Counterfeit music. The score as false authenticity

Abstract

This article discusses the hypothesis of the falsification of Western Art Music (WAM) based on the questioning of the authenticity of the score. In contemporaneity, considering that WAM’s performative practice, especially of the “new music” composed since the first half of the twentieth century, does not arouse audiences, a critical reflection that promotes change and seeks to challenge the calcified gestures of the musician’s work seems crucial. Hence, questioning the authenticity of musical writing is the starting point for thinking and criticizing the counterfeiting of art music, which goes beyond the musical score and is taken to the stage by the interpreter, ultimately falsifying any performance of that musical work for its audience.