Something to tell: musical work interpretations of the performer as narrator

Abstract

The relationship between music and narrative has been extensively discussed since Nattiez (1990) onwards, establishing similarities between music and literary discourse, and its adequation to narratology. Beyond its literary form, narration is present in everyday life and is considered as a way of thinking, interpreting and creating a sense of the world and life, within the framework of one's own culture (Bruner, 1986). Narration and music are linked in intersubjective communication from early childhood, being together in time without the need for a grammatical discourse (Malloch & Trevarthen, 1999). However, there is little evidence in the literature about the performer musician as a teller or narrator, and, as a consequence little is known about the ways a musical piece expresses the narrator's point of view.