ABSTRACT
The last 20 years have seen concerted efforts to shift the object of musicological study from scores to performances and sound recordings have played a huge part in fostering a sub-discipline of musical performance studies that focuses on acts rather than text. An action-centred musicology has sought to reposition musical creativity from enduring products or the minds of individuals to the diverse social and cultural sites of musical production and reception. Taking as a starting point Nicholas Cook’s theorization of recordings beyond the reproduction paradigm, this chapter considers how approaches to the cultural and historical, analytical, empirical, and ethnographic study of classical sound recordings have been fuelled by this fast-changing scholarly landscape and have contributed to shaping an increasingly interdisciplinary field of musical performance studies which seeks to understand performances (recorded or otherwise) as intrinsically creative social practices. By firmly locating the study, criticism, and reception of classical sound recordings at the disciplinary cross-roads of musicology, empirical musicology, psychology, sociology, and ethnomusicology, this chapter reflects critically on the rich potential for cross-disciplinary dialogue and how this can extend the purview of musical performance studies.
