Abstract

This paper asks a number of methodological questions related to the field of music performance as explored in musicological research. What information can musicologists glean from analysing individual performances? What is the impact of work performance analysis on the paradigm of musicological studies? What is the role of the aesthetic-philosophical component in such analysis? In an attempt to answer these questions, music performance is analysed in the first section of this paper from the perspective of musicology as the primary discipline studying music and its sources. In the second section, philosophical analysis of the musical source is presented in the context of musicological studies and performance practice. Analysed in the third section are those major aspects of music performance that are of interest to philosophical musicology. In the conclusion, the benefits and methodological limitations of conducting musicological research into music performance are indicated. The aim of this article is to highlight the need for an interdisciplinary dialogue between musicology and philosophy concerning music performance, which has a significant bearing on our understanding of the musical work itself. The author also proposes to expand musicology’s research methods by incorporating detailed analysis of the performative aspects of the musical work.