Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical Works

While all types of musical works have been affected by the advent of recording, it has not always been in the same way or to the same extent. The aim of this paper is to delve into these differences and to clarify the role played by recording in defining the ontological identity of musical works. St...

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Main Author: Alessandro Arbo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Philosophies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/10/1/24
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author Alessandro Arbo
author_facet Alessandro Arbo
author_sort Alessandro Arbo
collection DOAJ
description While all types of musical works have been affected by the advent of recording, it has not always been in the same way or to the same extent. The aim of this paper is to delve into these differences and to clarify the role played by recording in defining the ontological identity of musical works. Starting from the discussion of some ontological approaches, it considers music recording in light of the conceptual tension between its meaning as a document of a performance of a pre-existing musical work and its meaning as a construction of an autonomous musical work. It argues that the diverse roles that recording can play depend not only on a grasp of the ontological identity of works but on an adequate understanding of the (type of) performance to which they refer. An expansion of the “logical space” of the notion of performance is ultimately necessary to account for the ontological identity of musical works, whether documented or constructed through recording.
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spelling doaj-art-7ffdf8a2728b48769b50f6f2a1761bf82025-08-20T02:44:43ZengMDPI AGPhilosophies2409-92872025-02-011012410.3390/philosophies10010024Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical WorksAlessandro Arbo0Department of Music, University of Strasbourg, 67084 Strasbourg, FranceWhile all types of musical works have been affected by the advent of recording, it has not always been in the same way or to the same extent. The aim of this paper is to delve into these differences and to clarify the role played by recording in defining the ontological identity of musical works. Starting from the discussion of some ontological approaches, it considers music recording in light of the conceptual tension between its meaning as a document of a performance of a pre-existing musical work and its meaning as a construction of an autonomous musical work. It argues that the diverse roles that recording can play depend not only on a grasp of the ontological identity of works but on an adequate understanding of the (type of) performance to which they refer. An expansion of the “logical space” of the notion of performance is ultimately necessary to account for the ontological identity of musical works, whether documented or constructed through recording.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/10/1/24musical recordingmusic ontologymusical worksmusical performance
spellingShingle Alessandro Arbo
Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical Works
Philosophies
musical recording
music ontology
musical works
musical performance
title Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical Works
title_full Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical Works
title_fullStr Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical Works
title_full_unstemmed Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical Works
title_short Types of Recording, Types of Performance and the Ontological Identity of Musical Works
title_sort types of recording types of performance and the ontological identity of musical works
topic musical recording
music ontology
musical works
musical performance
url https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/10/1/24
work_keys_str_mv AT alessandroarbo typesofrecordingtypesofperformanceandtheontologicalidentityofmusicalworks