tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post12644616953705427..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Footnote on Beethoven's Metronome MarkingsBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-22069015280911860492013-07-29T09:07:37.289-05:002013-07-29T09:07:37.289-05:00Some pianists (and orchestras) used to play everyt...Some pianists (and orchestras) used to play everything as if it were Brahms! The Early Music movement, succeeded by the Original Instruments movement, succeeded by the "Authentic" movement and now the Historically Informed Performance movement changed all that. Now we have harpsichordists playing Couperin on actual harpsichords which sounds a lot better to my ear. Pretty soon we will have Wagner on original instruments and after that, who knows, could John Cage on original instruments be far behind?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-21898151689562031052013-07-29T01:33:43.310-05:002013-07-29T01:33:43.310-05:00Well, what I was trying to say is that HiP might n...Well, what I was trying to say is that HiP might not always be the best option (like in this case). But ofc if a HiP sounds better than a modern performance at least to some people then at least it's worth it.Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-47890511542987975172013-07-28T22:20:23.645-05:002013-07-28T22:20:23.645-05:00Lots of comments on this post! Yes, I read the sto...Lots of comments on this post! Yes, I read the story about Maelzel and the second movement from the Symphony 8, but didn't mention it in my post.<br /><br />I'm a big believer in doing whatever research you can to get inside the music as an aid to performance. So, in principle, I am an adherent of "historically informed performance." But I think that the real goal is not to be historically accurate, but to be aesthetically convincing. Knowing about historical performance practice might help.<br /><br />Hi Nathaniel and welcome to the Music Salon. You managed to pick the two places where Beethoven's metronome marks are NOT found: the original Mss and the first edition from 1826. Beethoven did not originally insert metronome marks in the symphonies but went back later and figured them out. He then sent them to his publisher in a letter (or several letters). I'm not sure why they are not in the first edition of 1826, but you're right, they are not. But if you look at the Breitkopf and Haertel complete edition of 1863, there they are. They have also been published in some scholarly papers. We have the letters with the metronome markings, so there is no dispute about that, nor that they came from Beethoven. The question is, do they all work, aesthetically?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-52474169187995784712013-07-28T19:20:15.561-05:002013-07-28T19:20:15.561-05:00Hi Bryan,
I'm wondering where you found the n...Hi Bryan,<br /><br />I'm wondering where you found the numbers 60 and 63 from?<br /><br />I've checked both the composers score and the first edition and only the tempo as text is written with no specific bpm mentioned.<br /><br />Autograph copy 3rd movement starts on page 189<br />http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/d/d5/IMSLP19389-PMLP01607-Beethoven-Op125mss.pdf<br /><br />first edition: 3rd mov starts page 79<br />http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/c/c4/IMSLP46254-PMLP01607-Op.125.pdfAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13680625603206089113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-31298203017944938192013-07-28T13:43:17.730-05:002013-07-28T13:43:17.730-05:00I agree with your points about the interpretation....I agree with your points about the interpretation. It's way better to have a many varied interpretations rather than only staying strict to what the composer intended. And of course in the case of composers who didn't have access to recording technology it's really hard to say how exactly they would want it performed. That's the main issue with HiP, we don't know, even the most "accurate" HiP is only a guess in the end. Besides we don't know what J.S. Bach or Vivaldi for instance would think of the instrument modifications and new instruments that came after their lifetime for example.<br /><br />I agree, it's quite wierd with the change between 60 bpm and 63 bpm especially given the text describing the tempos. Could it be an error made by a publisher in Beethoven's time?Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-14758479667838885952013-07-28T12:10:31.077-05:002013-07-28T12:10:31.077-05:00You might be mildly interested to know that your r...You might be mildly interested to know that your recent posts have resonated with our concerts here in northeast Ohio. Last night the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Conductor James Feddeck, performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 8. But wait there's more! Eric Sellen's program note for the piece includes remarks about the metronome. It seems there is a tune in the second movement taken from a song Beethoven dedicated to Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, "inventor of the first practical metronome" (as Mr. Sellen described him).Virgil T. Moranthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12097568763565190893noreply@blogger.com