Klarinet Archive - Posting 000786.txt from 2000/10

From: "BHunter" <bhunter@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] hmmmm......
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 06:39:40 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: William Wright <Bilwright@-----.net>
Date: Friday, October 13, 2000 10:12 PM
Subject: [kl] hmmmm......

I do love the absolute precision of musical definitions. Yes, I
do. Tonight I'm working on a piece marked "andantino". So I open my
dictionary:

"A diminutive of andante, meaning, properly, a little slower than
andante, but often used as if meaning a little faster."

Oh well, can some elaborate a little bit for me?

Ok, Bill, I can elaborate, but it's not gonna help. 8^)

>From my modest collection of musical dictionaries I get:

1851 - Dictionary of Musical Terms - John S. Adams
andantino - (I.) a little slower than andante

1875 - Pronouncing Musical Dictionary - W. Ludden
andantino - It. a little slower than andante

1895 - Dictionary of Musical Terms - Theo. Baker Ph.D.
andantino - (It.) dimin of andante; strictly, slower than andante, but =
often used in the reverse sense

1896 - Pronouncing Dictionary of Musical Terms - Hugh A. Clarke, Mus. =
Doc.
andantino - (It). a diminutive of andante. A little faster than andante =
(some say slower, but the Italian dictionaries say faster)

1897 - Encyclopdaedic Dictionary of Music Dr. Hugo Riemann
andantino - see andante=20
andante - (Ital.) This is one of the oldest indications of rate of =
movement. In Italian it means "going" (i.e. in moderate movement, =
somewhat slow), and one must guard against taking it in the sense of =
"slow", for in that case certain additional indications would be =
misunderstood. Piu andante or un poco andante means "quicker", and not =
"slower", as many (and, unfortunately, many composers) imagine. Meno =
andante means "less agitated", i.e., "slower". The diminutive form =
andantino indicates a slower movement than andante, but already in the =
last century it was falsely taken to mean quicker than andante. =
Andantino relates mostly to the short duration of a piece.

1900 - A New Pronouncing Dictionary - Henry S. Sawyer
andantino - It. (1) Diminutive of andante, meaning somewhat slower than =
andante. (Many authorities interpret it as meaning rather faster than =
andante, but the bulk of evidence points to the first meaning. (2) A =
movement somewhat slower than andante, though often used in the sense of =
faster than andante.

1905 - Standard Dictionary of Musical Terms - Oscar Coon
andantino - (I.) a little quicker than andante. By some taken to be =
slower than andante.

1905 - Elson's Music Dictionary - Louis C. Elson
andantino - (It.) A little slower than andante is the literal meaning of =
andantino, but it has become a doubtful term, and is generally used as =
meaning quicker than andante. See Popular Errors in introduction.
Popular Errors and Doubtful Terms Found in Music - andantino - This word =
is generally used by musicians in the opposite sense from its Italian =
meaning. While its strict meaning is slower than andante, of which word =
it is the diminutive, it is now commonly used to indicate a tempo less =
slow than andante; an rate of movement between andante and allegretto.

1944 - Harvard Dictionary of Music - Willi Apel
andantino - Diminutive of andante, used mainly to characterize a short =
piece of andante tempo or character. If used as a tempo mark, it means a =
slight modification of andante the direction of which is, unfortunately, =
a mater of divergent opinion. Beethoven was puzzled by the question =
whether andantino was to be understood as meaning faster or slower than =
andante, as appears from a letter he wrote to George Thomson (A.W. =
Thayer, The Life of Beethoven, ed. by Krehbiel, [1921], ii, 246). Most =
modern musicians apparently use the term as indicating quicker tempo =
than andante.

1959 - The New College Encyclopedia of Music (Oxford) - J.A. Westrup and =
F. Ll. Harrison
andantino - I. diminutive of andante. An ambiguous term, since it is =
impossible to know whether it implies a movement slightly faster than =
andante, or slightly slower.

1986 - The New Harvard Dictionary of Music - Don Randel (rev. of Apel, =
1969)
andantino - (It.) In present usage, usually slightly less slow than =
andante. The term is ambiguous, however, in part because of the =
ambiguity associated with andante. In the late 18th century, andantino =
seems to have called for a tempo slower than andante. Beethoven wrote to =
his publisher in Edinburgh, George Thomson, that the term could be used =
for tempo either faster or slower than andante.

1995 - The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians - Stanley Sadie
andantino - (It., diminutive of andante, but current only in musical =
contexts). A tempo and mood designation for a slightly more lighthearted =
andante. Normally, it is a little faster than andante, but Rousseau =
(1768) for instance described it as an andante with "a little less =
gaiety in the beat". The ambiguity, which stems from whether andante is =
perceived as a fast or slow tempo, troubled Beethoven, who wrote to =
George Thomson, his Edinburgh publisher, on 19 February 1813:
"In future, if there are any andantinos among the melodies you send me =
for setting, I would beg you to indicate whether that andantino is =
intended to be faster or slower than andante, because that word, like =
many others in music, is of such imprecise meaning that on one occasion =
andantino can be close to allegro and on another almost like adagio." =
Zaslaw (1972) provided convincing evidence that for Mozart and his =
contemporaries andantino was normally slower than andante: Rousseau =
(1768), Wolf (1788), D.G. Turk (1789), Mason (c1801), Clementi (1801), =
Starke (1819) and Hummel (1828) all agreed on that; moreover Turk and =
Hummel went so far as to draw attention to it and castigate those who =
that otherwise. In Earlier editions of Grove, Ebenezer Prout mentioned =
three movements in Mendelssohn's "Elijah", the first of which, "If with =
all your hearts", is marked andante con moto, the second, "The Lord hath =
exalted thee", merely andante, and the third, "O rest in the =
Lord",andantino; all three have the same metronome mark, crochet @-----. =
As Prout remarked, it illustrates the "uncertainty which prevails in the =
use of those time-indications"; but it is also the consequence of the =
different texture and density of the music which in turn directly =
influence tempo, performed tempo, and perceived tempo. There seems =
little evidence for the commonly found assertion that andantino can =
refer to a somewhat shorter andante movement.

See! I tol' ya it wuzzin gonna help! 8^)

Regards,
Bruce Hunter

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