MOZART'S TEMPO-SYSTEM

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(1)Helmut Breidenstein. MOZART'S TEMPO-SYSTEM A Handbook for Practice and Theory translated by. Tectum. Lionel Friend.

(2) H elm ut Breidenstein. MOZART'S TEMPO-SYSTEM.

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(4) Helmut Breidenstein. MOZART'S TEMPO-SYSTEM A Handbook for Practice and Theory. All the tempi designated by M ozart himself listed in 420 groups o f movements w ith the same characteristics with detailed comments, 434 typical music examples and all relevant historical texts. translated by. Lionel Friend. Tectum Verlag.

(5) Helmut Breidenstein Mozart’s Tempo-System A Handbook for Practice and Theory © Tectum – Ein Verlag in der Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2019 E-Book: 978-3-8288-7203-5 (Dieser Titel ist zugleich als gedrucktes Werk unter der ISBN 978-3-8288-4291-5 im Tectum Verlag erschienen.). Umschlagabbildung: Mozart-Signatur, Wikimedia Commons, Nutzer: Connormah:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W olfgang_ Amadeus_Mozart_Signature.svg. Alle Rechte vorbehalten Informationen zum Verlagsprogramm finden Sie unter www.tectum-verlag.de Bibliografische Informationen der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Angaben sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio-grafie; detailed bibliographic data are available online at http:// dnb.ddb.de..

(6) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements and notes from the authors Preface Introduction About the translation. T e m p o I n d ic a t io n. Page. in t h e. 1 8 th C e n t u r y. 1)Textbooks 2) Metres and their „natural" tempo a) Alla breve metre ($) b) ,Large' four-four metre - tem po ordinario (C) c) Uneven metres 3) The smallest relevant note values 4)T em pow ords 5) „Church-", „theatre-", „chamber-style" 6) Manners o f playing 7) Execution. T h e T e m p o -S y s t e m. 6 7 8 12 13 13 14 16 17 19 20 23 24 26. of. M. ozart. I) M O ZAR T'STEM PO WORDS. a) surviving autographs b) significance, sequence, reference to what? II) M o z a r t ' smetres A). C h u r c h m u s ic . The metres o f the stile antico. a) ,Large' alla breve $ (2/1 and 4/2) metre b) ,Small' alla breve $ (2/2) metre c) 3/2 metre d) ,Large' C (4/4) metre B) Secular MUSIC. The Classical Metres 1) THE EVEN METRES. a) Classical (,galant') $ (2/2) metre Excursus: C o m p o u n d M etres - The Metrie o f Groups o f Bars (Periodic) b) The classical 4/4 metre (2/4+2/4) c) The ,short' 4/4 metre (2/4+2/4) Excursus: V irtual C h anc es o f M etre d) Recitative-metre, melodramas e) The compound 2/4 metre (2/8 + 2/8) f) The ,sim ple',,true'(genuine) 2/4m etre Excursus: H ow d o even M etres relate t o each o t h e r ? g) the ,simple' - or ,short' - 6/8 metre h) 12/8 (6/8 + 6/8) metre 2) T he U neven M etres. a) The w hole-bar„light' 3/4 metre b) ,Heavy' 3/4 (2/8 + 2/8+2/8) metre c) 3/8 metre d) compound - or ,long' - 6/8 (3/8 + 3/8) metre e) 3/8- and 6/8 (3/8 + 3/8) metres, considered together C). M o z a r t's C h u r c h M u s ic in th e ,N e w S ty le '. a) in classical 4/4 (2/4+2/4) metre b) in classical 2/4 (2/8 + 2/8) metre c) in classical ,heavy' 3/4 (2/8 + 2/8 + 2/8) metre d) in classical ,light' 3/4 metre e) in classical 3/8 metre f) in classical 6/8 (3/8 + 3/8) metre. 29 29 33 33. 34 34 37 37 47 47. 47 81. 87 106 115 131 136 153 160 164 168 169. 171 185 195 196 197 220. 220 222 223 227 228 228.

(7) 4. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. D) M inuets. 229. a) The Salzburgminuets b) The Viennese minuets c) The minuet in Don Giovanni,the alleged prototype d) Triosandrepetitions e) Tempo di menuetto f) From minuet to scherzo and waltz E) D a n c e s a n d M arches. Resume Epilo cu e. 232 234 238 240 241 243 244. a) Contredances 244 b) German dances 248 c) Ländler-like dances 249 d) Remaining dances: Chaconne, Passacaglia, Passepied, Gavotte, Allemande, Courante, Gigue, Siciliana, Polonaise 250 e) Marches 252 255 256. A p p e n d ix. S o u r c e T exts. about. P e r f o r m a n c e P r a c t ic e ( e x c e r p t s ). 1) W olfga ng Am adeus and Leopold M oza rt: Letters ab ou t p erfo rm a n ce p ra ctice 2).W .A . M o za rt: ,V erzeich n ü ß aller m ein er W erke' (List o f all m y w o rk s):. 259 270. (A short Iist o f his te m p o indications 1 784-1791 th a t diffe r fro m the autograph scores) 3) Leopold M o za rt: , Versuch einer g rün dlichen V iolin sch u le' (Essay on a Fundam ental S ch o o l o fV io lin Playing) 271 4) Johann Philipp Kirnberger: ,D ie K unst d es reinen Satzes in d er M u sik ' (The A rt o fS tr ic t M usical C o m p o sitio n ) 274 A nleitung z u r S in g ek o m p o sitio n ' (G u id e to Vocal C o m p o sitio n ) - M usical articles in G eorg Sulzer's , G eneral Theory o f the Fine A rts' 5) Johann Abraham Peter Schulz: musical articles in G eorg Sulzer's , G eneral T h e o r y o ft h e Fine A rts' 6) G eorg S u lz e r/ Kirnberger/Schulz: ,A llg em ein e Theorie d er S ch ö n en K ü n ste' (G eneral Theory o f the Fine A rts) 7) Joh. Friedrich Reichardt: ,U e b e r d ie Pflichten d es Ripien -V iolin isten ' (O n the D u ties o f the Tutti Violinist). 282 283 283 295. ,Briefe eines aufm erksam en Reisen den, d ie M u sik b e treffen d ' (Fetters o f an A ttentive Traveller C oncernin g M u sic 2 97 ,M usikalisches Kunstm agazin' (The A rt o fM u s ic M agazine) 298 8) Daniel G o ttlo b T ürk: ,Klavierschu le' (Sch o o l o fC la v ie r Playing) 9) H einrich C h ristop h Koch: ,M usikalisches F e x ik o n ' (M u sical D ictionary) , Versuch einer A nleitung z u r C o m p o sitio n ' (Essay as an Instru ction M anual fo r C o m p o sitio n ) 10) Joseph Riepel: ,Anfangsgründe z u r m usicalisch en S e tz k u n st' (Basic P rin ciples o f the A rt o f M usical C o m p o sitio n ) 1st chap. O n R h yth m op oeia, o r O n the M etrical S yste m ; / 4th chap. 'Erläuterung d er b e z ü g lich e n T o n o rd n u n g ' (D eceptive C aden ces Explained) 11) Charles A vison: An Essay on M usical Expression 12) Johann Joachim Q uantz: Versuch einer A nw eisu ng d ie Flute Traversiere z u sp ielen ('O n Playing the Flu te') 13) Carl P hilipp Emanuel Bach: Versuch ü ber d ie w ahre A rt, das Clavier z u spielen ('Essay on the True A rt o f Playing the Clavier') 14) Johann Adam H ille r: W ö ch entlich e N achrichten u n d A nm erkun gen d ie M u sik b etreffen d. -. 299 310 318 320 321 321 322 328. ('W eek/y N ew s an d A nno tations co n cern in g M u sic') 330 - A nw eisu ng zu m m usikalisch- r i c h t i g e n G esänge ('Instru ction fo r M usically-C o r r e c t Singing') 331 A nw eisu ng zu m V iolinspielen, fü r S ch ulen u n d zu m Selb stu n terrich te ('Instru ction fo r playing the Violin, fo r. S ch o o ls a n d fo r Self-Instru ction, inclu ding a sh o rt dictiona ry o ffo re ig n w o rd s a n d term s u sed in m u sic') 15) Friedrich W ilh e lm M arp urg : Kritische Briefe ü ber d ie Tonku nst ('Critical Fetters ab ou t the A rt o f M u sic') - A nleitung z u r M u sik ü berh au pt u n d z u r S ingkunst ('G u id e to M u sic in general a n d to the A rt o f Singing') Johann M attheson: D e r V ollkom m en e C apellm eister ('Th e Perfect C apellm eister') D as neu erö ffn ete O rch estre ('Th e N ew ly Revea led O rchestra '). 331 332. 1 7) Johann A dolph Scheibe: U eb er d ie M usikalische C om p o sitio n ('A b o u t M usical C o m p o sitio n ') 18) Jacob G ottfrie d W eber: Versuch einer geo rdn eten Theorie d er Tonsetzkun st z u m Selb stu n terrich t ('Essay in a System atic Theory o f C o m p o sitio n fo r S elf-In stru ctio n '). 340. 336 339. 343.

