By John Crowley, BA, Grad. Dip. Ed, M.A

Exploring Key Knowledge Area 1: What is meant by the Interpretation of the elements?

Many teachers would reasonably assume that their students possessed a generally accurate grasp of what the term interpretation of the elements implies. However, in my experience of teaching the revised VCE Solo Performance Study (and older Studies!) this is most certainly not the case. I consistently encounter misconceptions about what is exactly required in their responses to this Key Knowledge Area. Therefore, I never take the students understanding of the term “interpretation” for granted. I painstakingly go over with my students exactly what is required of their responses to the question of the interpretation of the elements.

Responding accurately to the question of the interpretation of the elements can be difficult for students for many reasons. Some students do not have a thorough enough knowledge of musical vocabulary to help expand and develop their answers, while others simply struggle with written language. However, the most common difficulty I have found is that, through poorly chosen expression, student responses become unintentionally pre-occupied with the analysis of the notes as they appear in the score (a structural analysis) rather than the performance of these. This could be a costly mistake for students when dealing with questions referring to the Key Knowledge Area of interpretation and needs to be clearly explained to them well before their examination.

Discussing the notes and markings: the structural analysis

In short, the analysis of describing the elements found in the written score (referred to as a structural analysis) helps to unveil, amongst other things, the composer’s “blueprint” for the work in many areas. In other words, the study of these notes yield a detailed road map to unlocking the inner workings or scheme of the piece such as the structure of the melody, dynamic structure, rhythmic frameworks, precise information on orchestration and compositional devices (imitation, sequencing and transposition etc). And while such an analysis is a very useful learning tool and should be included as a starting point for the sake of familiarity with the score, it will alone not permit the student to craft a high rating response dealing with the interpretation of the elements. So what, then does it mean to explore the interpretation of the elements if it is not related to a specific discussion of the score?

Exploring interpretation involves exploring living decisions that are made regarding the performance of the expressive elements of the work. Decisions such as: what type of tone is required: a warm or a bright tone? How will the main melody be phrased? What tempo is most appropriate? What dynamic range is required throughout the opening section of the work? What type of articulations must be used? Do I want to authentically replicate the original score? These decisions are the responsibility of the conductor who expresses them through the ensemble performing the work. It is important to point out that I use the term “living” in class because these decisions can change from one conductor to another, and therefore produce a very different result in performance.

Therefore, an exploration of how the elements are interpreted most certainly requires students to respond from the perspective of how these are performed rather than how they are appear in the score. While studying the notes and markings of the score provides insight into the mind of the composer, it can never reveal the decisions that the conductor and performers have made to bring these notes to life. I am certainly not suggesting that students should avoid a comprehensive study of the score! In fact, the opposite is true! Having a thorough knowledge of the score can be a very powerful and useful tool in sharpening our senses to what we hear, and can give greater weight to student responses if the information included is carefully written. By this I mean that students must be conscious of structuring their responses so that it is clear to the examiner they are approaching the question from the perspective of the performance of the elements (interpretation) and not as they appear in the score.

By being careful and clever about the way a sentence is phrased students can incorporate their knowledge of the score, while at the same time maintaining their focus of their responses on the interpretation of the elements. Of course, it goes without saying that the student must be sincerely discussing the performance of the elements rather than just taking what is in the score and writing it to make it sound attractive to the examiner! This is not what I am saying at all! Students need to genuinely base their response on what they hear in performance and, where appropriate, bring in relevant score based evidence that is carefully worded from the perspective of what is heard. It sounds complex but is really is not. This is the art of Interpreting the elements!

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The website, In Tune for Life, was created by John Crowley in 2007 with the intention of providing a number of essential VCE music resources for all teachers and students. These resources are designed to ensure that students are thoroughly prepared for all SAC and recital work, both in Music Performance and Solo Performance studies, as well as permitting teachers to keep track of this preparation. They are also designed to save teachers endless hours of preparation work! In Tune for Life also offers resources to ensure thorough preparation for the end-of-year analysis examination. View these resources now at www.intuneforlife.com.au