We are unable to hear the slightest deviation of pulse in his performance - despite repeated listenings since the above posting. Perhaps member autoharp could assist by pointing us to those moments (which must, we think, be extremely isolated ones) where Gustav's very tight rhythm seems (to him) a little "slack"?

Baz

Marvellous stuff - and much appreciated - thank you!

Slowing down in Baroque music at the ends of movements has always been a bone of contention. The default assumption by modern players (especially those used to later repertoires) is that one must always do it. This is probably not a false assumption, but the question is: if so, by how much?

There are basically two differing kinds of "slowing down": a) some time before the end a deliberately-paced rallentando is imposed that signals, well in advance, that at an easily-calculable distance into the future the piece will come to a definitive end; and b) one that a performer applies (perhaps out of courtesy to the listeners) that merely pinpoints the arrival of the final cadence/chord as a point of structure. In the former, a rallentando has been applied strategically so as to become itself an indispensable part of the structure of the piece. As such it is customarily actually specified by the composer, together with other elements of articulation or dynamic. In the latter it is often the case that no indication of slowing down is given by the composer, but that a slight easing of tempo is applied merely to signal the definitive arrival of the end of the movement. It is, of course, the latter case that applied to Baroque music since nobody at that time every (at least to my knowledge) indicated the directions rit. or rall.

However, there were other means composers had of signalling a wish to slow down. Many Baroque pieces (the obvious example being the infamous Bach D Minor Toccata BWV 565) apply terms like "Largo" or "Adagio" for the last bar or so, implying (in some way) a definite slowing down, or relaxation of pace. 17th-century English musical sources also use the English term drag to indicate a slowing of pace.

There are some interesting citations in Robert Donington's The Interpretation of Early Music, two pages of which appear below:





These might be of some help, but in the end I feel that a player's sense of "good taste" has the final word. Unfortunately many players seem to lack this (!) and we are none the wiser.

Baz

Donington's final par. (above) does seem to refer to ends of movements/pieces. Some players take these things to extremes, as we know from Mr Grew's postings of Wanda! Whenever she plays the repeats in binary-form movements, her rallentandi at the ends of each and every section (before repeating them even) are as long and drawn-out as at the very ends.


Final ritenuti do seem rather a thing of the past, and the alternative seems to be (often with good effect) merely to insert a moment's hestitation before playing the final chord. I expect in ensemble music this is purely a matter for decision at rehearsal, and would be controlled (after agreement) by whoever leads the ensemble (whether the principal violinist, or the continuo player perhaps).

I feel that a musical discourse - just like a verbal one - should naturally contain modulations of pitch and speed. It is, after all, quite natural for a spoken sentence to have a slight slowing down at its end, together with a falling of pitch. (We should never wish to sound like daleks should we?) I don't see why a musical sentence should be different, though striking just the right stylistic balance and effect is a very different matter.

Baz

Well we are damned if we can hear that at all! Bars 1-3 seem to us (like all the other bars) to be very tight in rhythm with no (to us) discernible alteration of pulse or subdivision thereof. We are unable in any way to notice (despite repeated listenings) any difference in tempo/articulation/anything between the 7th group in bar 6 and any of the surrounding groups whatsoever.

Further, what we hear in bars 4/5 is a movement that, while maintaining strictly the same tempo as the surrounding bars (and all other bars within the piece), suddenly allows a legato melody to sing through. While this does not - as we have calculated - in any way change the pulse, it does change the Affect - which suddenly seems more relaxed in mood.

Perhaps it must be our own ears - they are not getting younger!

Baz

Indeed - we are (I assume) talking about THIS RECORDING?

Baz

Other members?...