> > [snip] > >> lone 6/8 bar immediately > >> before rehearsal G in the first mvt. of Hindemith's _Symphonische > >> Metamorphosen_. > > > > > I agree that there is a potential metrical ambiguity in the passage you > > cite, though musically I think it's clear that the eighth note stays > > the > > same. It's valuable to look at it inductively, i.e., how would > > Hindemith > > have notated that measure if he wanted E = E, vs. how he would have > > notated > > it if he had wanted the beat to remain constant? In the latter case, > > it's > > likely he would have written eighth note triplets in 2/4, while in the > > former case he would have written just what he did write: 6/8 (or two > > measures of 3/8, though I think 6/8 is more descriptive of the larger > > metrical accent he had in mind). > > Actually, I completely agree with you on this--but clearly our view is > not universally held. A similar problem is presented by the trio to the > scherzo of Beethoven's 9th. Tradition has one bar of cut time equal 2 > bars of the preceding 3/4, but B's own metronome mark demands a tempo > *twice as fast.* I played it once thus under Rene Leibowitz, and it was > a revelation--much more exciting and dramatic than the traditional > way. > > Andrew Stiller
Wow, did the trio keep at W=116 the entire way? That would be one frantic performance! I think the usual performing tradition works out in practice to keeping the quarter note constant from the 3/4 to the trio. Even with a stringendo up to the trio, the tempo often relaxes a bit further in, so the end result is usually about 1/3 slower than Beethoven indicates, not 1/2. Even Toscanini, who had a reputation for scrupulously following Beethoven's tempo marks, doesn't play the trio faster than W=84, though he starts the scherzo out a little faster than the indicated dotted H=116. It would be fascinating to hear it played as written, which, if the quarter note is kept constant, would mean the stringendo takes the tempo from dotted H=116 to dotted H=155, equal to the trio's tempo of W=116. Lee Actor Composer-in-Residence and Assistant Conductor, Palo Alto Philharmonic http://www.leeactor.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
