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Performance practice (or performing practice, from the German word Aufführungspraxis) is a field within musicology that is primarily concerned with how music is or was performed. Its chronological boundaries are not fixed, but traditionally most research in the field has centered upon music composed before 1750, often referred to generally as “early music.” Early interest in performance practice was supported by the production of scholarly editions, a movement led by German musicologists in the 19th century. British and French scholars contributed to that effort and also contributed to a growing literature of articles and books on interpreting musical notation. By the middle of the 20th century, interest in performing and recording early repertories brought instrument builders, performers, and listeners into the picture, which in turn brought new questions and controversies to the fore. Since 1980 or thereabouts, researchers have extended the definition of early music to include Classical, Romantic, and post-Romantic music. Thus, a work written centuries ago may have many different performance practices associated with it over time and as performed in different geographical locations. The tools for studying performance practice range broadly to include primary sources such as original printed and manuscript sources, instruction books, historical accounts of performances, and surviving examples of the musical instruments themselves. Important evidence can also be found in images and other iconographical sources. Study of existing evidence has brought about a vast secondary literature that provides important information for scholars, performers, instrument builders, and other individuals who are concerned with music as realized in performance. Since much of the surviving evidence continues to be discovered, and reinterpretations are often required, our understanding of how music was performed is ever-changing, and of necessity, there may be more than one interpretation of any given work or historical practice. The objectives of the field continue to be reformulated and altered as new information comes to light. Concepts such as the pursuit of authenticity in performance and the use of modern instruments versus “original” instruments have undergone shifts in meaning and today are generally replaced with discussions about “historically informed” performances and “mainstream” versus “period” instruments. A central objective of performance practice in any period remains the attempt to determine how much and what types of freedom individual composers envisioned for their works.