Heinrich Schenker - The Art of Performance, ed. Irene Schreier Scott

Schenker on Performance — A Rare Primary Source

Heinrich Schenker’s The Art of Performance, edited and translated by Irene Schreier Scott (Oxford University Press, 2000), is the only book in which Schenker addresses the practical art of musical performance directly. Compiled from his unpublished notes and manuscripts, it presents Schenker’s deeply considered views on tempo, phrasing, pedaling, touch, and the realization of musical structure at the keyboard — views inseparable from his broader theoretical conviction that true performance must emerge from a profound understanding of a work’s tonal and voice-leading structure.

For pianists, theorists, and performers interested in historically informed interpretive practice, this volume offers an irreplaceable window into how one of the twentieth century’s most influential musical thinkers approached the act of making music. Irene Schreier Scott’s meticulous editing and translation make Schenker’s often aphoristic and demanding prose accessible to English-speaking readers without sacrificing its intellectual depth.

Book Details

• Author: Heinrich Schenker; edited by Irene Schreier Scott
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000
• Subject: Musical performance practice, Schenkerian theory, piano performance, interpretation
• Ideal for: pianists, music theorists, performers, Schenker scholars, graduate students
• Physical book — used copy