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Sublety in Mozart's time vs. today



 
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 1:06 pm    Post subject: Sublety in Mozart's time vs. today Reply with quote

I just heard an exquisite performance of a Mozart piano sonata on PBS. The performance had very subtile nuances in dynamics and praseology. The question is, how authentic an interpretation was this?

The question is not whether or not such an interpretation was musical or not, it is about the historical authentisity.

In Mozart's time, were the instruments and performances subject to such nuanced variations or were dynamics i.e. more "stepped"? This was extremely nuanced and I wonder if the interpretation or physical possibilities, in Mozart's time, was this varied? Thanks.
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Didymus
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 6:16 pm    Post subject: Historic Performance Experts Reply with quote

You may want to pose that question to a musician who is familiar with historically informed performances.

I'm not an H.I.P. expert, but I have read that dynamic and metronome markings were not in common use during the classical and early romantic era. Sheet music guided the musician as to what notes to play, but dynamics, tempo and style were described broadly, if at all. The "proper" way to interpret a composition was passed aurally. You heard someone else play, who heard someone else, et cetera, down to the premiere by either the composer, dedicatee, or the first musician to play the music in public. Dynamic and strict tempo markings were often added later, sometimes based on the most popular interpretations by later performers.

Again, I'm no expert, I'm only repeating what I read about the matter.

As far as the physical differences allowing for certain interpretations, one would have to look at any of the differences in instrument design and technique from that era until now. I know pianos have been improved upon since Mozart's time. Mozart's piano probably had a range of 4 to 5 octaves, a softer and more brittle sound closer to a harpsichord, with less sustain and no damper pedals.
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Last edited by Didymus on Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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kehaulani
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Joined: 23 Mar 2003
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Location: Hawai`i - Texas

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks.

p,s, "You may want to pose that question to a musician who is familiar with historically informed performances."
You may never know who might be lurking here.
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