Aida Islam 

With its developed technical culture, the twentieth century has raised issues which had not been discussed in the previous century. These issues refer to the aesthetic conditions of the preservation of the live music performances with the help of different recording techniques, as well as the conditions of perception of the recorded music, reproduced by ways of different electro-acoustic devices.
Because of the importance of this medium as a historical account of the achievements in the field of reproductive art, we have made an analysis of the recorded interpretations. The purpose of this analysis was to obtain certain conclusions about the following aspects:
 

1) The specificity of the performances of piano music by Macedonian authors;

2) The theoretical aspects of the performances during recording

 However, we will first make a presentation of the database which was the subject of our interest.
 Having in mind that until recently, the music production of MRTV was the only institution in which classical music scores were realised, the formation of a database depended on the information obtained by this source.
 Because the majority of Macedonian composers`  scores  are recorded in this institution and in this surrounding, we focused our research on this part of the recorded material.
 On the grounds of the accessed documented data of the MRTV music production, we registered about 175 recordings of piano compositions by Macedonian composers.
 According to the composer record base, 31 composers were registered, of which the ones with the greatest number of recorded works are: T. Prosev, V. Nikolovski, R.  Avramovski, L. Brangolica, and others  (Gr. 1).

                Graph 1

According to the performer record base, 67 pianists were recorded, 47 of  which were local,  and 20 foreign (Gr. 2 and 3).
 

                Graphs 2 and 3

In the decade section of the years of the realisation of the recordings, we found that most recordings were realised in the 1980s (about 64 recordings of piano compositions by Macedonian composers), followed by a decline in the 1990 s (Gr. 4). The decline of interest for the recording of piano compositions continues throughout the beginning of the third millennium, until today.

                Graph 4

 According to our research, there are two reasons for decline of interest for  the recording of piano music:

1) The bad condition of the instruments in the studio M1
2) Inadequate financial compensation

In order to achieve a high quality solution to our established goals and purposes, a sample was formed. The main criteria in the choice of the performances  was the selection of the compositions which had at least two recordings.
 According to this criteria, the  sample consisted of:

- 79 recordings
- 27 compositions
- 15 composers
- 42 performers  (28 local and 14 foreign pianists)

 The interpretation of the score in a sound medium is realised in different ways by different performers, having in mind that the score is only a starting point which should come to life as a result of the creative processes of the performers.
 Thus we defined the methodology of the analysis of the performances of the piano works, which comprised the following categories:

1)  An assessment of the degree of consistence of performances and scores.
2) An assessment of the manner of performance of the interpretational elements.
3) An assessment of the manner of the realisations of the elements of the pianist techniques.

1. The assessment of the degree of consistence of performances and scores

The  alterations to the scores by performers was common not only in the 18th c. (usually in terms of ornamentation), but also in the early 20th c.
Thus, for example, according to Joel Lester (Rink 1998: 212), Bela Bartok’s 1922 and 1929 recordings of his  Allegro barbaro (1911) differ from his own previously published score in the length, pitch content and dynamics of some passages.
Lester lists numerous and sometimes extensive changes in the pitch content  of some of Chopin’s works, recorded in the early 20th century  by Alfred Cortot, Sergei Rahmaninoff, and Ignacy Paderewski. This tradition has been perpetuated by at least a few performers until quite recently, as in 1968 when Vladimir Horowitz added several notes to Robert Schumman’s Arabesque Op.18, including a  right-hand f_ before the first written note in the score.
In that sense, the highly controversial pianist Glenn Gould, who made a lot of modifications to scores, cannot be avoided  (Bazzana 1997:91-4).
Nevertheless, contemporary performance practice considers  adherence to the score as one of the basic principles of performance.  The  primary goal of the interpreter should be the correct correspondence between the performance and the score (Gr. 5).
 

               Graph 5

What is noted with the analytical examination of the recorded performances of our sample greatly corresponds with the contemporary principles of the performance practice. Namely, the performances are identical to the text, with the exception of several performances, where some deviations from the scores are noted.
We grouped the few deviations  (7 in all ) in several types:

- changes in the order of the text
- omitting part of the text
- adding to the text
- changes in the text

2. The manner of performance of the interpretational symbols

 Besides the presence of fixed graphic symbols, the interpretational elements have an ambivalent nature during the sound formation of the piece of music.  Most of the composers whose works we analysed integrated detailed symbols for some of the interpretational elements in the scores. Nevertheless, they are flexible about the interpretation of those symbols by performers.  One of the reasons for this is the fact that the constructive relationship between interpreter and composer is a relationship of mutual understanding, but not absolute aesthetic-ideological identification of two conceptions. Therefore, the performance decisions, as John Rink says, suggest that many (though certainly not all) possible choices are not so much "right" or "wrong" as simply different, leading to varying perspectives (Rink, 1998: 211).
 With the examination of the manner of the performance of the interpretational elements, we become aware of the aspects of performance during recording, as well as the specifics of the performance of piano music by Macedonian authors.
 

2.1 The choice of  tempo

 The performances of one piece of music differ in many aspects, such as length, individual interpretational conception of the work, technical preparedness of the performers, acoustic circumstances, etc.
 For these reasons, grouping was made by creating several categories that cover all manners of performance of the existing instructions for the tempo in the scores.
 Thus, we grouped the works according to their performance in:

1) An adequate tempo to express the concept
2) Livelier, which doesn't harm the concept
3) Slower, which doesn't harm the concept
4) Too lively, harming the concept
5) Too slow, harming the concept

              Graph 6
 

2.2 The manner of the performance of dynamics and articulation

 Three categories were formed during the examination of these two interpretational elements:

 1. Performances in which the performers regard the existing symbols
 2. Performances in which the performers regard the existing symbols, but insert changes
 3. Free conception.

