Part 5 (1/2)
3. The swing and, in vocal music, the general spirit of the text.
4. Tradition.
5. Individual judgment of tempo as depending upon and resulting from the ”quality” of the music.
Of these, the fifth, _viz._, individual judgment is most important, and is the court of final resort in the case of the mature musician; but the amateur who has had but little experience and who is therefore without any well developed musical taste must depend largely upon his metronome, upon his knowledge of Italian tempo terms, and upon tradition. A brief discussion of these matters will accordingly be in order at this time.
[Sidenote: THE METRONOME AS A TEMPO INDICATOR]
The metronome[13] is a sort of clock with inverted pendulum, the ticks or clicks or which can be regulated as to rate of speed by means of a sliding weight. When this weight is set at the point marked 64, for example, the metronome gives sixty-four clicks per minute; when set at 84, or 112, corresponding numbers of clicks per minute result; so that in this way the composer is able to indicate precisely the rate of speed of his composition by indicating the number of beats per minute. The indication [quarter-note symbol] = 84 means that the sliding weight is to be set at the point marked 84, the metronome then clicking eighty-four times per minute, each of these clicks indicating a quarter-note. But if the marking is [half-note symbol] = 64, this means that sixty-four half-notes are to be performed in a minute,--a tempo equal to one hundred and twenty-eight quarter-notes in the same composition. In compound measures such as 6-8, 9-8, _et cetera_, the tempo indication shows the number of eighth-notes per minute if the composition is in slow tempo; but in moderate and rapid tempos the direction is usually given by taking the dotted-quarter-note as the beat unit, thus: [dotted quarter-note symbol] = 84. It is of course obvious that in this case the composer is thinking of each measure as having only two or three beats instead of six or nine.
[Footnote 13: The metronome is supposed to have been invented, or at least perfected, by a Bavarian named Maelzel, about 1815, and for many years the Maelzel metronome was the only one in existence. Hence the letters M.M., still found in many scores, in connection with tempo indications.]
[Sidenote: THE ITALIAN TEMPO TERMS]
Many instrumental compositions (particularly the older ones) are not provided by the composer with definite tempo directions; and in this case the Italian tempo terms usually give at least a clue to what the composer has in mind. These terms do not of course give us the precise tempo, but by indicating the _mood_ of a composition they at least help one to determine the rate of speed (_adagio_--at ease; _allegro_--cheerful; _largo_--large, broad; _andante_--going; _et cetera_). A comprehensive knowledge of these terms from the twofold standpoint of definition and derivation is indispensable to the conductor. The most common of them are therefore defined at this point. They are given in groups in order that the student may note how much the various terms overlap in meaning.
THE VERY SLOWEST TEMPO _larghissimo_ (superlative of _largo_) _adagissimo_ (superlative of _adagio_) _lentissimo_ (superlative of _lento_)
A VERY SLOW TEMPO _largo_ (from Latin _largus_, meaning broad, large) _adagio_ (at ease) _lento_ (slow)
A SLOW TEMPO _larghetto_ (diminutive of _largo_) _adagietto_ (diminutive of _adagio_)
A MODERATELY SLOW TEMPO _andante_ (going or walking) _andantino_ (diminutive of _andante_ and therefore meaning literally ”going less,” but because of a misconception of meaning now often understood as meaning slightly faster than _andante_)
A MODERATE TEMPO _moderato_
A MODERATELY RAPID TEMPO _allegro_ (cheerful) _allegretto_ (diminutive of _allegro_; a little slower than _allegro_)
A VERY RAPID TEMPO _con moto_ (with motion) _vivo_ (lively) _vivace_ (vivacious) _presto_ (quick) _presto a.s.sai_ (very quick)
THE MOST RAPID TEMPO POSSIBLE _prestissimo_ (superlative of _presto_) _vivacissimo_ (superlative of _vivace_) _allegrissimo_ (superlative of _allegro_) _prestissimo possibile_ (hypersuperlative of _presto_)
The expressions given above are frequently used in combination with one another, and with certain auxiliary terms, but to attempt to define these combinations in this book would be altogether impracticable. The conductor should however understand the significance of the following qualifying expressions:
_non tanto_ (not too much) _non troppo_ (not too much) _ma non tanto_ (but not too much) _ma non troppo_ (but not too much)
These expressions are used by the composer as a warning to the performer not to overdo any indicated effect. Thus, _largo, ma non troppo_ means that the composition is to be taken slowly, but not too slowly. _Presto (ma) non troppo_, on the other hand, indicates a rapid tempo, but not too rapid. For a fuller discussion of these matters, see the author's text book on terminology.[14]
[Footnote 14: Gehrkens, _Music Notation and Terminology_. The A.S.
Barnes Co., New York.]
The third means of finding tempo has already been discussed, (see p.
45) and the fifth needs no further explanation; but a word should perhaps be said to the amateur about the matter of tradition. The young conductor must not fail to take into consideration the fact that there has grown up, in connection with many of the cla.s.sics, a well defined idea of the tempos most appropriate to their rendition, and that any p.r.o.nounced departure from this traditional tempo is apt to result in unfavorable criticism. Tradition is of course apt to make us hide-bound in all sorts of ways, and yet in many respects it is a very good thing, and before our conductor attempts to direct standard works it will be well for him to hear them rendered by some of the better organizations, so that he may ascertain what the traditional tempo is.
In this way he may at least avoid the accusation of ignorance which might otherwise be made. This latter point will remind the reader of the advice already so frequently given--_viz._, ”study music and listen to music a long time before you attempt very much conducting.”
[Sidenote: VARIATION IN TEMPO]
Our treatment of tempo thus far has taken cognizance of only the generalized tempo of the movement, and we have not discussed at all the much more difficult matter of _variation_ in tempo. The more evident changes of this sort are indicated by the composer through such expressions as _ritardando_, _accelerando_, _et cetera_; and it may be well to give at this point a list of the commoner of these terms together with their meanings. Obviously, such indications are of two general types dealing respectively with increasing and decreasing speed, and we shall accordingly give the definitions in two cla.s.ses: