This is really a handbook on Interpretation in which Peter-Lucas Graf uses analysis, examples and simple exercises to illustrate his theories. All basic musical elements are covered, including melody, phrasing, rhythm, dynamics, and tempo, and the text is peppered with 'Rules' and 'Tips'. In the chapter on tempo for example:
You might be forgiven for thinking that this is simply good common sense, but it is somehow comforting to see it all written down. This is especially so when the book has been thoroughly researched and organised, and has such convincing musical illustrations. Yes it is pricey but there is no doubting the quality of the content.
Musical interpretation is first and foremost a question of shaping a melody or the melodic line of a setting. Music, like any language, follows its own set of rules and a sufficient knowledge and familiarity with musical ‘grammar’ is therefore an essential prerequisite of any convincing interpretation. The internationally renowned performer and teacher Peter-Lukas Graf explains in great detail the parameters that have to be taken into account for a successful interpretation: rhythm, metre, agogics, articulation, phrasing, ornamentation and implied polyphony, etc. Numerous examples from the flute repertoire of the 17th–20th century serve as models from which he derives the ‘rules’ appropriate for an interpretation in keeping with each period. – These rules are not intended to be dogmatic but instead should stimulate the players to form their own opinion.
