressive timing in expert performance suggests that there is an especially close relationship between timing and phrase structure. However, this work has relied on rudimentary definitions of phrase, and has mostly been limited to examples with simple, symmetrical phrase structures. The present study seeks to move beyond these limits by engaging current theoretical discourse on phrase structure and by exploring examples that involve asymmetrical phrase structures arising from techniques of phrase expansion. The study concentrates on average tempo profiles across thirty recordings of Chopin's Preludes op. 28 nos. 1 (C major) and 3 (G major) and sixty-four recordings of no. 6 (B minor). Data were collected at the tactus level using a tap-along method in the case of the C-major and G-major Preludes, and using an automated beatextraction algorithm followed by manual corrections in the case of the B-minor Prelude. Eight hypotheses regarding the relationship between phrase structure and expressive timing are extrapolated from these examples, and it is hoped that these might form a starting point for further research on expressive timing in complex phrase structures.
KEYWORDS: Performance theory; expressive timing; phrase structure; phrase rhythm; Chopin
CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES
Two broad orientations can be identified in recent empirical writings on performance. One of these orientations emphasizes individual and historical differences in performance style (e.g. Cook, 2007; Fabian & Schubert, 2009; Leech-Wilkinson, 2009), while the other assumes that some aspects of performance expression are relatively stable and concentrates on building models of musical communication in performance (e.g. Todd, 1985, 1992; Clarke,1988; Widmer & Tobudic, 2003; Friberg, Bresin, & Sundberg, 2006).1 The present study takes the latter orientation; it is a contribution to the discourse of performance theory, as opposed to the discourse of performance history, and it makes use of empirical techniques of performance analysis in an effort to advance a theoretical (as opposed to a historical) perspective on performance.
There is mounting evidence of an especially deep connection between expressive timing and phrase structure; empirical studies have repeatedly shown that the tempo profile of a phrase tends to resemble an arch, with a slow beginning, followed by an acceleration, deceleration, and slow ending (e.g. Henderson, 1937; Gabrielsson, 1987; Shaffer & Todd, 1987; Repp, 1990).2 This general tendency, which is...