From Rehearsal to Performance: Generating Knowledge through Practice in Malay Art Song

This paper examines how knowledge is generated through rehearsal and performance in Malay Art Song, focusing on the performer’s embodied, interpretive, and culturally situated experiences. The study investigates rehearsal and performance as interconnected sites of inquiry rather than merely preparation and presentation. A qualitative practice-based approach was adopted, involving four Malay Art Song recitals in which the researcher served as the principal singer, supported by reflective documentation, score and textual analysis, performance recordings, and semi-structured interviews with experienced composers, singers, and pianists. The findings demonstrate that knowledge developed progressively through the interaction of musical scores, poetry, the singing body, rehearsal, performance, and reflection. Three interconnected forms of knowledge were identified: embodied knowledge, developed through experimentation with vocal production and physical sensation; interpretive knowledge, developed through transforming musical and poetic materials into expressive performance; and cultural knowledge, developed through engagement with Malay language, poetry, musical characteristics, and culturally situated meanings. The study further demonstrates that these forms of knowledge contribute to the continual development of artistic identity through the negotiation of existing musical training, cultural heritage, innovation, storytelling, and emotional expression. The study argues that the performer functions not merely as an interpreter of the score but as a knowledge producer whose practice contributes to the ongoing understanding and development of Malay Art Song. The findings highlight the value of practice-based research for investigating musical knowledge that emerges through doing, reflecting, and performing.

Malay Art Song, Practice-based Research, Artistic Identity

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