On the Theory of Musical Scores and Its Relation to Work Performance

This paper presents a Goodman-based theory of musical scores and notation. It responds to objections raised by Stephen Davies, who claims that Nelson Goodman’s theory of musical scores and notation is disconnected from the practice of work-performance. I argue, first, that Goodman’s theory provides a clear criterion for distinguishing between different kinds of musical notations. Second, I contend that, once disentangled from the ontological commitments associated with his general theory of symbols and reinterpreted in an epistemological key, the theory is compatible with a normative conception of scores. Finally, I show that, once reinterpreted according to the epistemic approach that I propose, the theory addresses the relevant challenges of musical practice more effectively than Davies’s.