Where is the Line? Reflections on the Performer’s Creative Space in Contemporary Practices

Abstract

In contemporary performance practice, the question of where to draw the line between fidelity to the composer and the performer’s creative freedom remains a subject of ongoing debate. Performers face the challenge of balancing the authority of the score with their own artistic instincts, navigating a space shaped by historical traditions, evolving cultural norms, and the expectations of modern performance contexts. While historical recordings and scores offer valuable insights, treating them as unchanging authorities risks reducing performance to passive reenactment. By contrast, artistic creativity rooted in the performer’s co-authorial role, central to nineteenth-century traditions of score recomposition, is often restricted when so-called “correct” standards are prioritised over interpretive individuality. In addition to these challenges, the so-called moral dimension of interpretation is not intrinsic but created through ethical perspective. This raises questions about how performers should engage ethically with works created by others, particularly when tensions arise between historical fidelity and personal artistic agency. At what point does adherence to tradition become a moral imperative, and when might this very fidelity suppress the performer’s “right” to individual expression? By reconceptualising tradition as a living, evolving framework rather than a rigid set of rules, this paper proposes an eclectic approach to performance that engages with the past while embracing the performer’s voice from a contemporary perspective.