Klarinet Archive - Posting 000631.txt from 1997/06

From: deerich@-----.net
Subj: Re: tempos
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 19:25:02 -0400

Guido Kumquat wrote:
>
> Fellow clarinet players-
> Could somebody please send a list of relative tempos to me? I know
> that adagio is; slow, leasurely...allegro is; lively, brisk,
> rapid...lento is; slow...etc... I was looking for perhaps some tempos
> in beats per minute... Is there a commonly accepted range for each?
> If so, what?
>
> TIA
>
> Sent by RocketMail. Get your free e-mail at http://www.rocketmail.com

It really is not standardized. It can be very difficult in older music
to determine what the composers intent was. There can be great
difference in the beats per minutes if a piece is marked adagio and
written in quarter notes compared to one also marked adagio but written
in 16's. Even modern music varies a lot. Just get the sheet music for
different rock and roll songs and compare the markings to a performance.

For any given piece, the best thing is to try and get a representative
recording and go from there.

Dee