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The notion of topics of the classical period is used in a general way as a vehicle for creating meaning in performance. The application of semiotic principles to the analysis and interpretation of a musical work can be particularly helpful to the conductor by illuminating the expressive potential of the work in a very specific way. The descriptive apparatus of semiotics is useful to performers in that it provides the tools with which to reconcile the expressive and structural potential of the musical material in a way that is relevant to its realisation.
Particular attention is given to how a system of topics might function in a twentieth-century context. A system of topical discourse offers the conductor a framework for the discussion vis-à-vis interpretation and performance.
The associative potential of topics leads to specific possibilities with regard to gestures. The topical discourse within each of the selected works has implications with regard to the gestural approach to that work. A process in which interpretation and physical gestures are informed by topical analysis constitutes an interesting approach to the realisation of expressive potential in musical works of art.