2 Shaping the Tempo
Flexibility in baroque tempo
“Thereare ofcourse, obvious symmetries in baroque music requ
ingcorresponding rogularity of tempo, Lemay be ss obvows Pati
is Sgualy importa tar there areca within te tyme
requiring sensitive and imaginative srgularin,
“Tus Prescot (in 16-16 rogue his Toceatas‘as we see
dlonein moder Mangal tobe taken ‘now slowiy, now quickly,
Sand even held nthe ait match the expressive ceca ore sense
ofthe words; while ‘the cadences, sthough they may be writes
vik are propery 0 be very ah dawn ony a a
Broaching the ch of pasages or cadences one procnis
Serwing out the time more slag’; and when you find [orm
mental} passages and sapresive effect, it will be desable to
Play slowly’ for ‘eis et co the fine judgement of the performer
fo regulate the eempo'. Mace (70) ine commented ‘Lit-
leek Te seated Fey and ing oer
4 We peccve; the Nature ofthe Thing Require ean Rostra
ele ako wand beni ee ore plople who oo
‘ets argh mover flow and ae ne:
these ate very different mat: Couperin (7) in 1706 ceerted
thyme nhc ie and mee fins ot
Cadence (te. whathe hast lla "adeesormorement i properly
thesprtthe soul harmon be added oie And Quant (3) int yf
summed it up fr us when e wrote shat ‘the performance show
Be easy and feuble' and without siffness and constrain.
Teis occasionally pose to borrow nite time, but pay it back:
cg. by hurrying on alter slowing down, or moce probably by
slowing down alter hurrying on, ax when C. P. E. Bach (74) sug
jesed in 1755 that certain sequences (or ely squat pata)
‘Ean be etcchely performed by accelerating gradually and gently,
and retarding innedately afcrvarde- Bur much move olen the
teed isnot for borrowed me but for stolen mete acral rans
Up lege cd water
Jarogue music constructed with many cadences, Mostar so
transitory that we take them in our seide Some area te more
sei he promeons ofthe arty ane move
the bast they donot warranearallentando bat they do request,
tuficent recognition acknowledge them wis cry or
ing ofthe tempo. The listener snot aware of, but nvercess
Fest case and does aot ge hat monotonous sensation (which
se tb efi st barge prance dan at
present of being driven along wih the depressing punctaity of
‘achine Thetempe isaorarburary,bucit sou rathes eke. The
Sopot Henble,
Flexibility in baroque tempo Pa
Yecothercaiene ac eae sl and coquire quit perceptible
naleeands swully followed by sn equally percep pau in she
Braing before the musi aes up agin intempo. eis noe that
thee pene neh hve eer 9 be nec ch in
tsemlters they should ten be excetingy slight Buri he bast
snd the harmonies ae saying calenee he performer should be
‘ying esdence se wel
“here wil wal be somthing inthe str acu for
any pronounced sense of cadence, For example, a baroque alegro
amay‘ofen er our ts opening rari (wher this simple or
‘lin sme shapes extn, sd make i iden both
‘elodcally and harmonically when this exportion s winding up.
nls th ater presented bere witha prcepceallentaedo,
there is an effet of hurry even if not noticed ar sich; and
‘moreover, an iniportant and enjoyable element inthe aera of
themoverent allowed go or aosng ei the same when the
development section, whichis likely to occupy the middle
portions ofthe movements drawing to lone n preparation for
the return ofthe pamary material im more or les reepiustory
form, Ths preparation mane heard to he endored by another
sufficient although not excesverallentando, of Ss, again his
Sigea aspect of the arucure wall make lie or nothing of is
inteaded diet. There will normally be aconsusing allemand oo.