(8) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 5. 19) G ottfrie d W ilh e lm Fink: Ü b er Takt, Taktarten, u n d ihr C harakteristisches ('A b o u t the Bar, M etres a n d their C haracteristics') - U eb er das B edürfniss, M ozarts H a up tw erke u nserer Z eit so m etro n o m isirt zu liefern, w ie d er M eister selb st sie aufführen Hess ('O n the N e e d to H a n d d o w n M e tro n o m e M arks fo r M oza rt's M a jo r W orks as the M aster h im se lf h a d them p e rfo rm e d ') 20) Sim on Sechter: D ie G ru nd sätze d er m usikalischen K o m position ('Th e Principles o f M usical C o m p o sitio n ') 21) Ludw ig van Beethoven: aselection o f his letters 22) A d o lf Bernhard M arx: A rticle „C h ro n o m e tre " (from Encyclo pedia o f all M usical S cien tifics (1835)). 345. 346 347 348 349. 23) Schlesinger's M e tro n o m e indications fo r M o za rt's O peras against th e irc u ltu ra l-h is to ric a l background: R ep orts on p erfo rm a n ces o f ,D ie Z a u b erflö te' in Paris 1802 by Reichardt, Spohr, Berlioz and th e A m Z (Allgem eine m u s. Zeitung) 24) Jacob G o ttfrie d W eber: ,A d o u b t', Pendulum Indication in Rheinland inches fo r Pam ina's Aria. 349. 25) W enzel Tom aschek's „a u th e n tic " tem pos fo r D o n G iovanni. 352 352. Fi n a l C o m m e n t. 353. „A c h , ich fü h l's"). B lB L IO G R A P H Y. L it e r a t u r e b e f o r e 1 9 0 0 AFTER 1 9 0 0. REGISTER A N D IN D E X. PROFILES. of. of. M o z a r t ' s a u t o c r a p h ic a l l y i n d i c a t e d W o r k s. A lfr ed B r e n d e l , P eter G ü l k e a n d H e l m u t B r e id e n s t e in. 356 359. 367. 384.

(9) 6. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. A c k n o w le d g e m e n t s I owe most the heartfelt thanks for encouragement and support over many years especially to Alfred Brendel, Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. Peter Gülke, Prof. Dr. Manfred Hermann Schmid, Prof. Dr. Hartmut Möller, Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Bianconi, Dr. Faye Ferguson, Dr. Henning Bey, Dr. Elisabeth Fritz, and, most o f all, to my most understanding translator and colleague, Lionel Friend. I am also obliged to my friends, the concertmasters O tfrid Nies and Roland Baldini and the conductors Dr. Ino Turturo, Rainer Berger and Friedemann Layer. They have given invaluable advice and have pointed out mistakes. By their singing and playing, the soloists, orchestras and choruses o f my own Mozart performances helped to verify my ideas for a new understanding o f his ,tempo'-indications. Yet before all others: w ithout the great patience, love and willingness o f my family to make sacrifices this decades-long w ork could not have been achieved together with that o f my profession as theatre and concert conductor. I am deeply indepted to them. Helmut Breidenstein Berlin, December2018. I thank the British Library Board and the Staatsbibliothek Berlin for permission to reproduce their digitalizations from the autograph manuscripts of the String Quartet in D minor, K 421 (Ex. 001) and Die Zauberflöte, K 620 (Ex. 099 and Ex. 355).. Note fro m the author Since the main focus o f Mozart's w ork was in opera, a book concerning his conception o f „tem po" needed to be written by an experienced opera conductor. For the same reason the translation needed an experienced opera conductor as well. O f course this is a musicological work, it is a work about Mozart's unique musical language, which is, however, based on the common language o f his period. Yet it also aims to be useful to practical, performing musicians who have to deal with a terminology that has changed very much since Mozart's time. This book was first published in German language in 2011 by Hans Schneider in Tutzing, the enlarged second edition in 2015 by Tectum-Verlag in Marburg. After several highly qualified translators had given up because of their lack o f familiarity with musical practice it was great luck that I found in Lionel Friend an English conductor who had worked in Germany and whose lifelong experience w ith Mozart had made him sensitive to the musicological problems raised by this 250-year-old music. I am most grateful for his willingness to sacrifice his time and bring his own knowledge in a most agreeable Cooperation. Thanks to Lionel Friend my book can now reach beyond the limited circle o f German readers. Helmut Breidenstein Berlin, December2018. A Note fro m the translator It has been a privilege as well as a pleasure to translate Helmut Breidenstein's major study o f the system w ithin which Mozart wrote. As a musical performer, I can also say that it has been an education. This w ork is, in my judgment, the most detailed, thorough and comprehensive study o f a topic that is o f concern to the majority o f musicians. Lionel Friend, December2018.

(10) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 7. PREFACE A lfred Brendel Helmut Breidenstein's astonishing opus about „M ozart's Tempo-System" is now completed - in so far as this can be said about a book that öfters itself as „an aid ... for the interpreter in his or her own indis pensable search." I regard it as one o f those rare and important books in which music and musicology form a vital association; a lifelong study that makes one very much aware o f a field to which attention is rarely paid. It accomplishes this by bringing to bear an understanding that never loses sight of the musi cal foundation on which it is built, and by a discerning intelligence that does not shy away from raising debatable topics, although w ithout ever claiming infallibility. One cannot be grateful enough to Helmut Breidenstein for his methodological accuracy which allows us Mozart Interpreters to orientate ourselves w ith ease and pleasure. The appendix assembles extracts from texts about performance practice w ith a completeness that I have rarely found accessible in other places. This section o f the book alone reveals - if one did not already know it - that one cannot do justice to a topic as complex and varied in shape and form as the one Breidenstein deals w ith by using only a fe w rules o f thumb. Breidenstein's book sharpens our perception, at the same time giving an overview and making us sensi tive to each individual case. Admiration and gratitude. London 2011. Peter Gülke This is a w ork one wants to urge every reader who gets seriously involved in Mozart's music to take to heart. The author is enough o f a practical musician to avoid any fixation on metronome marks and bases his research mainly on the establishment of relations, cross-references etc. That doesn't make it easier to read - in spite of 434 added music examples - but does lead one nearer to the music; the numerous vivid characterizations substantiate it more. Breidenstein includes the theoretical background as a reference to Mozart's often ignored historicity. The reader finds assembled in quotations and a voluminous appendix everything important in this context. Where eise is one led so directly, and always on the basis o f concrete cases, to the sources; where eise does a compendium exist that exemplifies all relevant questions to such a degree - all o f Mozart's tempos are included! - and where eise is information so competently given to the consistency o f a cho sen tempo, to the differentiations and sensitivity o f Mozart's tempo indications, or to odd ,holy cows' of tempo choice like mathematically „pure" proportions - „quarter notes of the introduction equal half notes o f the Allegro o f the main movement", etc.? We learn much - mostly in examples - about the ambivalence o f characterization and tempo indication in one and the same term, about the difference between musical pulse and conductor's beat (Mozart's music was not prim a facie for conductors) and about a hierarchy o f tempos that is no longer current. Similarly to the expanded second edition o f Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda's book on Mozart1 the author offers an abundance o ffin e observations and advice for the performance. As in that book, the clues to the fact that we take Mozart's accessibility as a matter of course and too easily forget his „remoteness" bring him closer. What seems to us natural is, as we all know, often established rather by habit and traditions. As much as we have the right to treat this now nearly 250-year-old music in our own way, and communicate it to our contemporaries, we should at first take the trouble to get exact knowledge of what we are communicating. In spite o f some great interpretations and in spite o fth e astonishing results o f historical performance practice, things are not looking too good for that. Breidenstein's work is here an invaluable help to put things right. Berlin, 14th February, 2011. 1 Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda: Interpreting Mozart. The Performance o f His Piano Pieces and O ther Compositions, New York London <R outledge> 2008..

