Publisher's Synopsis
What are the historical roots of the rapidly growing branch of performance studies in contemporary music psychology? During the nineteenth century, the Swiss music theorist Mathis Lussy proposed a highly original theory locating the source of expression in performance within the musical structures rather than solely in the inspired soul of the performing artist. This book presents a comprehensive account of Lussy's theories of musical rhythm and performance based on a survey of long-neglected archival sources and publications against the backdrop of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century psychology and aesthetics. Contents: Expressive performance--Affective response to music--The interdependency of affect and cognition in musical experiences--Respiration as a model for music rhythm--Kinesthesis--Musical rhetoric--Mimesis and formalism in musical aesthetics--Tonal attractions--Accentuation and expressive timing..
