I feel that music is as much about interpretation as the sheet music behind it. It's a bit of both really, if musicians didn't put their own spin on something every now and then, music could get pretty dull, but if they didn't play it as was intended then music culture probably wouldn't have developed as it did.

Yes, I understand.

Really depends on the listener to decide that. I really to like arrangements and modified from original style. Steve Howe's Arangement of lute concerto in D minor by Vivaldi is really quite gorgeous. So my preference goes with the person whom is playing the piece deciding. People who want it to always sound like the original might never grow beyond the original recordings. (Like when people complain about Roine Stolt playing "Shine on your crazy diamond" by Pink Floyd complain how it doesn't sound like the original)

I agree. :)

At 3AM when I have work in the morning.

oh yes

Being in for 4 years now band, Play it the way it was written, but ad some personal flairs on some areas to make it musical!

It depends on whether the musician is playing alone, with a group, or as a featured performer in a group.

if your music isnt making your temporals vibrate then something must be off

It depends on what job the musician needs to complete. If their task is to replicate, they should replicate whatever in notated on the sheet music. If their task is to create, then they take the music and give it their own adjustments to make it sound good.

For example, if you're a member of an orchestra, you sure as hell better play the music the way the person hired you to. If you're just alone or with some people and you want to mess with music, then some experimentation is quite kick-ass.

And if you're in an orchestra and you're told to mess around with the music, that'd make an interesting track and I want to listen.

Music is a truth

The written music ( ), is usually incapable of specifying every action taken that makes the music. (If the musician is a computer,, with strict rules then no interpretation can be an option). So if the code that defines the music does not fully dictate the action to make the music it is up to the musician to decide what the gaps in decoding should be. This is similar to if a person is reading aloud. Does the text always tell you when to breath, or what your accent, volume and diction should be? It could also be compared to interpreting the work of an author.

So much must be imagined between the lines.

The only way possible lol... either the way he ends up doing it or not at all

But if it were me, I'd try guess at how the composer intended it, then another time do whatever I want. Which I guess is both 'in my own way', and 'whatever I want' anyway... there's no escaping so why try. Imho musicians who make a huge point of being either one or the other ideology are deluding themselves from the reality of the situation

Which is to say, I don't think anyone can ever really know what the composer intended