(11) 8. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. „O n dem andera p eu t-estre ici a q u o y l'o n p e u t co n n o itre le veritable m o u vem en t d 'u n e Piece d e M u siq u e ; m ais cette co n n o issan ce est au dessu s de to us les disco u rs qu e l'o n p o u rro it faire su r ce su jet, c'e st la perfectio n d e l'A rt, o u l'o n ne p e u t arriver qu 'a fo rce d e p ratiqu e & d e gen ie p o u r la M u s iq u e ." „Perhaps one w ill ask here ho w the tru e m o u vem en t o f a piece o f m usic could be known? This knowledge, however, is higher than all discourses one could have about the subject; it is the perfection o f th e art, w h ich can o n ly be arrived at by practical experience and throu gh a genius fo r m usic." (Jean Rousseau) 2. INTRODUCTION This book does not claim to know „the only right tempos" for the works o f Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It w ould like to help the interpreter in his own indispensable search for „the true m ouvem ent" for the work itself, but also for himself, his instrument, his ensemble, the venue, the audience and the character o f the occasion. It assumes that there cannot be absolute „authentic" tempos for Mozart's works; and yet, on the other hand, that his tempo indications, since he chose them with the greatest meticulousness, should be taken as seriously as the other parameters o f his famously precise notation. After 200 years o f the most varied styles o f Mozart interpretation - romantic, rigidly literal according to the „new objectivity", „historically" fast, or twice as slow - it is time to end the uncertainty (one could even say bewilderment) concerning his tempo indications, which began already when the music of Beethoven and the romantic composers lost its foundation in tradition after the overthrow o f the social structures by the French Revolution. „ It has become almost impossible to have any tem pi ordinari; because performers must now follow the ideas o f liberated genius"3 What Mozart and his time had meant by indicating their pieces w ith tim e signature, smallest note values and - unfortunately very vague - tem po words was the „M ouvem ent" („movement"), an indication not for mere speed but for the inner movement o f the music, i.e. the structure o f the melody, the hierarchy of the metrical stresses, the density of the harmonic progressions, the heavy or light manner o f playing, the configuration o f rhythm, dynamics and articulation. A system o f extremely fine grades, requiring „G e schmack und Compositionswissenschaft" (taste and the Science of composition),- essential both for the „galant" and the classical Viennese style. As a highly sophisticated artistic means it equalled the technical refinement o f the other courtly arts. The complex, artistically natural interdependencies of the „m ouvem ent" were to be overlaid by the more robust music o f the bourgeois era w ith its more compact rhythm and fluctuating harmonies in heavy in strumentation. One wished now to measure the tempo of pieces of music with a standardised, rational, system equal to the way in which length, volume, weight, temperature and duration were measured. From 1816 the „m etronom e" o f the court mechanist Mälzel appeared to be the ideal tool for this pur pose. But being exclusively based on the ,beat' it became the reason for the many blind alleys in which later discussions o f Mozart's tempo indications got lost. Already Beethoven had difficulties with the me tronome, for the nature o f classical tempo is in principle inconsistent w ith physical measuring. In spite of his initial enthusiasm and constant requests from musicians and publishers, he metronomised only about 6% o f his works, after 1819 only the Ninth Symphony.- And we do not know how the already deaf com poser proceeded in practice using this mechanism.M o z a rt, h ow e ver, w as w ritin g p r i o r. to th e in d u s tria l era, in a tim e w h ic h w as n o t y e t focussed on te c h . nological S olutions. H is te m p i m u s t be fo u n d a m o n g th e rules o f tra d itio n ; th e y are, as it w e re , „h a n d . 2 Jean Rousseau, M ethode claire, certaine et facile p o u r apprendre a chanter la musique, 1691, p. 87; - see: Johann M attheson, Der vollkom m ene Capellmeister ('Th e P erfect C apellm eister'), 1739, p .1 7 3 ,§ 2 7 [app. p. 364]. 3 Ludwig van Beethoven, letters (Briefwechsel, Com plete Edition no. 2244, Dec. 1826) [app. p. 348]. - „H e has taste and - more than that - the greatest knowledge o f com position", Joseph Haydn about W.A.M ozart according to Leopold M ozart's letter of16.02.1 785 (no. 847, [app. p. 268] - „The m etronom izations (to hell w ith all mechanism)." (Beethoven, letters, Complete Edition, no. 2187, concerning the String Q uartet op. 131, w hich in fact he did n o t m etronomize.) - In no single case did he realize the fo llo w in g prom ise to Ignaz Franz Mosel: „I am glad to know that we share one opinion o f those indications used to describe the tempo, surviving from tim es o f musical barbarism. [...] For myself, I have long thought o f giving up these senseless terms: Allegro, Andante, Adagio, Presto. Maelzel's m etronom e gives us the best opportunity to do so. I give you here my w ord, I shall no m ore make use o f them in all my future com positions" (Letters compl. ed. no. 1196 [app. p. 348] - Peter Stadien w ro te in detail about this topic: „Beethoven and the M etronom e", Music and Letters 48,London X/1967, p. 330-349; A Peter Stadien: "Beethoven und das M etronom " in: Beethoven-Kolloquium 1977, Kassel 1978, p. 57; A Herbert Seifert, Beethovens Metronomisierungen u nd die Praxis, loc. cit., p. 184..

(12) 9. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. made". Because o f the exceptional nature o f his genius, the generalising textbooks of the 18th Century provide only limited assistance; reports o f contemporaries are often not reliablez, metronome indications o f the 19th Century are quite useless. Finally there is no other choice but to question Mozart himself - and not only in individual categories of his oeuvre but by meticulously comparing all his indications in all his works. Max Rudolf called for this to be done already in 1976.- In his letters Mozart has only sporadically commented on his tempi, and not always clearly. In his works, however, he indicated them all the more precisely and w ith equal importance as the other parameters, sometimes correcting the first Version laboriously. How then did he define the M ouvement in his scores? First o f all, by means o fw h a t was at the time called the „natural tem po" o fth e different m e t r e s ; he used 1 4 o f them: - the ,large' $ (2/1 or 4/2), ,small" $ (2/2), ,large' C and 3/2 o f th e stile antico, - the classical $ (2/2), ,simple' 2/4, ,light' 3/4, 3/8, and ,simple' 6/8, - the com pound metres 4/4 (2/4 + 2/4), 2/4 (2/8 + 2/8), 6/8 (3/8 + 3/8), - 12/ 8 (6/8 + 6/8J, and the ,heavy' 3/4 (2/8+2/8+2/8). S econdly, he d e te rm in e d th e M ouvem ent by th e s m a l l e s t „ p r e v a i l i n g. note. v a l u e s " - (he. used e ig h t kinds). By th u s se ttin g a s p e e d -lim it th e y c o m p le te d th e „te m p o " -in fo rm a tio n o f the m e tre in to w h a t w as called „ t e m p o g i u s t o " . „T h u s th e t e m p o g i u s t o is d e te rm in e d by the m e t r e a n d b y th e lo n g e r a n d s h o rte r n o t e v a l u e s o f a c o m p o s itio n ."9. Although not all note values were possible as the smallest - or even sensible - (quarter notes in 3/8 and 6/8, sixty-fourth notes in the 3/2- and tf-metres o f the stile antico), of t he imaginable 126 combinations Mozart still used 49 variants o f this tem po giusto (which was not at all the „moderate Stan dard tem po" that it is sometimes regarded as today.) The te m po w o r d s -w hich today are regarded as the so/e „tem po indications" (although an A lle gro (Ex. 197) can actually be slower than an Adagio (Ex. 2 7 6 )!) - followed only in th ird place. Tempo words served only to modify the tem po giusto which was predefined by metre + smallest note values. The opinion that they were nothing more than indications for the character of the piece - based on confusion in the historical tradition - is untenable. In Mozart's autograph scores we find 19 verbal modifications o f Allegro, 18 o f Andante, 6 otA llegretto, 5 of Adagio, 5 o f Andantino, 3 of Presto, 4 o f M inuet or Tempo di Minuetto-, moreover he uses Marcia, M oderato, Largo and Larghetto, plus Maestoso, Grazioso and Cantabile as self-contained indi cations. Not to forget some German terms for his „Lieder". Altogether asm any as 9 7 v e r b a l i n d i c a t i o n s ! Although he did not even use all the possible combinations w ithin this system, he had a corpus of 420 models or m o d u l e s for the „m ouvem ent" consisting of m etre+sm allest note values+tem po word. They were remarkably finely graded and precise, though flexible enough in practice to define the execution o f a particular piece in a comprehensive way.. - „Is it right to transm it the performance habits o f the tim e - even if one could gain a complete idea o f them - onto works that in form and content are so far from w hat was comm on at their tim e?" (Stephan Kunze, „Musikwissenschaft und musikalische Praxis. Zur Geschichte eines Mißverständnisses", in: Alte Musik. Praxis u nd Reflexion, special edition o f the series „Basler Jahrbuch für HistorischeM usikpraxis",1983, p. 121). - „A comprehensive research into the tempos in M ozart's works doesn't yet exist. W hat is missing is a description o f M ozart's tem po indications on a broad basis, i. e. one that considers his com plete works and uses a comparative m ethod; in other words, an attem pt to regard M ozart's indications as categories o f tim e, and to docum ent these by spans o f speed." (Max Rudolf, "Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Temponahme bei M ozart, in: Mozart jahrbuch 1976/77, p. 223). A The only such attem pt until now, Jean-Pierre M arty's comprehensive book, „The Tempo Indications o f M ozart" (1988), started out from the arbitrarily chosen tem po for „Andante" o f either M M = 6 0 on the one hand or M M = 4 4 on the other, w hich seems to me an inappropriate approach for the prem etronom e tim e o f Mozart. 9 Johann Philipp Kirnberger / Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der M usik (‘The A rt o f Strict Musical Com position'), trans. Beach/Thym, p. 377, vol. II, 1 776, p. 107 [app. p. 275].

