Posted by Scott on August 21, 2002 at 12:45:55:
In Reply to: Die Meistersinger Prelude posted by Jason Smith on August 21, 2002 at 12:16:11:
It is widely accepted that the slurs that you are referring to are actually bowings attributed to the basses and cellos. These should not be taken literally as slurs and therefore, you should breathe at the appropriate pauses in the musical phrase. Generally, these pauses are in the form of a half-note tied to an eighth. Go ahead and breathe in place of the tied eighth note and play the three eighths that follow, slurring then over the bar line. I would recommend trying to play as long a phrase as possible, either every two bars or, even better, every four. A good example of where and how to breathe in the excerpt is presented on Gene Pokorny's Orchestral Excerpts CD. He takes very quick breaths that are in time (very important) and maitains the forward motion of the phrase.