HaskinsLaboratoriesStatusReportanSpeechResearch1993,SR-114,167-178Musical Motion: Some Historical and ContemporaryPerspectives*Bruno H. ReppThe ideathatmusic "moves"hasa longandvariedhistory. Some aspectsofthisnotionaremetaphorical (e.g.,the"motions" between pitches, harmonies,orkeys),whereasothersaremore literal.Thelatterderive fromtheperformer's actionsthatbringthemusictolife.Thisgesturalinformation is encodedintheexpressive microstructureoftheperformanceatseveralhierarchicallynestedlevels. Some olderdemonstrationsinsupportofthispropositionhaveusedthetechniqueof"accompanying movements",devisedandelaboratedbyauthorssuchasEduardSievers,GustavBecking,andAlexanderTruslit.Contemporary approaches,mostnotably thoseofManfred ClynesandNeil Todd, focusinsteadon performanceanalysisandsynthesis. Toddhasprovided evidencethattempomodulationsinexpertperformances obey aconstraintoflinearchangesinvelocity,suggestingthatmusicis"setintomotion"bysome kindofforceorimpulsefunction.Clyneshasproposed (following Becking)thattheparametersoftheseunderlying functionsdistinguishdifferent composers.Thenotionofspatio-temporal coupling,illustratedbyPaolo Viviani's work on drawing movements, suggests a theoreticalbasisfortherecoveryofspatialmovement from temporal information. Physical lawsofmotionthusimposeconstraints on performance microstructure, constraintsthatarealso reflectedinlisteners'perceptionandaestheticjudgments.INTRODUCTIONMusicismadeby movinghands,fingers,orextensionsthereofoveraninstrument,andthedynamictimecourseofthesemQvementsisreflectedtosomeextentintheresultingstreamofsounds. Conversely, peoplelisteningtomusicfrequentlyperform coordinatedmovementsthatrangefrom foottappingtoelaboratedance.Althoughthesemovementsonthelistener'ssidearenotthesameasthoseoftheperformer,theyarecertainlynotunrelated.Atthevery least,theysharea rhythmic frameworkthatgetstransmittedfromplayertolistenerviathesound structure.Inmanyculturesthisclose connectionofmusicandmovement is so obviousastohardlydeservecomment.InEurope,however,theremarkabledevelopmentofmusicalnotationandofcomplexcompositionaltechniquesoverthelastfewcenturieshasledto a focus onthestructuralratherthanthekinematicproperties of music,atleastof so-called serious music.Atthesame time,asthismusic was performedmainlyinchurchorconcerthalls,a socialrestrictionagainstovertmovementinlistenershaslong beenineffect. As aresultofthesepractices,theclose connectionofmusicandmotionhasrecededfrom people'sconsciousness,and20thcenturyaestheticandtechnological developmentshaveoccasionally evenseveredthatconnection,withonly fewtakingnotice. Therefore,thereisaneedtodaytore-assesstheconceptofmusicalmotionanditsroleinperformanceandmusic appreciation.My purposeinthispaperisnottoreview philo-sophical or musicologicaltreatmentsofthistopic;sufficeittomentiontheimportantdiscussions byLanger(1953),Zuckerkandl(1973),andSessions(1950), amongmanyothers.Rather,I will focus onthelimitedandfar-betweenattemptsto provideempiricaldemonstrationsofthekinematiccorre-latesofWesternartmusic. Also, I willnotdwellonthemoreabstractandmetaphoricnotionsofmelodicandharmonic motion common amongmU-sicologists, which concernthetransitionsfrom onepitch,oroneharmony,oronetonalitytoanother-movementsthatcanbe seen,asitwere,by moving one's eyes overtheprintedscore. Iamconcernedprimarilywithrhythmicmotion, which167168Repppresupposes a performance, ahumanrealizationofthemusicasstructuredsound,whetheractualor imagined.Thequestion Iampursuing,then,is:Whatisthenatureoftherhythmicmotion infor-mationinmusic,andhow canitskinematic impli-cations be demonstrated?InthispresentationIintendto review brieflythepioneeringwork ofthreelargelyforgottenindividualswho were activeinGermanyduringtheearlydecadesofthiscentury.Indoing so, Ihopetoinform orremindyouoftheirtheoreticalaccomplishments, however limitedtheirempiricalcontributionmayseem fromourmodemscientificperspective.ThenI willturntosamplingtheworkoftwo contemporaryresearcherswho-knowinglyinonecase,unwittinglyintheother-haveelaborated uponandincreasedtheprecision oftheGermanpioneers' ideas, sothattheycannow besubjected to rigorous tests. I will concludewithaverybriefforay intothemotor controlliterature,againfocusing on a singleresearcherwhose workseems to beparticularlypertinenttothekinds ofmotionthatmusicengenders.BecauseoftimeconstraintsI willnotbe able todojusticetotherelatedwork ofmanyothers, for exampleJohanSundbergandAlfGabrielsson;tothemIapologize,butyoucanhearabouttheirlatestwork first-handatthisconference.ThreeGermanpioneers:Sievers, Becking,andTruslitWhereasno one doubtsthatthereis visual in-formation for motion,theconcept of auditory mo-tion information is less widely accepted, especiallysinceitinvolvesanessentiallystationarysoundsource-themusicalinstrumentbeing played on.Onereasonforthisscepticismmaybethatvisualmotioninformationisgenerallycontinuousintime,whereasauditory motion information, espe-ciallythatinmusic, is oftencarriedby discreteevents (i.e., tone onsets)thatonly samplethetimecourse oftheunderlying movement.Theprincipaltechnique fordemonstratingthatmusic does con-vey movement information isthereconstitution oftheanalogousspatialmovement by ahumanlis-tener.Thelistener'sbodythusactsasatrans-ducer, akindof filter fortheoften impulse-likecoding of musical movement.Thefirstmodernattempttousesuchatechniqueina systematic fashionmustbe creditedtotheGermanphilologistEduardSievers, whoapplieditnotto musicbuttoliteraryworks.Sievers called hismethodSchallanalyse("soundanalysis"),thoughitwasnotconcernedwithsoundassuchbutratherwithbodypostureandmovementasawayofreconstructingandanalyzingtheexpressivesoundshapeofprintedlanguage,mostly poetry.Heneverpublishedacompleteaccountofhisverycomplexmethods.Sievers (1924) providesanoverview; for amorerecentcritical evaluation, seeUngeheuer(1964).Sievers'sinitialimpetuscame from observationsofateacherofsinging,JosephRutz, published byhissonOtmarRutz (1911, 1922),aboutconnec-tionsbetweenbodypostureandvoicequality.Certainbodyposturesweresaidtoinhibitvocalproduction,whereasothersfacilitateditandgaveita free,uninhibitedquality. Sieversinitiallyfo-cused onthesestaticbody postures whichhesym-bolizedbymeansof"optic signals"intheformofgeometricshapesthatweremeantto cue differentbodyposturesinaspeakerrecitingatext.Subsequentlyheelaboratedthismethodintoasystemofdynamic movements,tobecarriedoutwitha baton,withtheindexfinger,orevenwithbotharmswhile speaking.Thecrucialcriterionwastheachievement