(13) 10. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. H o w t h e B o o k is a r r a n g e d Conceived as a reference book o f practical interpretation for musicians, this book offers, after a general explanation o f how tempos were determined in the 18th Century: a compendium o f all the 1,576 movements designated by Mozart himself in 420 lists o f pieces of the same characteristics (works marked with an asterisk are discussed in the subsequent commentary) which, by overlapping modules, enable the player to compare slower with quicker pieces, illustrated by a ränge o f 434 typical music examples, and, in an Appendix, acollection o f all relevant historical texts. Beginning w ith the METRES, the movements with autograph tempo indications are grouped in lists of m o v e m e n t s w i t h t h e s a m e m o d u l e : a s c e n d i n g from the slowest to the fastest TEMPO WORD (e x c e p t on p. 1 0 6 -1 1 4 ); then from the smallest to larger CLASSES OF NOTE VALUES (thus again from slow to fast regarding metre and tempo word), and finally d e s c e n d i n g from late to early works according to the Köchel-catalogue—. In this way - identical metre, identical dass o f note values and identical tempo w ord - pieces which can explain each other are grouped together within a module (* = additional com mentary); and there is often among them one which „drives forcefully into its natural m o tio n ." As it was not practicable to show three different lists according to 1) metre, 2) class of note values, 3) tempo word, the reader should take care when comparing pieces from different modules to see that in each case at least two o f the three parameters are the same: for instance, not to compare an Andante 4/4 with 16th-notes to an Andante $ with 8th-notes. Especially in the eye-catching music examples differences can be too easily overlooked. - If the tem po w ord and metre o f two pieces are identical (e.g. Andante Q, the d a s s o f n o t e v a l u e s (,with 32nd notes', ,with 16th notes' etc.) defines the difference between slower and faster; - if metre and smallest note values are identical (e.g. 4/4 ,with 16th notes'), the t e m p o w o r d de fines the difference. Reasons for the numerous overlappings of tempo indications are articulation, manner o f playing, metrical Organisation and character: For example, in spite o f its faster indication (Allegro as s ai 4/4) „D er Hölle Rache kocht in mei nem Herzen" (Die Zauberflöte, no. 14, a ria Q u e e n o f th e n ig h t, Ex. 140) is, because of its 16th-notes, physically s l o w e r than Leporello's „Madamina"-aria (Don Ciovanni no. 4, Ex. 153) w ith its u n m o d i f i e d [non-increased] Allegro 4/4, since the latter has only 8th-notes. Nevertheless the high-tension aria of the Queen a p p e a r s to be faster: one senses it metrically in fast quarter notes, whereas the coldhearted mocking aria o f Leporello seems to pulse slowly in half-notes; Sarastro's A d a g i o 3/4 „O Isis und Osiris, schenket" (Die Zauberflöte, n o . 1 0 ), which has essentially only quarter-notes (Ex. 276), is physically faster than the A n d a n t e 3/4 with 32nd-notes o f the 2nd mo vement o f the Piano Sonata in F, K 533 (Ex. 318), - but it is heavier; because o f its 32nd-notes the 1st movement o f the Piano Sonata in B-flat, K 281 (Ex. 197 and Ex. 230), is, in spite o f the indication A l l e g r o 2/4, slower than the A n d a n t e - 2 / 4 o f Papageno's bird catcher song, which has only 16th-notes (Die Zauberflöte, no. 2 , Ex. 198, Ex. 235, Ex. 268) - metrically, harmonically and structurally, however, it is richer. The complex variety and the interrelationship o fth e modules become apparent: w hy did Mozart w rite the Three Boys' „Bald prangt, den Morgen zu verkünden" (Die Zauberflöte no. 2 1 ) as Andante <f (Ex. 050) and not as Allegretto 4/4 - which has in performance, after all, the same speed? - w hy Sarastro's „In diesen heil'gen Hallen" (Ex. 2 0 6 ) neither as Adagio <f nor as Andante 4/4, but as Larghetto 2/4 (4/8)? - w hy Osmin's fast „Erst geköpft, dann gehangen" (Ex. 304) not in the ,mischievous' 3/8-time, w hy Ferrando's slow „Un'aura amorosa" (Ex. 335) not in the more serious 3/4? w hy the Pamina / Papageno duet „Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen" (Ex. 099, Ex. 355), in view of the metrical problems o fth e compound 6/8-metre, not simply in 3/8-time? In Mozart's time, o d d - n u m b e r e d metres were in irrational relation faster than e v e n - n u m b e r e d metres; this book therefore treats them separately. The , l a r g e ' C-time and the , h e a v y ' 3/4 metre are retrieved from oblivion; the tf-metre o f the s t i l e a n t i c o is distinguished from the c l a s s i c a l It is 12 The conventional num bering serves here only to ease the fin d in g o f works; m y lists could not go into datings differing from Köchel6..

(14) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 11. explained how c o m p o u n d m e t r e s are composed o f sim ple metres. The r e c i t a t i v e - m e t r e is dealt with separately. The implications o f the v i r t u a l c h a n g e s o f m e t r e for a whole series of tempos w ithin movements are examined. It remains to be tested, whether - aside from his church music, which has to be examined separately - genres and perhaps tonalities play a part; and to what extent a develop ment o f Mozart's conception o ftem po from his early to his late works is identifiable. After the proposed clarifications, the architecture o f Mozart's operatic finali, composed as integrated movements with a large-scale rhythm, should no more be distorted by arbitrary realisations o f their up to 16 tempo indications. These do not influence only expression, what is playable and singable, the dramatic impact, but also the d u r a t i o n , so to speak the w idth, of the individual parts o f the form. If the speed is exaggerated, a whole main section can shrink into an unimportant transition, a tall column in the construction o f the finale into a stump. Conversely, an arch o f the arcade collapses if the „M ask-Trio" in the first finale o f Don Giovanni (No. 13, b. 251, Adagio 2/2, Ex. 030) is overextended into Adagio 8/8. The perfect construction of the Figaro Act 2 Finale is severely disturbed in its propor tions - and the pace o f the action distorted - if Susanna's „M o lto Andante 3 /8 " (Ex. 352, p. 2 2 1 ) is spread out in slow m otion, and the preceding and following sections are shortened from „Allegro C" into „Allegro m olto (Ex. 156 a,b,c). The logic of this ,tempo'-system for indicating the manner o f perform ing a piece becomes understandable and reproducible, if the follow ing facts are respectively observed: 1) m etre, 2) sm a lle st n ote values re le va n t to th e speed, 3) te m p o w o rd , 4) h a rm o n ic d e n sity11 and, c o n nected to it, m e trica l O rganisation, 5) rh y th m (p e rio d ic ity ), 6) a rtic u la tio n and m a n n e r o f playing, 7) genre („C h u rc h -, th e a tre - o r c h a m b e r-s ty le ") and 8) if a p p lica b le - w ith special ca u tio n ! - te xt, m e tre o f the lyrics, and th e d ra m a tic S ituation. 9) M in u e ts in p a rtic u la r s h o w d is tin c t diffe re n ce s b e tw een M o z a rt's ea rly and late w o rk .. T H E O R E T IC A L L IT E R A T U RE of the 1 7th through the 20th centuries is consulted collaterally. In order to facilitate reading, abridgements in the excerpts are not marked as such, but the respective passages can be found in full in the A p p e n d i x . E x c u r s i clarify fundamental problems; c o m m e n t a r i e s inserted between the lists referring to well-known pieces (*), often w ith m u s i c e x a m p l e s (mostly including the places w ith ,smallest note values' —) show how Mozart used the ,modules'. In order to be clear, I have marked the classical tempos (in spite of certain aesthetic qualms) in the modern way by numerical fractions. As I am sure no one w ill read this book from start to finish, principal points are picked up repeatedly, to serve users who study only parts o f it. My earlier publications contain scholarly discussion in more detail than is possible here.13 All sources are indicated w ith their original titles. Those used repeatedly have a short English translation o f the title in brackets. The most important ones with their full text in English w ill be found in the appendix. FOOTNOTES:. A R E G IS T E R o f all movements designated by Mozart himself gives the page numbers o f their appearance in the text. I do not claim that any two tempos I have put together here are completely equal - since their contents are not. Sixteenth-notes in Allegro for instance may be coloraturas, or instrumentally virtuosic, differently articulated, legato, staccato, mixed, and w ith trills - regardless of the musical content and expression. In slow movements sometimes even smaller „virtual" note values must be considered, which makes the Classification uncertain. The lists w ill compare similarities, separate them from dissimilarities and serve as references for studies by the readers themselves. M athem atical relations are not at stäke. Setting metro nome figures, even „margins o f speed" for each single tempo - such as Max Rudolf suggested - seemed to me to contradict the realistic yet astonishingly flexible system. They would have promoted the misunderstanding that I claim to know the only „right tempos" which yet everyone must, w ithin Mozart's Sy stem, find for himself. I hope therefore that performers find encouragement here for - maybe surprising! - comparisons o f their own across Mozart's w ork in spite o f my possibly numerous mistakes in the Classification o f the move— Jean Jacques Rousseau: „The more elaborate the harmony, the less lively the tem po m ust be in order to give the m ind tim e to grasp the pace o f the dissonances and the quick linking o f the m odulations." („D ictionnaire de M usique", vol I, 1767/81, p. 339, trans. L.F.) — The selection depended on the technical possibilities o f notation w ith in the given lim itations o f space. 13 Helm ut Breidenstein, Mozarts Tempo-System ... (See bibliography)..

