The Case for a Theory of Musical Practice: a View from Hong Kong

Abstract

The gap between theory and practice is a thorny issue in curriculum design and implementation in conservatoires, music departments in universities, and music schools alike. Yet it is ignored, when not obscured altogether. This is the case the world over but it is an especially acute problem in the post-colonial context of Hong Kong. Music scholars on the one hand and performers on the other often operate in blissful ignorance of one another’s preoccupations. This is the case even when they work in the same institution. Aside from the history of performance practice and the study of period instruments, practically all other subjects of musicological inquiry—history, aesthetics, criticism, media theory—are mere 'tags,' requirements that practicing musicians fulfil out of a sense of obligation (and reluctantly at that). Performers have come to view music scholars merely as living repositories of arcane facts that may or may not impinge on their careers depending on how heavily their practice depends on the detailed factual knowledge of a certain instrument, performance practice or literary genre. In turn, scholars have turned inward and come to view performances as pleasurable pastime rather than the occasion to revisit the meaning and direction of their scholarship. Instead of creating the conditions for their productive collision, the perceived incommensurability between history, theory and practice has not only led to entirely different professional figures but also to mutually segregating approaches to the same subject. For such a productive collision to take place, the gap between theory and practice must be not only acknowledged but also built into the curriculum. The relatively small size of the Hong Kong music scene has made the gap between theory and practice more visible and thus, ironically, more bridgeable. Synergies, compromises and even conflict have led to the emergence of new modes of creation and delivery of musical content. A seemingly perennial sense of isolation and lack of confidence, however, have also inhibited further experimentation and what is more the consolidation of what we might call ‘best practices.’ Drawing on my fifteen-year experience as music professor, chairman of a music ensemble, and festival consultant, I discuss these issues as they impinge on a general ‘theory of musical practice.’