Very often in practice, the performers feel dynamic variations at points unnoted by the composers.  Nevertheless,  this analysis shows that the performances in which the performers apply the existing symbols for articulation and dynamic are dominant.

In a smaller number of cases, the performers either use other dynamic variations besides the noted ones, or have a concept completely different from the composer's (Gr. 7 and 8).

One of the reasons for this kind of treatment of  dynamic and articulation symbols  by performers is that these two elements are marked with greatest detail in the scores.

               Graphs 7 and 8
 

2.3 The manner of performance of rubato and pedal

During the examination of agogic and pedal, the predominance of those performances  in which the performers employ a free concept in the realisation of these elements was evident (Gr. 9).

Free treatment is a special feature of the pedal, which is confirmed by the number of the analysed  performances belonging to this category (Gr. 10).

 The performers`  treatment of the above  two categories is a reflection of the following reasons:

1) Rubato and the pedal are elements which composers integrate least in their scores. This is characteristic for the pedal particularly;  of 27 analysed compositions, only five contain pedal symbols. Thus we can conclude that the omission of these symbols involves a free manner of sound realisation during the performance.

2). The use of these two interpretational elements is conditioned by several factors. Namely, rubato is an integral part of individuality. In this sense, as the pianist Joseph Levin asserts, sensibility is what triggers the performer to speed up or slow down at certain points during the interpretation itself. Among other things, our system of notation is insufficient in expressing all the subtleties concerning the flexibility of the tempo.

            Graphs 9 and 10

 As far as the pedal is concerned, the employment of this interpretational element is greatly conditioned by the resonance of the location of the performance (the acoustic conditions), of the condition of the instrument, as well as the style of the composition.
 

3. Realisation of the technical elements

 The analysis of the manner of realisation of the technical demands in the recordings  was guided by two characteristics of the medium:

 
1) The first refers to the quality of the performance, because of the durability of this medium and the possibility of unlimited repetition.

2) The second originates from the possibilities of modern technology, which enables all sorts of corrections of the performances.

 As a result of the auditory study of the performances of the compositions, the realisation of the elements from the point of view of pianistic technique was considered successful. (Gr. 11)
This kind of sound result is expected and self-evident, having in mind that most of the represented performers are eminent pianists who have accomplished successful performances.
 A small number of performances do not entirely satisfy the criteria of the first category, but are still within the margins of the required optimum. They usually refer to the compositions with a more complex structure regarding the technical elements.
According to our classification of the  technical elements (Islam 2001: 19-87) we have registered the elements which appear to be less successful in the recordings.

             Graph 11

 In that sense, the single scales are most widely employed, composed of neighbouring or a combination of neighbouring and skipped   tones, in a fast tempo, in the realisation of one of the hands, or the two hands in unison or complementary.  The scales  in combination with double tones are also elements of piano technique whose realisation in the analysed performances is not completely successful. This group includes the performances of the double tones, especially those of wider intervals  (such as octaves), combined in greater leaps. Besides those, we would mention the repetitive single tones, tremolo, as well as the insufficient synchronisation of the two hands (even though this segment does not entirely belong to the technical elements).
 The unsatisfactory success of the interpretation of these  elements affirms itself in the slowing down or moving of the rhythmical pace and tempo (most often in the chains of double tones with greater intervalic span or the combination of double with single tones), or in the omission of certain tones (mostly in the repetitive tones and the scales  in  fast tempi).
 
 
 

The influence of age and culture on the performance

 The heterogenous structure of the performers,  in terms of their age and culture, encouraged research on the possible influence of these elements on the manner of performance.
 The seven analysed interpretations performed by students is on a high  level. They are not just adequate performances of the compositions, but some of them also surpass the performances of mature pianists. This is a result of the professional approach of both the young performers and their pedagogues, which have contributed to the rise of pianism in Macedonia.
Experience and maturity surely play an important role in the development of the technical and musical aspect of the performance. However, the high level of performance of young performers proves that this factor, although not irrelevant, is not always crucial in the aesthetic features of the  performance. (Gr. 12)
 

               Graph 12

 As far as different mentalities are concerned, the analysis of the performances in our base failed to show some significant indications that the foreign performers' realization of Macedonian music is less successful.
 Thus, only 5 out of 23 performances failed to adequately express the concept and the stylistic features of the composition.
As a result of the analysis of the performances of piano works by Macedonian composers, we can conclude that almost all the performances are at a satisfactory level. This conclusion relies on the following facts:

 1). The majority of the performances comply with the scores, which  satisfies  the basic principle of the modern pianist approach - fidelity to the text.
 2). Regardless of the level of compliance with the interpretational symbols or the manner of their  performance, almost all the analysed recordings show a successful realisation of the concept and stylistic features of the compositions.
 3). Most of the recordings exhibit a high level of realisation of the technical aspects of the compositions.
 This statement  of the recorded performances of Macedonian piano music  is a reflection on the professional approach of the pianist. Professionalism is  highly stressed because of the characteristics of the medium itself - the durability of the recordings and the possibility of their permanent repetition.

Bibliography:

• Bazzana, Kevin. 1997. Glenn Gould, The Performer in the Work. Oxford University press
• Islam, Aida. 2001. Methodology for Analysing Piano Performance. (Manuscript)
• Lhevinne, Josef. 1972. Basic Principles in Pianoforte playing. NY: Dover Publications
• Rink, John. 1998. The Practice of Performance. Cambridge  University press