The pianist’s acoustical and motional expressions in the live performance of Schumann’s Träumerei

According to previous studies, expert performers construct their acoustical (i.e. durational, dynamical) and visual (i.e. motional) expressions by highlighting the structurally important points. However, it is still unclear whether such expressions are influenced by the presence of the audience. In the present study, we examined the effects of context (i.e. audience present versus audience absent) on expert pianists’ acoustical and motional expressions in their performances of Robert Schumann’s Träumerei. In the experiment, 13 pianists performed six pieces including Träumerei in front of 11-23 audience members. Either before or after the live performance, each pianist performed the same pieces without any audience. According to the functional data analyses for the duration, the dynamic range, and the motional range, the trough and the peak points within each parameter were in phase with the boundaries between the sections regardless of the context. The analyses also showed that the pianists amplified the ranges of the expressions at the trough and the peak within each parameter in front of their audiences. These results suggest that sharing time and space with the audience amplifies the pianists’ expressions in performing structurally salient points (e.g. phrase endings).