Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto, Part 9. Tempos
and the tactus for the Bassoon Concerto movements. Also, this video
features the “Mozart Mashup.” By Terry B. Ewell, Bassoon
Digital Professor. BDP #220. With Elaine Ross, piano. www.2reed.net.
<music: “Mozart Mashup” with Terry Ewell and Elaine Ross.>
1. Welcome to the ninth video in this series on the Mozart Bassoon
Concerto. Let me ask you, “How do you determine a tempo?”
If you are similar to most people, you chose a tempo to the music that
matches your playing technique, or a tempo recommended by your teacher,
or perhaps one modeled by a famous performer. That said, we must
recognize that our interpretation of music is part of the culture we
grew up in, one that might be quite foreign to the culture of
Mozart’s day.
2. I grew up on Seattle, Washington in the USA. Occasionally I would
eat Chinese food with my family at different restaurants in the area.
At the end of every meal we knew that a treat was coming—fortune
cookies.
3. Years later I traveled to Hong Kong to perform as Principal Bassoon
of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. I distinctly remember one of my first
meals there with other friends from the orchestra. After eating a
wonderful meal, I was shocked to discover that no fortune cookies were
given. Later I learned that fortune cookies were invented in the USA
and were not a part of traditional Chinese cuisine. All those years in
America I had a wrong idea of what was true to an authentic Chinese
meal.
4. Some of the statements in my videos are no doubt jarring to you
because they differ from conventions of performances today. I hope,
however, that you will take the time to carefully consider whether our
current preferences are new additions that are not part of the practice
of performance at Mozart’s time. I ask you, “How many
‘fortune cookies’ have we added to the authentic
dish?” What expectations do we bring to a performance of the
Concerto that are 20th and 21st century changes?
5. Most commonly musicians today conceive of the tempos of each of the
movements in a concerto as independent of each other, without a
relationship. This was not the case, however, for composers and
musicians from the Baroque and Classical periods. Some information on
tempo relationships is contained in two articles I wrote several years
ago:
"Proportional Tempos in the Concertos of Antonio Vivaldi," The Double Reed 24/2 (2001): 113-121.
"Proportional Tempos in the Performance of Vivaldi's Oboe Concertos," The Double Reed 26/2 (2003): 55-59.
6. Those articles were aided by materials in David Epstein’s book
Shaping Time and from source documents. We don’t have time to
review here Epstein’s book or my articles in detail. However,
here is a quick summary of the observations I made in the articles that
could inform a performance of the Mozart Bassoon Concerto:
• 7. Composers during the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras viewed tempo differently than we do.
• 8. Multi-movement works were often conceived
as unified not only through key signatures, but also through related
tempos.
• 9. Considering a unifying tempo, a tactus, for
the entire work can aid a musician in defining the performance tempos
of each movement in a composition.
10. The recordings that I have made for these next videos in the Mozart
series start from a unique position: that Mozart conceived of the
Bassoon Concerto as a unified composition. It is unified not only in
the key signature relationships of the movements, but also by tempo.
Looking for a common tempo, I find that metronome marking 92 seems most
appropriate as the tactus for the entire Mozart Bassoon Concerto. This
tactus, however, will seem quite foreign to our modern ears that have
been accustomed to different tempos.
11. Take, for instance, the first movement of the Mozart Bassoon
Concerto, which has now been elevated to an “Olympic
Event.” A contemporary performance of this movement sprints
through the music in order to demonstrate the agility and prowess of
the performer rather than express the intentions of the composer at a
slower tempo. This hyper speed widely departs from the earliest
meanings of tempo marking allegro. Sandra Rosenblum writes in her book
Performance Practice in Classic Piano Music:
12. In colloquial Italian allegro means “cheerful,” “good-humored,” or “lively” (p. 318).
13. A further indication of the slower allegro tempos in the 18th
century is provided in this interesting quotation about Mozart and
Haydn conducting their own symphonies:
14. "They never took their first Allegros as fast as one hears them
here, and also no doubt in various German orchestras" (Rosenblum, p.
319; Quotation from AMZ XIII/44 (30 October 1811, Col. 737).
15. Thus, there is significant evidence in historical sources pointing
to a tempo for the first movement that is far less frantic than
typically performed today.
16. Please be aware, however, that this tactus of metronome marking 92
is a reference point, not a mandate. Slight variations from the tactus
are appropriate. For now, however, let’s conclude this video with
a performance of my “Mozart Mashup.” Here I perform all
materials from the three movements at the same tempo, illustrating how
the composition could be unified by the same tactus.
17. If you wish, you will find this music is available for free on 2reed.net for your study. Enjoy!
<closing portion of “Mozart Mashup”>