As a result, the distinct combination of melody, harmony, rhythm, orchestration and notation of a particular piece may influence the perception of an optimal tempo between reasonable limits.
In this regard, there is scientific evidence which suggests that tempo information is coded not only in melody representation and rhythm, but also in other music attributes such as pitch, timbre and event density. Even after the metronome was invented, composers such as Brahms or Mendelssohn disregarded its use as deemed useless, arguing that any musician should be able to infer the “correct tempo” for any piece. Indeed, until the 19th century, composers did not have a way to quantify music speed objectively, and rather relied on qualitative indications (such as Allegro, Andante, Grave) and the performers’ expertise to characterise their pieces. On the basis of all this debate, the key question is whether music entails certain tempo that performers can estimate, or if it is instead an arbitrary choice that only the composer can reveal. Nevertheless, both failed to compare their proposed models with the fact they intended to explain, that is: the disparity between Beethoven’s marks and the performers chosen tempi. Would it not be possible that some mechanical damage slowed its mechanism at some point, forcing Beethoven to choose faster figures than the ones he really intended? Two previous studies have tried to analyze this hypothesis from a mechanical point of view. But there is documentary evidence that at least on two occasions the composer had to take it to the watchmaker due to its unsteady behaviour. Unfortunately, his own metronome was lost during an exhibition celebrated in Vienna in 1921.
After all, Beethoven owned one of the first units of a newly invented device. The most controversial and intriguing explanation is the one that focuses on the functioning of the metronome itself. The fact that not all marks share the same poor reputation has particularly puzzled musicologists. Temperley went even further to say that “Beethoven’s marks are almost useless as guides to performance speeds”, arguing that the rubato practice in the 19th century made it impossible to choose one tempo for a given piece. Others have challenged the authenticity and subjective validity of the marks, arguing they do not convey Beethoven’s intentions, or looking into their documentary sources for possible copy mistakes. In the 1980s, the Historically Informed performances (or HIP movement), defined by their intent to perform music in the manner of the musical era in which it was conceived, blamed Romanticism and Wagner’s conducting school for slowing down Beethoven’s music performances. Many scholars have argued on this matter from different points of view. This is also the basic functioning of contemporary mechanical metronomes. All this mechanism is held in a pyramid-shaped box that amplifies the metronome’s sound and supports its scale. To compensate for friction, an impulse force is added to the system with the aid of a spring-driven escapement wheel, which also produces the characteristic audible ticks of the metronome. The rod is fixed to the metronome’s shaft and can oscillate around it. This way, the user can set up the desired tempo and determine its value by reading the scale behind the rod. The metronome consists of two masses attached to a rod: the heaviest mass remains fixed at the lower end (hidden from view), while the upper mass (lighter, visible) can be moved along the rod to change the frequency of the oscillation. b, Depiction from the 1815 English patent. 7 from Tony Bingham’s collection (TB 07), made in Paris c.1816. Today there is no album, essay, or concert criticism that fails to mention tempo choices when Beethoven is on the program.Ī, Metronome No. But there are also those who, seeking historically accurate performances, claim Beethoven’s marks as his supposedly written will. This and other incongruities have led many performers to ignore these figures and rely on other musical cues to determine the right tempo. 106, also called Hammerklavier sonata, which starts with a decidedly unfeasible indication of 138 beats per minute for the half note. Probably the most paradigmatic case is the Op. On the contrary, since their publication, they have long been debated and generally disregarded by performers. The great paradox of this story is that, in spite of Beethoven’s involvement, these marks have not helped clarify the tempo of his music. Maelzel ( Fig 1) and even attributed the success of his 9th Symphony to its newly added tempo marks. Indeed, he welcomed with enthusiasm the invention of the metronome by Johann N.
The importance Beethoven gave to tempo as an essential component of his music idea is well documented.
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