Klarinet Archive - Posting 001037.txt from 1999/12

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Tempos over time
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 09:28:22 -0500

At 06:31 PM 12/29/1999 -0600, Dee Hays wrote (in response to my question
about metronome markings):

>Per Encarta 99
>
>Metronome - conceived in 1812 by Dutch inventor Dietrich Nikolaus. Patented
>in 1816 by German musician and inventor Johann Nepomuk Maelzel.
>
>However many composers of the past (and even some today) ignored metronome
>markings in selecting their verbal descriptions and based their choice on
>feeling. The conductors and musicians must interpret it the same way.
>
<snip>

Yes, I realize (and indeed approve) of that. But the question was, "Is
there any hard evidence as to any change in the meanings of these terms
over time?", and the only real evidence from the pre-recording periods
might be found in the markings on the earliest metronomes. We already
"know" (from only two data points) that the meanings of these terms have
shifted to faster tempi over the last ca. 100 years, and suspect (from the
tempi now used to play older works) that this change might have been going
on before that. Can anyone add more data points? Somewhere in museums
there must be older metronomes marked both in words and beats per minute,
or marked in words and still operating so they can be tested for bpm. I
have not seen such, and was wondering if anyone else had. With luck we
could extend the time back nearly another century and see if this trend
continues.

>As you can see, back in the Bach, Mozart, Handel, etc timeframes, the
>metronome didn't even exist yet. The tempi of their works is generally
>selected on the basis of tradition and feeling but this will vary from
>conductor to conductor or performer to performer.

And has this tradition changed over time? Clearly, tempo markings are
meaningless if there is not some general agreement as to what they mean.
My thesis (based on two data points) is that the generally accepted ranges
have changed over time, and I am looking for more data.

-----------------------
George Kidder
MDIBL
gkidder@-----.org

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