Toby, Nicely said. Best, Jon
----- Original Message ----- From: "Toby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "G.R. Crona" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "lute" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 1:56 PM Subject: Re: Tempo / Performance speed > G.R. Crona wrote: > > Hi gang, > > > > I'm playing some "golden age" and Milano at the moment, and suddenly > > realize, that (for me) much of the music actually gains in "stature" by not > > being played too fast (cf. La compagna). > > For me, playing music is quite like speaking. When > speaking, I can just iterate the words, without paying > attention, as when reading aloud from an uninteresting > book. If I really desire to convey something important, > my speach becomes filled with an intention, and possesses > a new quality that was absent in the other type. > > When practicing lute music, I can catch myself going > through the motions of the piece without paying attention > to the "words" of the melody. When this happens, the tempo > tends to creep. When I take the time to undestand the > goals of the melodies, I tend to savor suspensions, and > cadences, and the tempo relaxes. > > As I gain experience, I find that the tempo can raise > again while I maintain the integrity of the musical intention. > This can make the music more interesting in that more beautiful > events transpire each second. > > So, for me at this point, I choose the highest tempo that > I feel I can perform without sacrificing any of the quality > of the expression. This is usually a little > slower than many of the recordings that I have heard. > > > > >
