Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsals
In this contribution, we examine the way in which orchestra conductors use the space around them to convey aspects of musical dynamics. In music, dynamics refers to the intensity of volume of notes and sounds and its interpretation is highly context-bound. We approach dynamics as a phenomenon of eme...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.986733/full |
| _version_ | 1811244209965891584 |
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| author | Katharina Meissl Paul Sambre Kurt Feyaerts |
| author_facet | Katharina Meissl Paul Sambre Kurt Feyaerts |
| author_sort | Katharina Meissl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this contribution, we examine the way in which orchestra conductors use the space around them to convey aspects of musical dynamics. In music, dynamics refers to the intensity of volume of notes and sounds and its interpretation is highly context-bound. We approach dynamics as a phenomenon of emergent and construed meaning in interaction, induced by the music score and the interpretation in situ by musicians and the conductor. Conductors' movement-based instructions on dynamics result in highly complex usage events. This study aims at disentangling these instances by asking how conductors move and use the space around them to instruct on (un)desired aspects of musical dynamics, zooming in on movement direction as a central formal feature. We find ourselves at the crossroads of cognitive and interactional linguistics, aligning with existing studies on the interactional and contextually embedded nature of music interaction. From a cognitive linguistic perspective, this endeavor translates as the identification of the construal mechanisms (metaphor, specificity and viewpoint) that underlie and therefore motivate movement directions in the specific instances under examination. The analysis is based on 10h of video data from a corpus recorded during rehearsals of five conductors instructing their respective orchestras in Dutch. Our data reveal that conductors use different movement patterns, some of which appear to involve opposite movement directions for expressing a similar music dynamical aspect, e.g., depending on the usage event, a vertical upward movement can mean both a request for playing louder and softer. By taking into account different construal mechanisms, we are able to provide an encompassing multimodal analysis, in which these allegedly deviating oppositional movements appear as consistently motivated (metaphorical) expressions, which profile a similar target concept involving different viewpoints. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T14:20:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-69037f7eb5f441a8b03c4cbb0e89d8e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-900X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T14:20:47Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-69037f7eb5f441a8b03c4cbb0e89d8e12022-12-22T03:29:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2022-11-01710.3389/fcomm.2022.986733986733Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsalsKatharina Meissl0Paul Sambre1Kurt Feyaerts2Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumDepartment of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Leuven, Antwerp, BelgiumDepartment of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumIn this contribution, we examine the way in which orchestra conductors use the space around them to convey aspects of musical dynamics. In music, dynamics refers to the intensity of volume of notes and sounds and its interpretation is highly context-bound. We approach dynamics as a phenomenon of emergent and construed meaning in interaction, induced by the music score and the interpretation in situ by musicians and the conductor. Conductors' movement-based instructions on dynamics result in highly complex usage events. This study aims at disentangling these instances by asking how conductors move and use the space around them to instruct on (un)desired aspects of musical dynamics, zooming in on movement direction as a central formal feature. We find ourselves at the crossroads of cognitive and interactional linguistics, aligning with existing studies on the interactional and contextually embedded nature of music interaction. From a cognitive linguistic perspective, this endeavor translates as the identification of the construal mechanisms (metaphor, specificity and viewpoint) that underlie and therefore motivate movement directions in the specific instances under examination. The analysis is based on 10h of video data from a corpus recorded during rehearsals of five conductors instructing their respective orchestras in Dutch. Our data reveal that conductors use different movement patterns, some of which appear to involve opposite movement directions for expressing a similar music dynamical aspect, e.g., depending on the usage event, a vertical upward movement can mean both a request for playing louder and softer. By taking into account different construal mechanisms, we are able to provide an encompassing multimodal analysis, in which these allegedly deviating oppositional movements appear as consistently motivated (metaphorical) expressions, which profile a similar target concept involving different viewpoints.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.986733/fullmusical dynamicsorchestra conductingconstrualmetaphorviewpointkinesemiotics |
| spellingShingle | Katharina Meissl Paul Sambre Kurt Feyaerts Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsals Frontiers in Communication musical dynamics orchestra conducting construal metaphor viewpoint kinesemiotics |
| title | Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsals |
| title_full | Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsals |
| title_fullStr | Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsals |
| title_short | Mapping musical dynamics in space. A qualitative analysis of conductors' movements in orchestra rehearsals |
| title_sort | mapping musical dynamics in space a qualitative analysis of conductors movements in orchestra rehearsals |
| topic | musical dynamics orchestra conducting construal metaphor viewpoint kinesemiotics |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.986733/full |
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