Which musical choices can performers make when interpreting a written score?

When interpreting a written score, performers act as essential intermediaries who renew and refine musical traditions through their personal judgment and artistic choices. Because notation often provides only a framework for pitch and rhythm, performers exercise significant discretion in several key areas:1

• Tempo and Pacing: While scores may include verbal instructions or metronomic markings, performers often adjust the tempo based on personal taste, the acoustics of the venue, ensemble size, or historical performance practices. Techniques such as tempo rubato allow for expressive fluctuations in speed.23
• Ornamentation: Performers may embellish a melody by adding notes or modifying rhythms. Historically, composers often provided only a "skeleton" of a melody, expecting the performer to improvise florid figuration or specific ornaments like trills and slides to heighten emotional expression.43
• Improvisation: In many traditions, such as jazz or 17th- and 18th-century Western music, performers are expected to extemporize passages or supply accompaniments based on minimal structural outlines, such as a figured bass.53
• Dynamics and Nuance: Beyond basic volume markings (e.g., piano or forte), performers must interpret subjective instructions regarding musical expression, such as espressivo or mit Empfindung, to convey feeling and nuance.3
• Technical Execution: Performers make choices regarding specific techniques—such as the use of mutes, articulation, or rhythmic modifications—that shape the stylistic character and sound of the music.143