Document Type

Post-Print

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Abstract

Julian Dodd has criticized Stephen Davies’s widely accepted view of the authentic performance of scored works of Western classical music and proposed a new theory according to which “interpretive authenticity” trumps compliance with the work’s score. I argue that the theories of the nature, meaning, and value of works and performances on which Dodd relies cannot be used to defend his theory. I then argue for an alternative view of authentic work performance that combines the best of Dodd’s and Davies’s ideas: an authentic performance is one that aims to evince understanding of the work through complying fully with its score.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1093/jaac/kpaf005

Publication Information

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

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