The effect of Additional information on Understanding the Contents of a Score and Interpretation in an Orchestral Performance

Interpretation is an extremely complicated theme in musical performance and is influenced by many factors. The notes on the paper indicate sounds in the composer's mind, but they do not represent authentic sounds. In other words, the score does not sound by itself! Converting a composer's score to musical sounds includes a complex process full of dark points which should be discovered during the score studying and before rehearsals begin. In a musical performance, not only the written notes but also the not written parts between the notes are played by the musicians. Therefore, a musician must learn all the score details and be properly prepared for all of them and also have a clear image of the sound that he wants. Of course, to achieve the desired interpretation in a performance, it is necessary to learn the orchestral score exactly, but definitely, it is not enough. For this purpose, the performer needs to pay close attention to all of the details written by the composer, also to be able to discover the unwritten things in the work to reach a clear musical imagination to provide a fine interpretation in performance. This article, by mentioning some aspects of score studying and citing examples shows how the additional information relates to the conductors’ musical ideas and helps them understand and prepare the piece. The question is how can a performer find a way to discover deeper layers between the notes in a score and understand the piece on a deeper level? How to approach the unwritten part between written notes in the orchestral full score? Which further information could be helpful and how can they be obtained? The purpose of this article is not to analyze the piece, but to specifically respond to the above questions by focusing on Igor Stravinsky's Ballet “Petrouchka”. To this end, the full score of Petrouchka, other pieces and writings by the composer, alongside various researches about the composer and his works have been studied. The author has used his experiences in conducting and score study to find the relationship between the supplementary information and how score details can be understood. This article seeks to find ways to approach the content of the score by citing examples from the composer's various works and examining other information about his musical ideas. It should be noted that as no two works are alike, how the musicians approach the content of the work is not quite the same.Ultimately, this article will show how a better understanding of the content of a work, which is undeniably necessary for achieving the desired performance, can be reached by using additional information.