(15) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 12. ments. A new, liberating comprehension o f Mozart's defining of the „m ouvem ent" o f his works may originate from this. M y investigations are based on the N ew Com plete Edition o f M ozart's works (Neue Mozart-Ausgabe NMA) o f the publishing house Bärenreiter which now - including the critical reports (in German) - is accessible gratis on the internet: http://dm e.m ozarteum .at^ M y numbering o f the works follows the Köchel-Catalogue as there. The translation of Mozart's early letters is taken from: "In Mozart's words": perspectives on a new, online edition of the M ozartfam ily letters from Italy, 1770-1773.. A b o u t T he Translation The reader w ill see that it was not possible to draw up Mozart's autograph tempo indications for 1,576 movements in 434 clearly laid out lists using the traditional English terminology which (like the French and Italian) is based on the notation of the mensural music o f the 15th Century. We had to choose the terminology o f the German speaking authors o f the 17th and 18th centuries quoted in the appendix of the book („Ganze, Halbe, 'Viertel, Achtel, Sechzehntel, Zweiunddreißigstel, Vierundsechzigstel") which American usage has adopted in literal translation (see below). In this terminology the note values in the lists could be expressed by figures more easily than in British English - for example sixty-fourth notes by „ 64th notes" rather than „ hemidemisemiquavers" . In his Anleitung zur praktischen M usik (1782) Samuel Petri gives a good explanation for these unambiguous rational divisions o f the 4/4 metre (*) in place o f the variable relations in the mensural „tactus“ . The terminology o f this book had to follow that, particularly as it can also be understood internationally - and by English readers as well. * ) J o h a n n Sa m u e l P e t r i : „ 4 / 4 or com m on metre is the main metre o f all; it has given the notes their values. For the name the notes have in the bar [measure] is kept even when [...] the relation o f the parts or notes to the w hole changes. This happens because the same note w ould otherwise have to be named differently, now this, now that. For example }> is in 4 / 4 metre an eighth; in 4 / 8 , i.e. 2 / 4 metre, it w ould be a quarter; in 3 / 4 metre a sixth; in 3 / 8 metre a third; in 1 2 / 8 a tw elfth [...] Since this, however, w ould make it very complicated not only for beginners to learn the metre [measure], but w ould generally cause frequent confusion among all musicians, the basic names that come from 4 / 4 metre, as the main metre, have been adhered to, so that one can always represent one and the same note-value by one and the same name." (Anleitung zu r praktischen Musik, Leipzig 21 7 8 2 , p. 1 4 3 ) .. American. English. Italian. French. 0 w h o le note. sem ibreve. sem ibreve / intero. ronde. J half note. m in im. m in im a / meta. blanche. J qu arter note. crotchet. s e m im in im a /q u a rto. noire. ^ eighth note. quaver. crom a / ottavo. croche. ^ sixteenth note. sem iquaver. s e m ic ro m a / sedicesim o. double croche. ^. dem isem iquaver. biscrom a / trentaduesim o. trip le croche. hem idem isem iquaver. sem ibiscrom a / sessantaquattresim o. qu adruple croche. th irty-se co n d note. J) sixty-fourth note.

(16) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 13. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century 1) Textbooks The didactic books o f Quantz, C.Ph.E. Bach, Marpurg, Tosi/Agricola and Leopold Mozart have often been taken uncritically as a basis for present-day performance-practice of the most different compositions of the 18th Century. It was ignored that their vast distribution at the time was not based on the general validity o f all o f their precepts but on the fact that they were simply the most eminent schools of the Century for flute, piano, singing and violin.— In their pedagogical intention they tend, however, sometimes to generalization and simplification; they leave unmentioned what they regard as self-evident and „produce under the constraint o f their system unrealistic constructions,"15 Charles Rosen noted in his perceptive w ork „The Classical Style. Haydn, M o zart, Beethoven": „Alm ost any rule about eighteenth-century performance-practice w ill find its Contem porary contradiction somewhere or other. Above all, when we remember how fast musical fashions change, we must beware o f applying the ideas o f 1750 to 1775 or to 1800."— The additional information in the writings of Joseph Riepel, Jean and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Reichardt, Kirnberger, J.A.P. Schulz, Koch and Türk was strangely little regarded. Although „the works precede the doctrine" 17 and „principles o f performance lag behind the development in styles o f com position"18 and „traditions were only fixed in w riting when they began to die out"19, authors a f t e r the time o f Mozart like Gottfried Weber, G.W. Fink, Hummel, Czerny and Sechter were only seldom consulted. Yet, apart from that, questions o f tempo cannot be solved in general, but only by direct approach to the complete works o f each individual composer. W hat did he h i m s e l f mean by his indications?. 2) The metres and their „natural" tempo ln contrast to the abstract division o f time in the modern system o f notation, where, for example, 3/4 time is nothing other than 75% of 4/4-time, or twice as long as 3/8 time (the tempo o f the smallest note value normally remaining the same in changes of metre), and where tempo is defined exclusively by tempo words, metronome-marks or timing, the complex metrical system o f the 18th Century was based on „natural" differences between the playing speeds of each individual metre and their manner of execu tion. Le o po ld M o zar t 1 7 5 6 : ,,C, 2 o r 2/4,. 3/1, 3/2, 3/4, 3/8, 6/4, 6/8, 1 2 /8 : These species o f m e tre are. already s u ffic ie n t to s h o w in som e e x te n t th e natural difference betw een a s lo w and fa st m e lo d y ."— Jo h a n n Philipp K irnberger / J.A.P. Sc h u l z 1776: „The composer must have acquired a correct fee. ling for the natural tem po ofe ve ry m etre, or for what is called tem po giusto. In general among the metres that have the same number of beats, the one that has larger or longer beats is naturally somewhat more serious than the one of shorter beats. Thus 4/4 metre is less lively than 4/8 metre; 3/2 metre is more ponderous than 3/4, and the latter is not as lively as 3/8. For solemn and pathe-. — Frederick Neumann pointed out that Quantz and C.Ph.E. Bach w ho played music together in the same room contradicted each other in the details o f their textbooks at many places, and warned o f the „use o f w rong sources" and the „w ro n g use o f sources" (The Use o f Baroque Treatises on Musical Performance, 1967, p. 318). A See also: Neal Zaslaw, M ozart's Symphonies, 1989, chapter 12 „Performance Practice", p. 492 bottom ; and A Stefan Kunze, Aufführungsproblem e im Rezitativ des späteren 18. Jahrhunderts. Ausführung und Interpretation, in M ozartjahrbuch 1968/70, p. 132. 15 Nicole Schwindt-Gross, Einfache, zusammengesetzte und doppelt notierte Takte, in: M usiktheorie 4, 1989, p. 203. 16 The w hole passage reads: „O u r knowledge o f Contemporary performance from descriptions, memoirs, and treatises can help here, but we m ust beware o f letting it lead us blindly. I have never read a didactic book on Contemporary performance which could be trusted very far: m ost so-called piano methods w ill appear w rong or irrelevant to any pianist. W e all know how misleading alm ost all descriptions o f performances are: the few that are relatively accurate w ill be alm ost indistinguishable in tw enty years from the others. There is no reason to th in k that w ritin g about music was any better in the eighteenth Century than it is today. Alm ost any rule about eighteenth-century performance-practice w ill find its Contemporary contradiction somewhere or other. Above all, when w e remember how fast musical fashions change, w e must beware o f applying the ideas o f 1 750 to 1 775 or to 1800." (Charles Rosen, The classical style, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, 1971, p. 103f.) 17 Charles Rosen, The classical style, p. 401. 18 Hans Peter Schmitz, Einige Bemerkungen zur Wiedergabe klassischer Musik, in: Musica 1982/1, p. 9. 19 Hans Peter Schmitz, Prinzipien der Aufführungspraxis Alter Musik, (before 1951), p. 4. — Leopold M ozart, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (‘Essay on a fundam ental School o f Violin Playing'), 1 756, p. 28, § 4; [app. p. 271]. A Still in 1854 this 18th Century conception was not forgotten. See Simon Sechter, Die Grundsätze der musikalischen Komposition (‘The Principles o f Musical Com position'), p .4 ,§ 1 [app. p. 347].

