Authenticities: Philosophical Reflections on Musical Performance (Hardcover)

by Peter Kivy (Author)
Key Phrases: The Authority of Practice, The Other Authority, Fifth Symphony (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"In his latest book on the aesthetics of music, Peter Kivy presents an argument not for authenticity but for authenticities of performance, including authenticities of intention, sound, practice, and the authenticity of personal interpretation in performance. . . . As usual, Kivy's work is beautifully written, well argued, and provocative."--Notes

"Kivy has provided a sorely needed framework for all future discussion of the authenticity matter. This is his best book, a major contribution to performance studies and to musical aesthetics; likely it will be studied and cited for generations."--Choice "Written in lively prose, with a keen sense of reality, [this volume] ought to be of interest not only to philosophers and musicologists, but to all serious lovers of music."--Roger Scruton, Times Literary Supplement

"The consistent theme running through Kivy's book is the need for interpretation as the personal authenticity and authority of the performer against the ideology both of the composer as genius and of the puritanical devotion to the authority of the text of the early music devotees. . . . This is a most valuable book, one which constantly surprises and delights through its philosophical insights and informed musical understanding."--British Journal of Aesthetics

Product Details

• Hardcover: 299 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801430461
• ISBN-13: 978-0801430466
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,954,550 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Philosophical considerations on performance, September 24, 2007

By	B. R. Townsend (Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Authenticities: Philosophical Reflections on Musical Performance (Paperback)

This is one of a series of excellent books on problems in the philosophy of music by Peter Kivy, professor at Rutgers University. This is the third I have read and I have found them all stimulating and thought-provoking. This one, in the area of performance, deals with matters that are a good deal less well-defined than the problems dealt with in the other books such as The Fine Art of Repetition, but still well worth the time. In particular Kivy does an excellent job of problematizing the notion of 'authenticity' in early music. I have often thought that even after you have done everything possible to ensure that your performance is as close to an historical one as possible, you are still presented with the problem that your audience does not have 17th (or 16th or whatever) century ears and minds. Kivy goes into this sort of problem in depth.