"When he muse hs Ben shaped merely by a eg the
termpo the pickup is usually quite smooth ad nconpicuous
‘When herehas been aden allentando, a often beter ely
the pick-up by 2 fleting momenc of pty so tha the new tater
canbe paced with acerain delbeasoo ch will sound nog
icin more getty punctal dan fithad avd wih met
‘omic acct. Ths deltbertspacing’ of ew secon, orimetay
Of anew phrse, i again unely 10 movced by the linen:
should not be noid Buri doen facecontates bf allowance
fofvsolen cme; for nether the moment of pose tel, nor the
fallemando (ie or much) which lel up fig ever going fo be
‘eetre aterin the movement, Soc olen tine doss aot need tbe
festoved;tisamply anormal ingredient of th ‘eany and Beale
Soe resanmended by Quante 6)
He was aso C. PE. Bach's (76) opinion in 1799 dat ertin
deliberate dnurbances ofthe bestace stray beau and tat
“ertin notes and rests shouldbe prolonged beyond thee written
lengch for reasons of expresion’ Bute wat casts teacher
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Invscetomssearked adayo' (the simple sense fen mos but
the lage hal-bar of it again mare "adage (probably in his
‘Stcoded sense ofp rllertanda). The wor let slo found
Seasonally in se ame sense of tore tallntando, oF 3 ecper
plegand, ha ih aero ose ptrertome
Joss asequence op mf fsmfrp may mean non yam tes Buta
frail sae and fly 0 Sago or grave or may Under sich
Flexibility in recitative s
cumstances mean not tempo steps bat atempo gradationsin short,
‘sn slargando,
Flexibilgy in rectative
‘Of al musical textres restive i he least subject to the nosed
tear Recs evoe and hough he tof oper, 2nd
‘pets afore jn and through the evoltion of retativ. There,
‘Reeds ale seativo shorty before the ise af operas 8 est
{ied ig Engl he recting yey since weitere el the
poten for cave nee, the tle etativa continued 0
{fale cal devlopueat ination those delamarory de-
‘opment whith oper fui, and which we now conte the
ame of receive otiney se
Tecate i nt ooly desamator: itp of indeterminate length
and openia form nlose sas Tip forthe singe 0 expe
Srey cum of pasion and every verbal nfectons is for the
seoTnpanimen fll unhesngly, or evento press on where
There funcealy would hold swinger back Oper 9 deama; and
‘relates le yappretentatio, the repreaccaive se 8H wat
‘Terangely eles Grama sae, no mater wheter is eng
Ire thee the church, or the chamber cantata Thi as conde
tins is enive manor of performance
‘Recieve was probably achieved by Peri in is Daf Florence,
1598 Forendne O1 Style, Le, 157) the ease opera, of which
‘Bforeunstely the mesic incl alos Coc ready ponece
‘ofthe retung syle emulated immediately: Memteer enriched
fe mseveneenthcentury opera popalarized it Bonin (9) ia
vay avo that according tothe aeads ofthe words’ we should
“End guy or slow, now sustaining no chaning the bes,
{orila demands the Horentne syle. Monteverd (5) 165,
‘rane he Bones rapprecastivo (heal tle) ‘song without
eat and it 16st cere ay “seag to the time ofthe acs
‘eding ad moto that ofthe hand Dot (Et) around 1635 put
{ESC Resale eacoo th Singers atin the ul of conning
Himself any bes Bonachel (bin x6 asked un aconlance
Niche feeling to best naw fat now slow a8 indeed anyone
Wel ety know fnmediatly who posseses the fine manner of
Tagine =, bel canto
"Boe and decamotory a his carly Tlianreitative was both in
conception and pertortance, ie wa also melodious, carrying 28
GIRE et mab expression of te opera: By the second hal of
{he svemscenth consry, however, ee recative began gray £0
[etom less mddiouy andthe ais more elaborate unl inthe
ter opens of Aesandea Scrat for example, around te sartofa4 Shaping the Tempo
she eighteenth cenury (and sll more oa lide ater in lanel
Hiss) che aris carry he chit maria expression apd the eating
tray often do lite more than sing the pltand the dialogue al
‘Acady in t68: Berardi (2) wrote thatthe representative ste,
‘hs often cons ane dat ging pear
and speaking one sings’: And Brossard (4) in 1703, Pothaps wi
that actual pasage in mind ikewite ale vac manner of
Singing which holds as much of Decomation ay of Song as one
dlecaomed in Singing oF wf ne sgn declan, hence where
on hr more tenon pring the Peston than low
cnaly timed measure’. Matheson (By) in i939 confirmed that
recieve “ha rem, ia that i governs self very much acording
tw ordinary speech’ for ‘ecitative has indeed a bens but i des nt
‘sets thatthe singer doesnot ned to bind himself by if.
