The interweaving of artistic and aesthetic qualities in musical performance

In this article, I assert that the performer does not so much perform the work as perform the performance of the work, and this seemingly minor terminological difference carries with it significant shifts in perspective on music research. To support this thesis, I first analyze—in relation to a musical work and its performance—the concepts of properties and qualities commonly used in aesthetics. Then, I distinguish between the artistic and aesthetic qualities of musical performance based on the phenomenological analysis of five recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Invention 7 in E Minor BWV 778 in three different instrumental versions (András Schiff—clavichord, piano; Evgeni Koroliov—piano; Blandine Verlet—harpsichord; Glenn Gould—piano). In the final section before the conclusion I analyze the most problematic issues and concerns related to the previous considerations. The aim of this article is to develop a more precise research methodology—taking into account the traditions of analytic philosophy and phenomenology—that will allow for a better understanding of the nature of the aesthetic experience of musical works.