{"id":18436,"date":"2022-08-23T00:03:59","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T22:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=170492"},"modified":"2022-08-23T00:19:17","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T22:19:17","slug":"conductor-roger-norrington-on-honouring-beethovens-tempo-markings","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/conductor-roger-norrington-on-honouring-beethovens-tempo-markings\/","title":{"rendered":"Conductor Roger Norrington on honouring Beethoven\u2019s tempo markings"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Julian Haylock\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 23 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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\u2018There was a time when the scholarly world was virtually cut off from practical music-making. Yet for me the two are essential partners. Now everything is finally coming together \u2013 most vitally regarding tempo. I remember when I first encountered Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s original metronome marks, and realised that many mainstream conductors were taking some of his music literally at half speed. Discovering how these hallowed masterpieces could or even should <\/i>sound was a revelatory and thrilling\u00a0process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018With the second movement of Symphony No. 2, there seemed to be a general assumption that bars had to be subdivided into regular slow beats, even 3\/8, which should, of course, be conducted one-in-a-bar, and 6\/8 as two \u2013 never in six! We have it on record as early as Leopold Mozart explaining how it should actually be done! I apply the same rule to the opening of Brahms\u2019s First Symphony, and even the Tristan<\/i> Prelude, albeit at a slower tempo \u2013 yet it should definitely still be felt in two.\u2019<\/p>\n

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