The effects of listener expertise, performer expertise, and expressive intent on the communication of artistic individuality in organ performance were investigated. Six organists, three of whom were prize-winners at national competitions, each recorded two “mechanical” and two expressive interpretations of a chorale setting by Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654). In a subsequent sorting task, 20 non-musicians and 20 musicians listened to these interpretations and grouped together recordings they thought had been played by the same performer. Twenty-eight participants (70%) performed significantly above chance level, demonstrating that most listeners can identify specific performers even on an instrument with a limited range of expressive parameters such as the organ. There was no significant difference in sorting accuracy between musicians and non-musicians. Mean tempo and articulation were found to be the most important dimensions along which listeners differentiated the excerpts. Participants’ sorting accuracy was lower for mechanical interpretations than for expressive ones, showing an effect of expressive intent. Sorting accuracy was significantly higher for prize-winning performers than for non-winners, suggesting that the performers’ ability to convey a sense of artistic individuality was linked to their level of expertise. Moreover, sorting accuracy was generally better for performers who exhibited either greater consistency or distinctiveness in their recordings.

Friday 24 October 2.00-3.00pm

Admission is free and all are welcome!

Melanie Canham

Executive Administrator & CETL Project Manager

Royal Northern College of Music

124 Oxford Road

Manchester M13 9RD

T (44) 0161 907 5275

F (44) 0161 273 8188