Klarinet Archive - Posting 000138.txt from 1995/03

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Weber 2nd
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 23:37:06 -0500

Nichelle,
As far as I know, there never were original metronome markings
for any of the Weber clarinet pieces. Come to think of it, he never used
them in his operas either, if I am remembering correctly. Furthermore,
the virtouso reigned at the time and could do anything he/she wanted with
a composer's music anyway. Composers understood this and took it into
account, so feel free to take any tempo you want. I
have found that an "alla polacca" is a polonaise, but can be played somewhat
faster than we tend to think of Chopin polonaises.

Fred Jacobowitz
On Wed, 1 Mar 1995, Nichelle Crocker wrote:

> I am preparing the third movement of Weber's Second Concerto for a
> Young Artist contest. In listening to several recordings of it, I
> have found the tempo to be substantially faster than 100 (as it is
> marked on my edition). Any thoughts on this? Does anybody actually
> play this piece at 100?
>
> Nichelle Crocker
> NCROCKER@-----.edu
>