Authenticities: Philosophical Reflections on Musical Performance

316 Pages·1995·20.746 MB·English

by  Peter Kivy

Authenticities
Also by Peter Kivy
Speaking ofA rt
The Seventh Sense: A Study ofF rancis Hutcheson's Aesthetics and Its Influence
in Eighteenth-Century Britain
The Corded Shell: Reflections on Musical Expression
Sound and Semblance: Reflections on Musical Representation
Osmin's Rage: Philosophical Reflections on Opera, Drama, and Text
Music Alone: Philosophical Reflections on the Purely Musical Experience
The Fine Art of Repetition: Essays in the Philosophy of Music
AUTHENTICITIES
0
Philosophical
Reflections
on
Musical
Performance
P E T E R K I V Y
Cornell University Press Ithaca and London
Copyright© 1995 by Cornell University
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First published 199 5 by Cornell University Press
First printing. Cornell Paperbacks, 1997
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Kivy. Peter.
Authenticities : philosophical reflections on musical performance
I Peter Kivy.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-8480-3 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Performance practice (Music) 2. Music-Philosophy and
aesthetics. I. Title.
ML457.K58 1995
781.4'3'01-dc20 94-36842
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
For Ronald Roseman
My last word in performance
It's a bad plan that can't be changed.
-Publius Syrus
Contents
Preface ix
One: How to Be Authentic
oN E The Concept of Authenticity 1
r w o Authenticity as Intention 9
T u R E E Authenticity as Sound 47
FouR Authenticity as Practice 80
F 1 v E The Other Authenticity 108
Two: Why to Be Authentic
s 1 x The Authority of Intention 145
sEvEN The Authority of Sound 188
E 1 G H T The Authority of Practice 233
N 1 N E The Other Authority 260
Bibliography 287
Index 293

Preface
When logical positivism was in its heyday, one of its leading proponents
was charged, in a book review, with "fiddling while Rome burns." With
World War II just around the corner and Western Civilization at the edge
of the abyss, the meaning of the indictment was all too clear. Instead of
fulfilling one of its traditional roles, as the reviewer saw it-that of show
ing us the way-philosophy was in thrall to questions so abstruse, tech
nical, and abstract as to be incomprehensible to the uninitiated, as well as
completely irrelevant to their practical and moral concerns. "What is to
be done?" was a question that philosophers either would not deign or
would not presume to address.
In recent years a radical change in philosophy has taken place. One can
now subscribe to a respectable academic journal called Philosophy and
Public Affairs. On the committee that apportions kidney machines and or
gans for transplant you are more than likely to find a philosopher as well
as a surgeon. Philosophy departments routinely teach courses in such
subjects as medical ethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, and
even environmental aesthetics, while some of the best philosophers in
the business have made substantial contributions not only in the public
ix