On 5/16/2013 3:43 PM, Herbert Ward wrote:
I'm working on Solus cum Sola (Dowland). I find myself slowing down during the harder parts, and then resuming tempo when the technical challenges relent. The variations in tempo don't bother me as I listen to myself. But I wonder whether they would be considered bad form by knowledgeable listeners.
This was discussed recently in another thread. The consensus of this list seemed to be that an unwavering tempo is at best tangential to the conveyance of the performer's expression of his interpretation of a piece. One expert was quoted as saying that the most difficult passage of a piece should be practiced until perfect, and that the rest of the piece should not exceed the tempo at which that passage could be well played. This idea enjoyed little company here. I once saw an article of origin that I can not now recall, that graphed tempo maps of rock performances throughout the decades. It was shown, that significant, although fluid changes in tempo were made in most (all?) of the performances before the advent of MIDI. After that dubious boon to rock performance, most bands exhibited metronome perfect tempo throughout a piece. I'd say that at that point we lost one of the most important dimensions of musical expression (well, at least as a rock listener). Having said that, if you are generally slowing down your tempo only because you find yourself in a more difficult passage, I suggest that you reflect honestly on whether you are doing it to reinforce your communication of the intention of the piece, or are too lazy to take the time to know the passage viscerally to the point that the movement of your fingers is but a passing matter. Don't be afraid to "Man up" and spend some arduous hours in order to then forever glide through that difficult passage. As to whether the listener suffers, I'd say mostly no. I've seen many such egregious manipulations of tempo for the sake of disguising lack of ability without any apparent lament of the audience. I think you know the answer to your question, but are looking for an excuse to practice less vigorously. Should that be the case, then I offer you no refuge. I do support however, creative manipulation of tempo in most music, provided that it stems from an understanding of the music, rather than a shortcut to what would be perceived as performance ready technique. I must confess, that out of necessity, I knowingly go into ritardando, in as graceful a manor as possible, before going into a change say, from 1/16 notes to 1/32 notes. I think it's ok to do this. In a way it's a form of music compression. It would be wrong to make my audience listen to a long piece at half tempo, only because a passage was coming later that I hadn't yet mastered, but could get through, polished enough, if I just gracefully descended into a more manageable tempo. I've seen many do this with a pained expression on their face that the audience takes for the pain of a passionate artist channeling a long dead composer's haunts, while the artist knows in his heart that it's an expression of the pain of all of the failed attempts to execute the approaching passage. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
