Re: Re: Re: Air and Bourree tempo


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Posted by Rick Denney on December 13, 2000 at 15:10:19:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Air and Bourree tempo posted by Chuck(G) on December 12, 2000 at 19:53:09:

This is, of course, one of the great arguments, there being no possible definitive answer without recordings or live performers to listen to. We only have written descriptions, which are subjective at best and subject to translational losses of all sorts at worst.

But I'm loathe to depend on the Romantics to define Baroque practice. It seems to me that many Romantic composers and conductors felt strongly that they were the keepers of the sacred flame in ways not felt by musicians before that time, and that they were therefore empowered to reinterpret previous music according to their new musical values. This is nothing new, of course.

While we have little to be sure about when it comes to the Baroque, we have more to go on with the late Classical period, when metronomes and other assisting machines were available. And when I follow, say, Norrington in a performance of an early Beethoven symphony in a Dover score, I hear all the markings that I see. Toscanini has the same effect, but if I hear a highly regarded recording of Furtwangler or Fricsay on the same work, all those Sf's and other percussive markings get blurred. And the tempo drags, too. Depending on one's tastes, one may prefer the Romantic version, but it's obvious to me, at least, which approach is more faithful to the ink. That experience has led me to trust the Romantic conductors only on Romantic music.

I just listened to a historical recording of Vaughan Williams conducting the Leith Hill Music Festival in Bach's St. Matthew Passion. As big a fan as I am of Vaughan Williams, I think he takes many liberties with the music, and it strikes discord in my brain. Vaughan Williams grew up during the Romantic but departed from it--and the effect in me is more pronounced with confirmed Romanticists ranging from Furtwangler to Karajan and even Bernstein.

When tubists play Baroque music, we are already pushing the envelope. In Bach's day, only the organ made such sounds. Fortunately, Bach composed much for the organ and this gives us some idea of how we can be faithful to his musical perceptions even when radically changing his instrumentation (something he did routinely, by the way). Fortunately, music of the Baroque, and Bach's in particular, is more about architecture than tone color. So, whatever tempo we select, we have to do so with the understanding it must reveal the architecture or stucture of the piece. That's why the Bourree should be as slow as necessary to be light and clear.

Of course, I was not nearly so opinionated when I played it in school, heh, heh.

Rick "don't get me start--oops! too late" Denney


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