ABSTRACT

This chapter lays a foundation for understanding both Modernist and Romanticist performance styles through cultural exegeses of their respective eras. It begins with a discussion of the nature and purpose of cultural worldviews, and how they may be analysed. Our contemporary mainstream performance style developed in the era of C20th Modernism, and groundwork is laid for stylistic analysis by outlining the roots of Modernism, its philosophies, and its primary expression through the visual arts. Romantic performance style is also contextualized by discussion of the movement’s roots, its characteristic philosophies, and its primary expression through literature. In particular, we find a Romantic universe of metaphysical Idealism, a world of Spirit (Geist) and Mind rather than of Matter/energy and Brain. In conclusion, a cultural comparison between Modernism and Romanticism is mapped, showing the remarkable gulf between these two eras, one which makes a radical shift in music performance styles and artistic meaning almost certain.