Short History of Performance Theory

Abstract

A first look at the history of performance research seems to confirm Reinhard Kopiez’s thesis [62] that there are two unrelated threads: on the one hand the empirical research as typically represented by Carl Seashore’s measurements of agogics [62], and on the other the philosophical research as typically represented by Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno’s writings [2]. It is true that these threads can be recognized, and we shall give their short history below, but it is erroneous to consider them as being in any contradictory position.