(17) 14. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. tic pieces, alla breve is especially appropriate and is therefore used in motets and other solemn church pieces. Large 4/4 metre has a very emphatic and serious motion and is suited to stately choruses, to fugues in church pieces, and generally to pieces where pomp and gravity is required. 3/2 metre is emphatic and very serious. 4/4 metre is best suited for a lively exhilarating expression that is still somewhat emphatic. 2/4 is also lively but already combined with more lightness and, for that reason, can be used well to express playfulness. 4/8 metre is already totally fleeting, and its liveliness no longer contains any o f the emphasis of 4/4 metre. The character of 3/4 appears to be gentle and noble, particularly when it consists only, or at least mostly, of quarter notes. But 3/8 metre has a liveliness that is somewhatfrolicsome. [...] „Therefore one must have a feeling for the special effect o f each metre and choose the one that best represents the expression to be portrayed."—' 21,23. a) Alla breve metre ($) A t h an a siu s K ircher 1650: „Although the whole secret o f music consists o f the exact and m anifold. execution o f the tempo, I admit that I have seen nothing more confused, nothing treated more imprecisely than this. I read about this in the works o f Franchinus, Zarlino, Glarean and almost countless others; yet they are so confused and give so little pleasure, that in the end, even if you spend a lot o f time on it, you w ill hardly be able to understand what you have read. Moreover the opinions o f musicians about this topic differ so widely, that you w ill hardly find anything you can adopt w ithout reserve."24 Chaos prevailed especially in the perception of the „tactus-alla-breve", a relic from the mensural notation. Around 1 760 2/1 and 4/2 metres, as well as the most diverse kinds of 2/2 metres, were still indicated by the time signature The ,large', ,small', ,heavy', ,light', ,genuine', ,divided', ,proper' alla breve, the ,antique semi -allabreve', ,alla capella', ,tempo maggiore', etc. were all spoken o fw ith various meanings. 22 The tim e sign a tu re ,2 ', used m a in ly in France, caused a d d itio n a l c o n fu s io n ; m o s t a u th o rs regarded it as a m e d iu m o r fa st te m p o , b u t it w as n o t c o n s is te n tly d is tin g u is h e d fro m. In a d d itio n , Praetorius , Lo u l ie ,. Ja n o w k a , Sa in t -Lam bert , Sam ber And H ein ic h en re p o rt co u n tle ss m istakes in copies and p rin ts —. M o s t th e o rists like KlRNBERGER, Brossard and Q u a n t z (and o th e rs fa r in to th e 19th Century) th o u g h t th e alla breve to be twice as fast as th e „o rd in a ry fo u r-fo u r tim e " (this, th e baroque ,la rg e ' C -m e tre - see b e lo w w as g ene ra lly co n sid e re d to be „slow ").. — Joh. Phil. Kim berger / J.A.P. Schulz, Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik (‘The A rt o fS trict Musical Com position'), II, 1776, p. 106, 133 and 136) [app. p. 280] A „The fact that these and several other metres that we shall list are considered superfluous and obsolete today indicates either that good and correct execution has been lost or that an aspect o f expression w hich is easy to obtain only in these metres is entirely unknown to us. Both [of these conclusions] do little credit to the art, w hich supposedly has reached its peak in our tim e." Die Kunst des reinen Satzes (‘The A rt o fS tric t Musical Com position'), II, p. 120 [app. p. 277] 22 „Joh. Seb. Bach and Couperin, w ho were indisputably capable o f the ideal execution, and have not w ith o u t reason set fugues and other pieces in 6/16 and other metres that are unusual today, thereby confirm that each metre has its own manner o f execution and its own natural tempo, so that it is not at all unim portant in w hich m etre a piece be w ritten and perform ed." (J.A.P. Schulz: „M e tre " in Sulzer, Allgemeine Theorie (‘General Theory o f the Fine Arts'), vol. IV, 1 774, p. 496) [app. p. 290]. A See also: D.C. Türk, Klavierschule ('School ofC lavier Playing’), 1 789, p. 96, § 59 [app. p. 300]. 23 About the „nature o f m etre" see also H. Chr. Koch, A n le itu n g zu r Com position (‘Essay as an Instruction M anual for Com position'), vol. 11,1787, p. 273, § 5 0 ff [app. p. 318]. 24 Athanasius Kircher, Musurgia universaüs, 1650, p. 676 (Translation H.B./L.F.). 22 „ A l l a B r eve and A l l a S e m ib r e v e are expressions used now only in Italy to indicate a music which is to be executed as if in church. The expressions cause trouble for German music teachers and are explained one m om ent like this, one m om ent like that, depending on how one form s one's own idea o f this musical mystery. [...] O nly in Italian chapel or church music is it still usual to w rite in the old way. In order that the singer or player, w ho could take the poor things [breves and semibreves] for w hole beats, should not go astray, one gives him a sign w ith the headings ,alla breve', ,alla semibreve' or ,alla capella', by which he can im mediately see that he has old-style notes in fron t o f him, and that he m ust beat tim e faster than if they were new-fashioned ones. Therefore one habitually gives the rule that ,alla breve' means one should play the notes m ore than h a lf as fast again, though w ith o u t giving a reason for this rule." (Abbe Vogler, article „Alla Breve" in Allgemeine Deutsche Enzyklopädie, 1778, p. 353). 22 M ic h a e l P r a e t o r iu s : „Some m ix it up, now p, now C, and one can nevertheless see no difference in the notes or in the entire song." (Syntagma m usicum III, 1619); A Et ie n n e Lo u l ie offers seven signs: circles and half-circles, crossed through or not, w ith or w ith o u t dot: „The practice o f them is not very certain; some use them in one manner, some in another." (Elements ou principes du musique, 1696, p. 60; A T h o m a s Ba l t h a s a r Ja n o w k a : „Everywhere one can hear among musicians different opinions about these things [C, 2, p], and as many in fact as there are heads; and the composers m ix up one w ith the other everywhere." (Clavis ad Thesaurum, 1701, p. 15f). A Sa i n t -L a m b e r t , Les Principes du Clavecin, 1702, p. 24f; A J o h a n n B a p t is t Sa m b e r : „M a n y mistakes are made by copyists who believe it to be all the same whether the signs C stays open or is crossed through [p ]." (M anuductio ad organum, 1 704, p. 9); A J o h . D a v i d H e in ic h e n , Der General-Bass in der Com position, 1 7 2 8 , p . 3 5 0 ..

(18) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 15. Other authors said $ was „som ewhat faster".27 Jean Ro u ss ea u ' s and M arpurg ' s : „um die Hälfte geschwin der"28 could mean either half as fast again or twice as fast! Jo h a n n M a t th e s o n ' s29 and Jo h a n n G ottfried W alther ' s30 alla breve was „very fast" (since it contained only quarter-notes), Joseph Riepel on the other hand complained that $ was performed „m uch too fast".31 The verbal heading „alla breve" or „alla cap e lla " was regarded by some as a mere indication o f something written in fugal style, by others as an addition indicating greater speed,— by still others as a doubling of the Yet most composers handled it either carelessly— or generally omitted it - as Mozart did. Quite contrary to the theory o f Walter Gerstenberg and his disciples in the 1950s, who claimed the „integer valor notarum ", a system o f invariable durations o f the note values and consequent „tem po proportions",34 to be valid far into the 19th Century; many authors of the 1 7th and 18th centuries, however, spoke in astonishingly differentiated and practical ways about the tempo problem o f the alla breve: M ic h a e l P ra e to riu s 1619: „O ne must consider text and harm ony in order to know where the beat must be taken more slowly or more quickly."35 - M ar in M ersenne 1 6 3 6 : „As conducting gestures can be done ,faster or slower, he who conducts the concert determines the tempo suitable for the kind o f music and its contents, or according to his w ill." [!]36 - Pier Francesco V alentini 1643: „The beat is sometimes adagio, sometimes presto, and someti mes midway between presto und adagio, according to the styles o f the compositions and the meaning o f the w ords."37 - D aniel Friderici 1649: „In singing, not one and the same beat shall be feit throughout: but the beat must comply with the words o f the text. Because sometimes a swift, sometimes a slow beat is necessary."38 - Jo h a n n D a v id H ein ic h en 1728: „ It is a matter of course that the normal measure [bar] o f the alla breve can be either more retarded or more driven forwards."39 - Friedrich W ilhelm M arpurg 1 763: „The tempo may be swifter or less swift since there are diffe rent grades ofliveliness also in the alla breve style."40 -. Accordingly, except in superficial, approximate gradings o f tempo words into 3, 4, or 5 „classes" in instructions for beginners (e.g. the Iist o f pulse-regulated tempos in „O n playing the flute" by Quantz), or in Saint-Lambert's naive m ultiplication by eight o f the tempo from the C-metre via $ and ,2' to 4/8, „tem po proportions" can no longer be found in any author's treatise of the 18th Century.11 D u rin g th e second h a lf o f th e C entury „the traditional notational practices o f the church style are thrown overboard. The younger composers abandon the traditional alla breve metre, which had been the norm fo r. 27 See Robert Donington, The Interpretation o f Early Music, N ew Version 1979, p. 410 ff. A George Houle, Metre in Music 1600-1800, Perform ance, Perception and Notation, 1987, p. 57. 28 Friedrich W ilhelm M arpurg, Kritische Briefe über die Tonkunst (‘Criticai Letters about the A rt o f Music'), II, 6 7 * letter, § 7 1 ,p .3 3 3 ) 29 Johann M attheson,Das Neu-Eröffnete Orchestre (‘The new iy reveaied orchestra'), 1713, p. 145, § 7 [app. p. 339]. 30 Johann G ottfried W alther, Musicaiisches Lexicon (‘Musical D ictionary'), 1732, p. 26f. 31 Jos. Riepel, Anfangsgründe zur musicaiischen Setzkunst (‘Basic Principies o fth e A rt o f Com position'); „D e Rhythmopoeia, oder von der Tactordnung“ , 1 752, p. 78 [app. p. 320] 22 Telemann often w rote - probably in the same sense - „A lla breve" even over movements in C metre. 22 Thus Johann Sebastian Bach, w ho in his Mass in B m inor did not indicate the Dona nobis pacem, whose music is nearly identical w ith that o fth e Gratias, once again verbally w ith „Alla breve" in addition to the tim e signature p. 34 Among others, W alter Gerstenberg, Die Zeitmaße u nd ihre Ordnungen in Bachs Musik, 1952, p. 20. 35 Michael Praetorius, Syntagma m usicum III, 1 6 1 9 ,p .5 1 . 36 M arin Mersenne, Harm onie universelle, 1636, Bd. II, p. 255. Livre 4 me de la Com position, Prop. XX. („La Mesure est l'espace du temps que l'on employe a hausser & a baisser la main: & parce que l'on peut faire ces deux mouvemens opposez plus vistes, ou plus lents, celuy qui conduit le Concert, determ ine la vistesse suivant le genre de M usique & la matiere qu 'il employe, ou suivant sa volonte.") 37 Tactus: „tal volta adagio, e tal volta presto, e tal volta tra'l presto e l'adagio mediocremente, secondo richiedono II stile delle com positioni, e II tal delle parole." (Pier Francesco Valentini, Trattato deiia battuta musicaie, 1643, p. 138, § 230). 38 Daniel Friderici, Musica figuralis, 41649, Cap. VII, Regula 19. 39 Johann David Heinichen, Der General-Bass in der Com position, 1 728, S. 947, (Supplementa, ad p. 332). 40 Friedrich W ilhelm Marpurg, Anleitung zur M usik überhaupt (‘Guide to Music in general and to the A rt o f Singing in particuiar') 1763, p a rt2 , Chap. 4, § 1 0 , 3 [app. p. 335]. 22 Saint-Lambert, Les Principes du Clavecin, 1 702, p. 1 7-18. - On the basis o f his indication o f a walking speed o f 3-3.5 m.p.h. (i.e. M M = 1 0 8 -1 2 0 per stride!) for the quarter notes in C-metre the result is M M = 8 6 4 -9 2 6 for the eighth notes in 4/8 metre.... (See my essay „Mäizeis M ord an Mozart. Die untauglichen 'Versuche, musikalische Z e itz u messen“ - www.m ozarttem pi.de/m aelzel.htm l)..

