Relating movement recurrence and expressive timing patterns in music performances

Abstract

In this study the movement patterns of ten expert musicians are quantitatively related to expressive timing patterns and the music structure during performances. The hypothesis is that ancillary gestures recurrently employed are closely related to expressive intentions, and that the expressive content imposed in key musical passages is thus reflected in the patterns of gestural recurrence. A movement and an audio analysis of 30 clarinet performances of a Brahms' excerpt are compared. Results show direct correlations between the recurrence pattern of clarinetists' ancillary movements and expressive bar duration manipulations employed by them, associated with melodic phrasing and harmonic transitions.