‘Bach (in i763 spend thar recat, unless companied wi 3
mcidic bas snd perhaps other sry moving puree azomps
nied" rectative as opposed to ‘simple’, are deciaimed according to
their subjctmatr, now slow, now fas, witout ropard te he
tneasue, even thoogh they ae writen wih bas
"Neither the more melodious exly baroque Tan restate, noe
thelers melodious te baroque lei eae which incon
evolved avay rom it during the losing decades of the seventeenth
eocury unt it Beeame «gute diteree species inthe ightecnth
century, Was confined to oper, All this dcelopmenc eccured,
together with the equally distinctive development of ara, ne less in
‘tatorio and ia cat, both saved and secur eis re th
“church musi’ Quan) i 12 hough tat "bok expression
and tempo should heme resteained than ia opera to show respect,
for the sacredness ofthe laces but in he bienry neice on
‘ach, already quoted (1), which C, PE Bach and]. F Atala
published in Misler's Muskalache Botbek (S794), hey de,
‘coded him a very accra is consting sod vet tre of hig
tempos, which hewaly made very lively” puearbablyin a well
sour of char a. .
ring the closing portion of the seventeenth ceneury, Lally
volved yet another dtncive varity of recatvey the Fre
estate, derived from euly Ralan recat, and mainting
someting ofthe deslanatory melodiousnes which Ite baroque
Trlanate eciaive wa alrey dcardng mn favour ofthe mere
specchslike vary, The performance of French ectaive i just a,
closely conditioned by the word; but the composer stemped fat
Imre i nat aie crn by change 8 me
signature for arco sty By Re P. Wall ae p. 19) below)
Sometimes ihre nosed changes affect the durion of he ee,
sometimes only seep and groupings. la chovyfavusual) sor
Flexibility in rectatoe a
mean twice 28 fst 2 , and half fast again as but in practice
reel more han eluewher thst erreion jus cannot
sip here Chouel we np te
‘newt with two best” foes ry ich more quit apd
‘me noes in the mesure with four ben” exept for rehanves
here's movements arbiteary ands tie wonde whch decide”
‘lceady in 1697, Mason (09) weote that ‘he Measure of ove quick
treats he sre thing atcha of wo slow ben and ath the
Tecate ofa Motet obebets the Mesure, bat i hao an pert
fe neglects because he who Beats the Measure obliged to
follow the voice” In 1733 Borin (oz) wrote tat ‘the diferent
manners of beating the Measure donot inthe leg arte tempo
But of couse, tey do ater the ples and this sear tobe he
pita iment of he many changes of tneipatre in reach
‘ckatve. In every cae good dedamastion shoul be out guide
“Thefoliowing re exiles whee ¢ ives afer pale fom,
bout nota deen length of ertche fn Ex 1 the second “Orandy
lunar isan echo of the Best Osan, under theelore couche
econ equals erotchet arom the change of timesgasae, fn
ee cde eg ader ly e pea af e
firstine ending ner €~ therfore ll more aden, eet
qual erotcher The pulse changes! The best retains conan
‘Other pasages remain ambiguous; others may require ewice the
speed of Cuoc's for € of 2 40 that mite equals Conchet
inthis mtr, 0, we do ot sem be slogethe 0 resane
the confusion previing athe ne, snd sus lately tae re
pons for our own dasons, 3 dd the baroque peste
Ex tle Bane Lal, Ama a eH, ribs Pi 139
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