Posted by Chuck(G) on December 13, 2000 at 20:04:53:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Air and Bourree tempo posted by Rick Denney on December 13, 2000 at 18:40:07:
The pendulum clock was invented at around 1657, so while Bach probably knew of them, he likely did not have one ticking away in his parlor--not on a Kapelmeister's salary. He probably governed his life by the chiming of the church clock, just like everyone else.
By the time of Haydn and Mozart, clocks (and watches) were more commonplace. Remember the grumbling of Mozart that he got paid in watches instead of money?
So Bach's sense of rhythm was probably grounded in dancing, which is a much freer form than an oscillating mechanism. So you are right to think of treating his music as dancing, but certainly not with clockwork-rigidity.
Or so I think...
It's kind of interesting to speculate what the most sophisticated piece of machinery Bach was exposed to. Probably the pipe organ, if you consider complexity. But that doesn't have the sense of meshing gears and oscillating thingamabobs that clocks have...
--Chuck "really out on a limb now" Guzis