An investigation into Historically Informed Performance Practice among South African flute pedagogues and players

Abstract

This study investigates the status of Historically Informed Performance Practice among the South African flute-playing fraternity. Consequently, grounds are established on which to claim a lack of the implementation of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South African flute pedagogy and playing. The main research question that underpins this study is: <ul> <li>Why is there a lack of integration of Historically Informed Performance Practice into the mainstream of current flute performance practice among South African flute pedagogues and players?</li></ul> This research question is addressed through three sub-questions: <ul> <li>Is there an awareness of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South Africa as outlined by performance and pedagogy internationally?</li> <li>How is Historically Informed Performance Practice incorporated into the South African flute examinations system? </li> <li>Does the knowledge of Historically Informed Performance Practice prepare one to be a balanced musician or flautist?</li> </ul> The findings that emerge from the investigation of the research questions are: <ul> <li>South African flute pedagogues fail to differentiate between Historically Informed Performance Practice and ‘authenticity’. This could be attributed to the fact that relatively little research and discourse into Historically Informed Performance Practice has been conducted by South African scholars and musicologists. </li> <li>While Historically Informed Performance Practice is thought to enhance students’ performances of Early Music, resulting in better-balanced musicians, it has not been significantly exploited by South African flute players.</li> <li>South African flute students are superficially aware of some elements of performance practice, but are generally not historically informed with regard to the performance of Early Music.</li> <li>There is no clear indication of Historically Informed Performance Practice being incorporated into the South African independent flute examination system.</li> <li>While there are numerous specialists in Early Music locally, flute pedagogues and players perceive them to be scarce, perhaps due to a lack of discernable demand for historically informed performances by South African audiences.</li> </ul> The research synthesises questionnaire and interview data from local flute pedagogues, Early Music specialists and both national and international flute students in an attempt to discover the reason for the lack of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South Africa. Additionally, a survey of websites detailing South African Early Music activity is performed using the Internet, in order to ascertain if the basis for a future in Historically Informed Performance Practice exists nationally. Lastly, content analyses of the three primary South African independent examination boards’ syllabi and of the former flute periodical, Flufsa News, elucidate the status of Historically Informed Performance Practice nationally.