Character in tempo

From the continuous references seen in the previous chapter, one can already glimpse the strong relationship that existed between character and tempo.

Historical instrumental tutors become a good source, reflecting the relationship between both concepts and showing how close they were. The more relevant chapters about tempo, in nineteenth-century historical sources, are those where an author talks about the character of each movement.

These writings reveal that the main distinction between slow and fast movements is not just a matter of speed. Therefore, the main difference between movements was established in the diverse interpretative resources that were more appropriate for each tempo. Then, what distinguished, for instance, an allegro from an adagio was the kind of ornaments, articulations or dynamics that were considered more suitable for each one of these tempi.

The employment of those kinds of resources becomes more important for the performer than the fact that allegro is faster than adagio.

However, this way of understanding tempo is not a new feature of the nineteenth century. As an example, it is possible to draw a continuity line between eighteenth and nineteenth-century tutors on their treatment of tempo character, as seen on Quantz’s Versuch and his discussion on fast and slow tempi (adagio and allegro) in chapters XII “Von der Art das Allegro zu spielen” (Quantz 1752: 111-117) and XIV “Von der Art das Adagio zu spielen” (Quantz 1752: 136-151). Similarly, Ozi’s method dedicates chapter IX: “Du mouvement Adagio” (1803: 29-30) and chapter X: “Du mouvement Allegro” (1803: 30-31) to the same topic. In other cases, there is just one huge chapter in which the author describes the main characteristics of each tempo, and also speaks about which one is more suitable for the instrument,

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as Jancourt (1847: 50-51) does in his chapter 14: “Du caràtere des divers mouvements”.

It can reasonably be stated that the indications on tempo performance relating it to a character, and the interpretative resources implied are common in tutors from the first half of the nineteenth century. Usually, adagio is normally related to tenuto sounds with a sustained legato combined with a softer attack in the articulation. As summarised by Jancourt (1847: 50) in the quote:

The practice of taking and holding the breath in order to control the sound, to sustain it and to develop it, to show the tenderness of the port de voix [...] are the most essential qualities to acquire in order to sing in the adagio [...] The articulation by the tongue should be done with a soft accent (du)¹ (Jancourt 1847: 50).

By contrast, allegro is normally related to a stronger articulation, brightness and clarity in fast passages, as Jancourt (1847: 51) points out in his tutor.

Moreover, another important difference among both movements is settled by the kind of ornamentation suitable for each.

Ozi’s method is a clear example of how he adapts his technique to the character of each tempo. By doing this, he underlined the differences in the performance of different tempi. He was not only concerned about establishing differences between the various kinds of ornaments, but also about articulation. In his examples, like the one shown in example 5.1, Ozi takes some passages and rewrites them with different articulations, conceived for different tempi.

Example 5.1. Articulations according to character (Ozi, 1803:7).

1 L’habitude de bien prendre et retenir sa respiration, de manière à bien poser le son, à bien le soutenir et le filer, à bien faire sentir se moelleux des ports de voix [...] sont les qualités les plus essentielles à acquérir pour bien chanter l’adagio [...] Le coup de langue doit être donné avec l’accent doux (du) (Jancourt 1847: 50).

It is important to remark that the articulations Ozi proposes regarding the character of the tempo simply follow an aesthetic taste; consequently, they are not necessarily planned to make the passage technically easier. For instance, in many cases he asks to play more staccato notes in allegro than in lento when, for an instrument like the bassoon, it would be much easier the other way around.

When referring to ornamentation, Ozi (1803: 30) stresses the importance of its use in the adagio, stating that it is this movement that better suits them.

Still, his claim could be seen as a reminiscence of baroque ornamentation tendency for slow tempo if it is compared with claims by authors like Quantz, Leopod Mozart or Carl Philip E. Bach. However to understand tempo according to character prevails over the first half of nineteenth century. For instance, in mid nineteenth century Jancourt (1847: 50) shares Ozi’s opinion that ornamentation is a resource that perfectly fits the adagio movement, but in his claim it is possible to appreciate a slight change of trend due to the passage of time, when he warns that it should not be overused.

One should be very sober with regards to ornaments, because the severe style of the adagio does not comprise them. Only taste should inspire the artist those ornaments that are connected to the spirit of the piece² (Jancourt 1847: 50).

The idea that character shapes the performance of movements written under different tempi is not exclusive to the French tradition. Instead, it is a generalized practice among bassoonists from all over Europe. For instance, the German bassoonist Carl Almenräder gives one of the clearest examples of performance relating to tempo. He does not have any specific section in his method on the character of tempo.

However, in his chapter about ornamentation, Almenräder (1843: 69) illustrates the differences in the performance of allegro and adagio with a short example. Through it, Almenräder argues that the term tempo was connected to some expressive resources. These include, for instance, the various kinds of articulations and the use of slurs.

2 On doit être très sobre d’ornamens (sic), car le style sévère de l’adagio ne les comporterait pas. C’est le goût seul qui doit inspirer à l’Artiste des ornements qui soient en rapport avec l’esprit du morceau (Jancourt 1847: 50).

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Firstly, Almenräder writes a bare four bars phrase reproduced in ex. 5.2

Example 5.2. Bare phrase (Almenräder 1843: 69).

Throughout his next examples, he reproduces graphically the expressive resources that fast and slow tempi should have. Almenräder explains how this phrase should be played in an allegro (see Ex. 5.3):

Example 5.3. Almenräder’s indications for playing allegro (Almenräder 1843: 69).

The strokes indicate that each half note should be played shorter, not with its entire value. Also, he marks each note with accents, so that the kind of attack should be stronger in the allegro than in the adagio.

Finally, Almenräder shows what it would be like if the phrase were played in an adagio, as illustrated in example 5.4.

Example 5.4. Almenräder’s indications for playing adagio (Almenräder 1843: 69).

In this case Almenräder slurs the notes in each bar. Concerning slurs, he is not drawing a big slur that would cover the entire phrase of all of the four bars. His method is from 1843; Almenräder lived during the first half of nineteenth century and the idea of the big line will appear later on in the century.

The second thing to notice is the rhythm he writes anticipating the second note of the bar. This was the typical graphic way at the time to write portamento or port de voix³. Portamento is linked to the idea of expression; hence,

3 Portamento was a very common resource as it is shown in many nineteenth-century tutors, such as singing tutors by Garcia or Vaccai, or other tutors for string instrument like Baillot’s. See chapter 7.3.

it is suitable in slow movements regardless of whether it appears written on the score with the dotted note slur—as it has been shown—or it is not defined by any kind of specific notation. Therefore, in his example, Almenräder is telling the performer to make a slide, a glissando between the two notes in each bar in order to connect them in the adagio movement.