The tempo indications of Mozart / Jean-Pierre Marty.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marty, Jean-Pierre.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791--Criticism and interpretation.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791.

Tempo (Music).

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xv, 279 pages : illustrations, music ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [1988]

Summary:

The music of the classical period contains fewer than ten major tempo indications between Grave and Presto, and these terms have been interpreted very differently by musicians and musicologists through the ages. In particular there has been a widespread tendency to look at the tempo indications of Mozart as being only of a very general character, subject to many possible personal translations.

French conductor Jean-Pierre Marty began fifteen years ago to study just what Mozart intended by his tempo markings--meanings that clearly differed with the nature of each of the composer's works. In this book he shows that Mozart's indications do carry precise messages, once they are read according to the notion that Mozart and his contemporaries had of tempo, before the invention of the metronome drastically altered this fundamental concept. Explaining with clarity and sensitivity the rationale behind his conclusions, Marty formulates general principles of tempo markings followed by Mozart and most other composers of the classical period and illuminates the traditions that they shared. He then interprets Mozart's intentions for each of the composer's works that bear tempo markings. The book is arranged as a reference tool in which Marty's recommendations for nearly any work by Mozart can readily be found. The first book to deal comprehensively with the tempo indications of any composer, it is a uniquely valuable guide for conductors and performers, as well as for students and scholars.

Contents:

Part 1 The Basic Indications

Section I The Three Main Categories: Adagio, Andante, Allegro

Chapter I Andante 3

Chapter II Adagio 24

Chapter III Allegro 34

Section II The Three Intermediary Steps: Larghetto, Andantino, Allegretto

Chapter IV Andantino 50

Chapter V Larghetto 57

Chapter VI Allegretto 64

Part 2 The Qualified and Extreme Indications

Section I From Andante to Grave

Chapter VII The Moderating Qualifications of Andante 80

Chapter VIII The Qualifications of Andantino 91

Chapter IX The Qualifications of Adagio and the Indications for Extreme Slowness 99

Section II From Andante to Prestissimo

Chapter X The Accelerating Qualifications of Andante 112

Chapter XI The Qualifications of Allegretto 125

Chapter XII The Qualifications of Allegro and the Indications for Extreme Fastness 131

Part 3 Other Indications and Meters; Works Without Tempo Indication

Chapter XIII Other Indications 184

Chapter XIV Marches and Dances 191

Chapter XV Unusual Meters: 3/2 and 4/2 203

Chapter XVI The Absence of Tempo Indication 204

Appendix I The Indications in Mozart's Own Catalogue 215

Catalogue

Musical Incipits 230.

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: page 223.

ISBN:

0300038526

OCLC:

16925328