(19) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 16. choral fugues during the forties and fifties. From about 1770 m ost composers w rite their fugues in [„large"] four-four m etre."42 In ten cases Mozart did so as well. The entirely different tf-metre of the classical style w ill be discussed from p. 046 under „M ozart's metres, B) Secular music".. b) ,Large' four-four time (C) - tempo ordinario As a , w h o l e. ba r', th e 4/4 m e tre is th e m a trix fo r o u r p re se n t day n ote values: whole note, h a lf note, quarter note, eighth note, etc., th e m a th e m a tica l re la tio n s o f w h ic h rem ain alw ays th e same even in sm a ller g ro u p in g s like 3/4, 2/4, 3/8, 6/8— - in c o n tra s t to th e va riable values o f th e m ensural brevis, semibrevis, m inim a, sem im inim a. (The e ig h te e n th C entury, h o w e ver, co n sid e re d th e te m p o s o f th e m etres as d iffe re n t „ b y n a tu re ", see above).. „Tem po ordinario m eans th a t all notes m u s t be executed w ith th e ir natural and n o rm a l v a lid ity " 44 - n o t th e ir values halved as th e y are in th e $ o f th e ba ro q u e style. The te rm refers e xclu sive ly to C m e tre and, c o n tra ry to w id e s p re a d o p in io n ,45 has n o th in g to do w ith tem po giusto o r a „S ta n d a rd te m p o ", as w e shall see.. The ancient kind o f C-metre, the , l a r g e ' f o u r - f o u r m e t r e , which today is often confused w ith the classical 4/4-metre, is mentioned by only few authors, since it was apparently still self-evident. They write that it is half as quick as the alla breve and is also used in place o f the heavy 4/2-metre - undemandingly w ithout indicating their tempos. But even w ithout tempo w ord the ,large' four-four metre was regarded as „slo w "46, „very slow "—, „very heavy"48; „This sign (C) denotes a slow and grave singing".49 For H ein i CHEN it was the „ordinary slow metre", to be harmonized throughout from eighth note to eighth note.— Riepel spoke about „the o ld common 4/4 metre with its leisurely quarter-notes",51 Jo h a n n G ottfried W alther : „C; if nothing is additionally notated, it is always understood as adagio, and a slow beat is given, which the Italians call tem po ordinario."52 D an iel G o ttlo b T ü r k : „the large four-four metre (C or 4/4) has a strong and heavy execution and a slow tem po."53 Jo h a n n Philipp K irnberger : „Four-Four metre, which is designated by C, is o f tw o types: either it is. used w ith the adjective grave in place o f the 4/2 metre, in which case it is called , l a r g e ' 4 / 4 t i m e ; or it is the so-called common even metre, which is also called ,sm a ll' 4/4 tim e. ,Large' 4/4 time is of extrem ely weighty tem po and execution and, because of its emphatic nature, is suited primarily to church pieces, choruses, and fugues. Eighth and a few sixteenth notes in succession are its fastest note values."54. 42 Bruce C. M aclntyre, „D ie Entwicklung der konzertierenden Messen Joseph Haydns und seiner W iener Zeitgenossen", in: Haydn Studien VI, Heft 2, 1988, p. 87. — Jo h a n n Sa m u e l P e t r i : „4/4 or com m on metre is the main m etre o f all; it has given the notes their values. For the name the notes have in the bar [measure] is kept even when [...] the relation o f the parts or notes to the w hole changes. This happens because the same note w ould otherwise have to be named differently, now this, now that. For example T is in 4/4 metre an eighth; in 4/8, i.e. 2/4 metre, it w ould be a quarter; in 3/4 m etre a sixth; in 3/8 metre a third; in 12/8 a tw elfth [...] Since this, however, w ould make it very complicated not only for beginners to learn the measure, but w ould generally cause frequent confusion among all musicians, the basic names that come from 4/4 metre, as the main metre, have been adhered to, so that one can always represent one and the same note-value by one and the same name." (Anleitung zu r praktischen Musik, Leipzig 21782, p. 143). 44 Johann G ottfried W alther, MusicaHsches Lexicon, 1732. 45 e. g. Klaus M iehling, Das Tempo in der Musik von Barock und 'Vorklassik, 1993, p. 326 ff; A Siegbert Rampe, Mozarts Claviermusik, 1995, p. 154. 46 Johann Rudolf Ahle, Brevis ... introductio in artem musicam, in: Deutsche kurze doch deutliche Anleitung zu der ... Singekunst", 1690, „Von den signis“ . 4- Daniel Merck, C om pendium musicae Instrumentalis chelicae, Das ist: Kurzer Begriff, welcher Gestalten die Instrum ental-M usik ... zu erlernen seye. 1695. — W. Caspar Printz, Com pendium Musicae, 1689, p. 21. A According to Etienne Loulie the sign C served for the indication o f a slow tem po also in other metres, so C2, C3, C3/2 (Elements ou Principes de Musique, 1696, p. 60) whereas p accelerated them. 48 Saint-Lambert, Les Principes du Clavecin, 1702, p. 18; A M ichel l'Affilard, Principes tres faciles p o u r bien apprendre la Musique, 1705, p. 153. 49 Johann Baptist Samber, M anuductio ad organum, 1 704, p. 9. A and: Michael Praetorius in Syntagma m usicum III, 1619, p. 50. — Joh. David Heinichen, Der General-Bass in der Com position, 1728, p. 268. 51 Joseph Riepel, Anfangsgründe zu r musikalischen Setzkunst (‘Basic Principles o fth e A rt o f Com position'), Chap. 4. „Erläuterung der betrüglichen Tonordnung", 1 752, p. 79. [app. p. 321 ] 52 Johann G ottfried W alther, Musicalisches Lexicon ('Musical Dictionary'), 1 732, p. 123. 53 D.G. Türk, Klavierschule (‘School ofC lavier Playing'), 1 789, p. 95, § 58, b [app. p. 300]. 54 Kirnberger / Schulz, Die Kunst des reinen Satzes ('The A rt o fS trict Musical Com position), II, 1 767/81, p. 122/123) [app. p. 278]..

