Interpretation and Stylistic Understanding
Style as evidence
Interpretation questions test whether you can justify choices with reference to the score and the style period. Know the broad conventions: Baroque terraced dynamics, ornaments realised from the score, minimal rubato; Classical balanced phrasing, clear articulation, restrained ornamentation; Romantic expressive rubato, wider dynamic range, tempo flexibility; twentieth-century and contemporary notated precision, extended techniques, and attention to the composer's markings.
Concepts to understand
Understand urtext versus edited editions, ornament realisation (trill starts, appoggiaturas), articulation as style (a dot in Baroque music is not the same as a dot in Romantic music), tempo indications and their historical meanings, and performance practice debates. Learn to distinguish the composer's marking from the editor's suggestion.
Traps
A classic trap is a question where a candidate adds heavy rubato to a Classical sonata - the diagnosis is stylistic anachronism. Another is treating all ornaments as optional; in Baroque music they are often essential. A third is ignoring the difference between forte as a relative instruction and forte as a dynamic ceiling.
Worked example
A candidate plays a Baroque allegro with continuous pedal and Romantic phrasing. The correction is to lighten articulation, observe terraced dynamics, and realise ornaments from the score. Rule of thumb: ask what the composer would have expected to hear, then ask what your edition has added.