Comments on: Playing Beethoven too slowly

By: Dan Hulme

Dan Hulme — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:38:30 +0000

Elgar is another great example. Everyone plays Elgar too slowly, especially the Enigma Variations. When you play a conductor Elgar’s recording of a piece, he’ll invariably complain that it’s too fast!
Also, it’s very lucky that we have recordings of him conducting his pieces. In one movement of Enigma, the tempo of his recording is 2/3 of that written on the score. It’s likely he divided by the wrong number when working out the metronome mark.

By: Jason Fruit

Jason Fruit — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 04:41:17 +0000

I notice a difference in the tempo indications I add to my own scores depending on whether I’m sitting in a chair with a metronome or sitting with an instrument making audible music. Almost always, my chair tempos are faster than I prefer when I can hear the result out loud. I wonder if Beethoven’s hearing loss might have something to do with his (to my ear) excessively fast tempo markings.

By: Dan S

Dan S — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 18:02:35 +0000

Some are so slow as to die of their own weight. Sustaining the long line can be more difficult at slower tempos but can be done within a reasonable range if the conductor knows what he’s doing. This is rare.

Two other common problems also drive met nuts. Adding a ritardando, or a fermata, at the end of a piece where none is written. Beethoven’s Fifth for example should end “in rhythm”. Slowing down or holding any of the last notes for more than their written value, jettisons the accumulated intensity and makes the final cadence sound like a dying elephant.

The other is to bury the moving line in the rhythmic parts. It is rather annoying to know that there is a melody being played, when only an oom-pah band is heard.

I like my Beethoven lean and mean. There is enough gravitas in the music as written. Trying to add more is like putting armor on a racehorse.

By: Franklin Chen

Franklin Chen — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:48:13 +0000

My fundamental point of view: just listen and figure out what makes sense for you. That is all. It is not completely pointless to ask “what did Beethoven really mean?” or “what did Confucius really mean?”, but in the end, we live right here, today, and it is up to us to make our own experiences meaningful.

By: John

John — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:07:47 +0000

Brian: The podcast mentions that possible explanation. However, it also says that Beethoven’s metronome is still around. It has been tested and there’s nothing wrong with it.

By: Brian Oxley

Brian Oxley — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:13:16 +0000

In music school we were taught the MM markings were likely skewed. The metronome was a new device, and early models flawed.

By: Darf Ferrara

Darf Ferrara — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 01:47:19 +0000

Beethovens 8th symphony (second movement) is supposed to be a parody of the recently invented metronome.

By: Franklin Chen

Franklin Chen — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 01:19:53 +0000

In the late 1980s, the “early music” movement (which actually started earlier) gathered a lot of momentum and generated a lot of interesting performances and recordings of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. I remember hearing Norrington’s recordings of Beethoven and never wanting to go back to the slow renditions of Beethoven’s fast movements again. That was a quarter of a century ago. I haven’t changed my mind.