Extract
Introduction
For the very first time in human history, the question posed as the title of this article can be, and, I believe, must be asked. (Reimer 1994, p.1)
Reimer’s question, which has been borrowed for the title of this short paper, is an important one for all music educators. Maybe you consider it a strange way to start a piece about musical performance? But Reimer’s concern should spur us to think carefully about the practice and purpose of musical performance within music education. We will consider three questions:
- Why does Reimer feel musical performance is under threat?
- Why is musical performance a necessary part of every pupil’s music education?
- What should characterise teachers’ approaches to the teaching of musical performance?
Why is musical performance under threat?
We who are alive today are the first to be confronted with the very real possibility that musical performance, without which music heretofore could not have existed, is in danger of becoming obsolete in, or at least tangential to, the art of music. (Reimer 1994, p.1)
Reimer’s words sound ominous, strange and threatening. For the majority of musicians in the Western world skilful musical performance is the highest and most valued attribute of musicianship. The status of musical performer is something to which many young musicians aspire and spend their formative years seeking after. So how can it be possible that musical performance is in danger of losing its place as the pinnacle of musical achievement and understanding?
1. Musical performance has become a matter of choice not necessity
Sound recording and playback technologies have had a number of consequences in our Western culture (Chanan 1995). Access to music of an incredible range and quality has increased dramatically. The consequence of this increased availability is that people can now experience music of a diversity and complexity far beyond their own abilities to produce music. Musical performance has become an activity of choice rather than necessity.
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