Anthony Gritten
Delivering Expression from Stravinsky

The discourse around Stravinsky has permeated pretty much the entire culture of literate music making in the West. Despite its inconsistencies, contradictions, assumptions, and prejudices, the composer’s (implied) theory of interpretation has been widely influential. This paper approaches expression in Stravinsky’s music by unpacking a central element of his theory of performance – the concept of execution – and exploring its logic, interpretive potential and explanatory limits. The discipline of Ergonomics is invoked as a means of contextualising the strong ideological claims made by Stravinsky on behalf of execution. Expression as invoked and assumed by Stravinsky is shown to exist in a dialectical relationship with execution.