From Context and Text to Performance: A System of Actions for the Musical Interpretation of the Contemporary Cuban Saxophone Repertoire

Abstract

The present research is aimed at specialized music education, specifically at higher education students and teachers in the saxophone performance field. Within university training for saxophone students, the study and interpretation of contemporary Cuban repertoire constitute a significant aspect, as they enable the development of the necessary competencies and skills to build a formative background that allows them to adopt various "approaches to performance" in their future professional careers. Musical interpretation consists of a specialized musician decoding the musical text to make it audible on one or more instruments. The systematization of the theoretical-methodological references related to the subject under study highlights that musical interpretation must be closely linked to the creator's ideas, as well as their motivations at the time of composing the work. In this regard, it has been observed that higher-level saxophone students rarely approach contemporary repertoire while considering the composer's life context and creative intent; on the other hand, there are limited concrete tools available for students to learn to do so independently. The objective of this research is to design a system of actions for the study and preparation of the contemporary Cuban repertoire that integrates contextual, technical, and expressive analysis, based on the diptych Acecho y Desenlace by composer Jorge López Marín.