Abstract
During most part of Western classical music history, tempo, the speed of music, was not specified, for it was considered obvious from musical context. Only in 1815, Maelzel patented the metronome. Beethoven immediately embraced it, so much as to add tempo marks to his already published eight symphonies. However, these marks are still under dispute, as many musicians consider them too quick to be played and even unmusical, whereas others claim them as Bethoven's supposedly written will. In this work, we develop a methodology to extract and analyze the performed tempi from 36 complete symphonic recordings by different conductors. Our results show that conductor tempo choices reveal a systematic deviation from Beethoven's marks, which highlights the salience of "correct tempo" as a perceptive phenomenon shaped by cultural context. The hasty nature of these marks could be explained by the metronome's ambiguous scale reading point, which Beethoven probably misinterpreted.
Highlights
The importance Beethoven gave to tempo as an essential component of his music idea is well documented
We have classified them as Historically Informed (HI), under HI influence and Romantics, based on the analysis of L
The influence of the HI movement is evident: attending to the median of their distribution, 12 out of the 15 fastest interpretations correspond to HI or HI-influenced performers, but they still fail to match Beethoven’s marks
Summary
The importance Beethoven gave to tempo as an essential component of his music idea is well documented. He welcomed with enthusiasm the invention of the metronome by Johann N. The most paradigmatic case is the Op. 106, called Hammerklavier sonata, which starts with a decidedly unfeasible indication of 138 beats per minute for the half note. This and other incongruities have led many performers to ignore these figures and rely on other musical cues to determine the right tempo. Today there is no album, essay, or concert criticism that fails to mention tempo choices when Beethoven is on the program
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