(20) Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. 17. b r a h a m P eter S c h u l z : „ L a r g e f o u r - f o u r m e t r e . Its swiftest notes are eighths which like the quarter notes and all longer notes are executed on the violin w ith the fu ll weight o f the bow w ithout the least shading o f piano and forte except the particular stress on the first note in every bar which is necessary in all metres. Because o f its grave and solemn pace it is therefore appropriate only for church music and especially for the magnificent and majestic expression o f many-voiced polyphonic choruses and fugues. Some, instead o f this metre, use 4/2 time where the heavy execution is shown still more clearly by the doubly long notes."55. Jo h a n n A. said w ith welcome pragmatism - even though not very helpfully for us: „The ordinary value [of the ,large' C] must be learned by practice since neither pulse, nor a person's stride are impeccable rules."[!]56 F r ie d r ic h W. il h e l m. M. arpurg. For Leopold Mozart and the Salzburg composers before him this baroque C-metre in the church style was still Standard (even if they took from time to time the more brilliant Vivaldi-A//egro as a basis for arias (p. 0 8 7 , Ex. 103). Joseph Haydn used it in many o f his masses; even in the late oratorios Die Schöpfung („The Creation") and Die Jahreszeiten („The Seasons"), the great choral fugues „Des Herren Ruhm, er bleibt in Ewigkeit" („The Lord is great, His praise shall last for aye"), „Ehre, Lob und Preis sei d ir" („Glory, praise and laud to Thee") and „Uns leite deine Hand" („Direct us on Thy ways, O God!") are written in the „stately" and „seriously striding"57 ,large' C metre - very much in the sense o f Handel.— They show very clearly its four nearly equally heavy beats with the metrical structure | = -------- |. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart used the ,large' C-metre - w ith a few specific exceptions - only in his church music (see p. 0 3 6 ). The essentially different classical 4/4 time w ill be examined in the context o f his own tempo-system (see p. 0 8 9 ).. c) Uneven metres ln the 18th Century, differently from today, it was a matter o f course that the m ouvem ent of uneven (triple) metres was faster than that o f even (common) times w ith the same tempo word: l e x a n d e r M a l c o l m 1721: „The Movements o f the same Name, as adagio or allegro, &c. are s w i f t e r in triple than in common T im e ."59. A. Jo h n H o ld e n 1 7 7 0 : „C o m m o n tim e is n a tu ra lly m o re grave and s o le m n ; trip le tim e , m o re cheerful and airy. A n d fo r th is reason, it is g e n e ra lly agreed th a t every m o o d o f trip le tim e o u g h t to be perfo rm e d s o m e t h i n g. q u i c k e r th a n th e c o rr e s p o n d e n tm o o d o fc o m m o n tim e ." 60. These authors give just as little reason for the tempo difference between even and uneven metres as Mattheson, Quantz, C.Ph.E. Bach, Marpurg, Riepel, Jean and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Leopold Mozart, Scheibe, Kirnberger, Türk and Koch, who all obviously assumed it as a matter of course. Only Schulz in 1774 gave a hint: „Because o f the triplet-like progress o f its main beats, the uneven metre brings a generally greater vivacity to every expression, and is therefore more suitable for the depiction o f lively emotions than the even metre."61 ,Triplet-like progress' - the wording could lead us down the right track: the triplet-like nature o fth e une ven (,triple') metres. The vividly accentuated music of the minstrels and trouveres could have helped not. 55 Joh. Abr. Peter Schulz in: Sulzer, Allgemeine Theorie der Schönen Künste (‘General Theory o f the Fine Arts'), IV, 21794, p. 496f, art. „M e tre " [app. p. 290]. 56 Fr.W. M arpurg: Anleitung zu r Musik (‘Guide to Music in General’), 1 763, 2 nd part, chapter IV, § 1 0 , p. 74 [app. p. 335]. 57 J.A. Scheibe, Uber die musikalische Com position (‘A b o u t Musical Com position'). p. 205, § 90, „V o m Takte u nd dessen verschiedenen Arten (‘A b o u t Metre and its Various Kinds'), 1 773, [app. p. 340]. — J. Joachim Q uantz in his footnote refers above all to the ,large" C metre: „W hat was form erly intended to be taken very fast was played alm ost tw ice as slow ly as today. W here Allegro assai, Presto, Furioso, and the like were intended it was indeed w ritten so, and w ould be played barely faster than AHegretto is w ritten and performed today. The many quick notes in the instrumental pieces o f earlier German composers appeared much more d ifficult and risky than they sounded. The French o f today have in the main preserved the moderate speed in lively pieces." 'Versuch einer Anweisung (‘On Playing the Flute’), 1752, p. 263 [see footnote 803, app. p. 327]. 59 Alexander M alcolm , A Treatise o f Musick, 1721, p. 402. A Similarly James Grassineau, A Musical Dictionary, 31784, both authors sim ilarly after A Brossard, Dictionaire de Musique, 1 703. 60 John Holden: An Essay towards a Rational System o fM u s ic , 1 770, p. 35. 61 Joh. Abr. Peter Schulz, article Metre, in: Sulzer, Allgemeine Theorie der Schönen Künste ( 'G e n era l T he o ry o f th e F ine A rts'), vol. IV, p. 497-98 [app. p. 291]..

(21) 18. Tem po-indication in the 18th Century. only the alla breve but also the uneven metre to free itself from the intellectual proportional Systems of the past. Via the fashionable court dances it immigrated to the more ambitious compositions; Chaconnes, Passacailles, Gaillardes, Courantes etc. were composed in uneven metres; solemn duple metre dances changed in their second half into the more animated triple metre. Finally, the astonishingly quick minuet (p. 229 ff) conquered the courts; it became the model for the 3/4 metre. Many authors commented on the m ultiplicity o f tempos o f the uneven metres, among them: G ia c o m o C ar is s im i : „There are not a few who use w ithout distinction one and the same beat and. bar for all triples, pretending that the manifold variations of the figures were invented by Compo sers only to vex the musicians. How wrong they are! [...] One should regard and hear the great difference o f the triples in courantes, sarabandes, minuets, gigues, and the like; more examples w ill then not be necessary."62 Dances determined the mouvement o f their 3/2-, 3/4- and 3/8-metres by the step sequence and their different „changes o f disposition", their character. The ,Tripel-Verhalt', the triplet nature o f the uneven metre, survived as an inner whole-bar accentuation, but the new reference to physical action relieved it from mathematical restraint. G eorg M uffat : „In 3/2 the beat wants to be very held back, but in 3 /4 more cheerful, in all ,sara-. bandes', ,airs', however, somewhat slower; in ,minuets', ,courantes' and many others it is given very briskly."63 All these authors see an unquantifiable increase o f tempo from 3/1 through 3/2 and 3/4 up to 3/8-time.— The idea o f „a quick motion connected to small notes"65 could have been a reason for this. In his conservative retrospect in 1809 G o t t f r ie d W ilh e lm FiNKexplained the phenomenon as follows: „W e play eighth-notes twice as swiftly as quarter-notes and these more swiftly than half notes, etc.. This relationship is o f course strongly imprinted on us and an Allegro in 3/8 metre has just by that a more fleeting nature than one in 3/4, and absolutely more than one in 3/2 etc. The longer the notes are, that are the basis of a metre, the more we w ill feel something that forces us to re tard, even if presto is indicated above the piece. According to this view, the entire necessity of the inconsistency o f the names o f the notes - quarter, eighth, etc. - in relation to the actual bar— proves its e lfw o rth w h ile ."67 It was only during the further course o f the 19th Century that the metres - previously so different in cha racter and tempo - became groups o f equal beats that had no influence on tempo and manner of execu tion. Beginning with Berlioz and Wagner l'istesso tempo (beat=beat) became the norm when changing the metre.— 62 Giacomo Carissimi, Ars Cantandi, translation in the Appendix of: 'Vermehrter Wegweiser, Augsburg 31689. A George Houle, Metre in Music 1600-1800, p. 26; A also in: W alther, Musikalisches Lexikon, 1732, Lemma „Triple de 12 pour 16" [sic], p. 617; A Schünemann, Geschichte des Dirigierens, 1913, p. 108; A Herrmann-Bengen, Tempobezeichnungen, 1959, p. 49; A Dahlhaus, „Z u r Entstehung des modernen Taktsystems im 1 7. Jh." (Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 18, p. 233 f). 63 Georg M uffat, Florilegium Primum, 1695, preface. — O nly Saint-Lambert claimed naively (and, w ith o u t realising it, anticipating the System o f today) that there was a quadruplication o f the tem po from 3/2 through 3/4 to 3/8 metre, according to his ocfuplication o f the tem po from C metre to 4/8 (Les Principes du Clavecin, 1 702, p .1 8 and 19). 65 Carl Dahlhaus, Zur Entstehung des m odernen Taktsystems im 17. Jahrhundert, A fM w XVIII, 1961, p. 230. — Beautifully explained by Samuel Petri, Anleitung zu r praktischen Musik, 21 782, chap 5, „Von den Taktarten", § 2, p. 143 [see * p. 015]. 67 Gottfried W ilhelm Fink, Ueber Takt, Taktarten, u nd ih r Charakteristisches ll, Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, XI, no. 14, 04.01.1809, p. 214. [app. p. 345]. — H e c t o r B e r l i o z supplied in 1838 a brilliant example in Fieramosca's Air in Benvenuto CeHini, „Ah! Q ui pourrait me resister?" from AUegretto, un peu lourd: ||: 3 / 4 | 4 / 4 : | |: 3 / 4 | 3 / 4 : | |: 3 / 4 |2 / 4 :| |: 3 / 4 |2 / 4 : ||( M M J=160) (full score Ed. Choudens, Paris; Version Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 1976) A The numerous changes o f tim e in David's explanation o f ,Meistergesang' in Die M ei stersinger by R i c h a r d W a g n e r always (apart from tem po modifications) take beat=beat for granted as well, if nothing eise is indicated (6/8 and 9/8 there are tripled 2/4 and 3/4 metres.) A In Salome (1905) R i c h a r d S t r a u s s , on the one hand, in the case o f tim e changes in quick succession, indicated for safety m ostly on the other hand, for instance at the first entrance o f Salome (from figure 21 „Ich w ill nicht bleiben. Ich kann nicht bleiben" [„I w o n 't stay. I can't stay"] - (with which she already anticipates her end) he placed in a polym etrically complicated setting the most varied metres in the most varied relations, i.e. u n e q u a l quarternotes, one on top o f the other. At the clim ax o f one scene, 4 bars before Fig. 50, the psychotic excitement o fw h ic h w ould probably have made Du Fay and Ockeghem shudder, he set, not unlike their technique, bars in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and p metre plus triplets and quintuplets simultaneously over the basis o f a constant whole-bar beat, cum grano salis the tactus. In this procedure the metres kept the metrical shape handed down from the classical period, their inner hierarchy o f accents, though not their character as part o f a tem po-indicating tem po giusto, their ,natural' tempo. It no longer functioned as such in either l'istesso tem po J=J or the polymetres o f Strauss. The metres no longer dictated the style o f playing.. J=J;.