I am not exactly responding to Susanne's message, but making a related
comment. I have been playing through and home-recording Denis Gaultier's "La
rhétorique des dieux" on my 11-course. To guide me I have Louis Pernot's
recording of this work, which I have often found very helpful (though I find
his tone rather harsh--does anyone else?). But, generally speaking, I simply
cannot play these pieces at the same tempos (or tempi for the Italian
purists, or tempora for the Latin purists) as he does, which I find very
frustrating. I don't know how one works up to those speeds, unless one plays
a piece over and over with a metronome, gradually increasing the number of
beats per minute, which I actually do, though before long I seem to reach a
limit that I can't manage to surpass no matter how long I practice. I assume
that Mr. Pernot knows very well what he is doing and is playing these pieces
at the speeds at which they were intended to be played.
In a related vein, I have been working through Elias Mertel's "Novus hortus
musicalis" on my 10-course, and I generally play the pieces as fast as I
comfortably can, though I suspect that I am playing practically all of them
too slowly on account of my technical limitations.
Any suggestions for improving speed or advice on determining the proper
tempo for a piece would be much appreciated.
Best regards to all,
Stephen Arndt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Suzanne Angevine" <suzanne.angev...@gmail.com>
To: "Lute List" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 11:26 AM
Subject: [LUTE] tempos in Francesco Fantasias
Yesterday I got out a Francesco Fantasia I hadn't played in awhile. Its
one of the easier ones, since I'm not that advanced a player. But I
thoroughly enjoyed playing it - the counterpoint, the expressiveness of
it. Later in the day I listened to a CD of a big name player doing
Francesco pieces. What struck me most was the utter contrast between what
I had enjoyed about playing the music, and what I heard. Not just on the
same Fantasia, but almost the entire CD was BRIGHT, and very PERKY
sounding. In thinking about it, I felt that this effect was due almost
entirely to the fast tempos chosen. Now this player has exceptional
technique, and can play fast and cleanly. And it is to be admitted that
the CD is rather old, and may no longer represent the player's point of
view on Francesco exactly. But it got me thinking about tempos. Someone
on this list recently commented that folks generally try to play too fast.
Is there some actual musicological evidence somewhere that says what
tempos should be used? Or do moderns just play fast because we live in a
fast paced world, and playing well fast shows off our skill? A moderate
tempo on the Fantasia in question allows some time and space for
expression of the music to bloom, but a fast, perky tempo just makes it
sound like pyrotechnic display, not what would earn a player the name of
"il divino". So, any musicological evidence for proper tempos in
Francesco's music?
Suzanne
To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
