David Raleigh Arnold
2007-01-15 18:21:10 UTC
At 17 minutes performance time, which is what Arthur Ness timed a
couple of orchestral versions at IIRC, the 256 measures (plus one beat)
come out at MM 1/8 = 90 plus a tiny bit, which seems to me to be a tempo
very attainable by real people. I have no doubt whatsoever that a
*magnificent* performance on the guitar is perfectly possible at that
tempo. It is at least not necessary to get through it in ten minutes or
less, and it *may* be counterproductive to play it as fast as that.
(for students:) After working at it at near 90 for a while, it would be
good to cut the beat to 1/4 = 44, but 1/8 = ca. 90 will help a lot more
at first, for sure. So will counting 1 ka ta ka and ka ta ka 2 ...
I am not allowing for ritards and fermatas, but I think it's a real good
idea to ignore those for a while and use dynamic phrasing instead. As an
example of that, playing it in a *probably* anachronistic romantic manner,
try a crescendo to the E near the end and then dimming down to almost
nothing on the octave D's at the end. Have the trill start late, speed it
up while dimming a bit, and then let it die, all in tempo or very close.
It's a very effective way of ending it, and it's as easy as falling down.
I'm not sure that anyone can prove that it wasn't supposed to be played
that way.
A lot of cleaning up (muting) of open strings and getting rid of excess
slurs has to be done, but that probably was unfinished business anyway.
(It was in my case. Before yeaterday I hadn't played it in decades. I had
it memorized once upon a time.) The Legnani is such a bitch (but not
as bad as the rap) that it's nice to have a relatively easy project also,
especially such magnificent music. daveA
couple of orchestral versions at IIRC, the 256 measures (plus one beat)
come out at MM 1/8 = 90 plus a tiny bit, which seems to me to be a tempo
very attainable by real people. I have no doubt whatsoever that a
*magnificent* performance on the guitar is perfectly possible at that
tempo. It is at least not necessary to get through it in ten minutes or
less, and it *may* be counterproductive to play it as fast as that.
(for students:) After working at it at near 90 for a while, it would be
good to cut the beat to 1/4 = 44, but 1/8 = ca. 90 will help a lot more
at first, for sure. So will counting 1 ka ta ka and ka ta ka 2 ...
I am not allowing for ritards and fermatas, but I think it's a real good
idea to ignore those for a while and use dynamic phrasing instead. As an
example of that, playing it in a *probably* anachronistic romantic manner,
try a crescendo to the E near the end and then dimming down to almost
nothing on the octave D's at the end. Have the trill start late, speed it
up while dimming a bit, and then let it die, all in tempo or very close.
It's a very effective way of ending it, and it's as easy as falling down.
I'm not sure that anyone can prove that it wasn't supposed to be played
that way.
A lot of cleaning up (muting) of open strings and getting rid of excess
slurs has to be done, but that probably was unfinished business anyway.
(It was in my case. Before yeaterday I hadn't played it in decades. I had
it memorized once upon a time.) The Legnani is such a bitch (but not
as bad as the rap) that it's nice to have a relatively easy project also,
especially such magnificent music. daveA
--
Free download of technical exercises worth a lifetime of practice:
"Dynamic Guitar Technique": http://www.openguitar.com/instruction.html
You can play the cards you're dealt, or improve your hand with DGT.
To email go to: http://www.openguitar.com/contact.html
Free download of technical exercises worth a lifetime of practice:
"Dynamic Guitar Technique": http://www.openguitar.com/instruction.html
You can play the cards you're dealt, or improve your hand with DGT.
To email go to: http://www.openguitar.com/contact.html