Oct. 13, 1813: "Herr Beethoven looks upon this invention as a welcome means with which to secure the performance of his brilliant compositions in all places in the tempos conceived by him, which to his regret have so often been misunderstood."Regarding that last point in particular, recent scholarship (most especially by Jonathan Del Mar in these fantastic editions, which supersede any other published version) has shown that there was indeed quite a bit of confusion from Beethoven himself, as well as those taking dictation from him in his later years, with regard to the relationship between tempo marking and unit of pulsation. The most glaring example is in the last movement of the Ninth, in the Turkish march variation featuring the tenor soloist: his nephew Karl misunderstood Beethoven's direction and wrote his tempo marking at 2 beats per bar (measured by the dotted half, as the written meter is 6/4), when Beethoven intended the tempo marking to be at one beat per bar (measured by the dotted whole note); thus, the tempo that made it into published versions, and was followed by most conductors all the way until the 1990s, was exactly half the speed that Beethoven intended. It's a revelation to hear it at the correct tempo, and I can't believe no one questioned the ploddingly slow marking previously.
As Kolisch states, the fact that Beethoven was prepared to adopt metronome indications for important works confirms that tempo is an essential part of the musical idea (1943, pg. 174), as does Beethoven’s letter of 1826 to Schott’s: ‘The metronome markings will be sent to you very soon. Do wait for them. In our century such indications are certainly necessary. Moreover, I have received letters from Berlin informing me that the first performance of the symphony [No. 9] was received with enthusiastic applause, which I ascribe largely to the metronome markings. We can scarcely have tempi ordinary any longer, since one must fall into line with the idea of unfettered genius.’
There is plenty of evidence both in Beethoven’s music and from contemporary reports to suggest that Beethoven favored an underlying strict tempo into which a certain amount of flexibility could be introduced. These points must call into question the literalism which has been applied to some modern ‘authentic’ performances.
The whole position with regard to Beethoven’s metronome markings has been bedeviled by the composer himself, the shortcomings of whose mathematics made it hard for him in the first place to express his wishes with regard to tempo in the mechanical-numerical formulae devised by Maelzel.
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"Jimmy, aren't you a little bit too old to be listening to Nu Metal?"
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 11:44 PM on March 14, 2008