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Re: Beethoven 6th articulation question

Author: Liquorice
Date: 2009-04-21 19:26

If one was to take Beethoven's metronome mark (dotted minim = 108), then it takes a pretty rapid tongue to pull it off. But one also has to ask whether the clarinetists in Beethoven's day would have played the whole section staccato. Just the fact that there are no slurs on the notes doesn't necessarily imply that all the notes have to be tongued. (And also whether Beethoven's metronome was really accurate?)

Auditions are another story. Whenever an excerpt is asked in an audition, we always have to ask ourselves why they are asking for that particular excerpt. This Beethoven excerpt is probably being used to judge a candidate's fast staccato, so for an audition IMO it is probably best to work the tempo up to as close to 108 as you can do it with all the notes tongued.

This is another example of how playing for an audition can differ from making music in the real world...

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