The art of music, just as in any other art, lies in the details. Although they are easily glossed over, attention to them often means the difference between a great performance and a mediocre one.
Since I have spent a great deal of time lately with Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, I thought it would be interesting and useful to discuss a few examples that need and should be addressed in performance. The question of editors and such certainly comes into play with a passage like the ones I will illustrate from the second movement, the Andante con moto.
Between the Bärenreiter which is the more recent edition and the work here, the former is to be preferred. Shown here is an older edition courtesy of the IMSLP. However, even within the Bärenreiter there exist some major discrepancies. Just take the opening phrase, for instance and compare it with its return toward the end of the movement:
When this happens, which is somewhat frequently, the decision of whether or not to unify a passage such as this needs to be in terms of the following constraints:
[1]. Are these slur marks or bowings?
Without the assistance of an autograph manuscript, it becomes very difficult to unearth the real intentions of a composer since a work as old as the Schubert (1816) has been subject to nearly two centuries of editorial markings, sometimes piled on top of another, sometimes mixing bowing and slur marks, and sometimes not.
[2]. Did the composer intend for a different slur or bowing pattern to create variety or interest later?
Sometimes a look into other parts will help, although there is as much variation in the wind markings as there are in the strings. Mozart, a composer whom Schubert drew much influence from in his Symphony No. 5, was famous for writing out many of his recapitulations from memory. The slur marks didn’t always make it in the same way that they had before, and it seems likely this had more to do with speed and by accident rather than by force of will. This contrasts to starkly with some other composers who almost certainly changed articulations and phrasing to create variety. This creates real problems when trying to unearth what the intention was, and forces the careful weeding through erroneous editorial markings to effectively “dust off” the parts. And then, one must take great care to encourage the string principals to bow the parts in a way that complements the intentions of the author, whether the composer would have cared or not. To this answer, you might be surprised.
Unfortunately, while I can see what Schubert had for breakfast one day, the manuscript for the Schubert is not available at this otherwise wonderful site: http://www.schubert-online.at/.
Conversations with Chris, May 12, 2010
Now that we have a blog up and running that parallels the wonderful conversations that have been taking place at the Portsmouth Public Library, I thought this would be a great time to get started on thinking about some of the things that we will discuss on May 12th. As you are no doubt aware, the topic will be the City of London and the enormously important role it has played throughout the years in music, as well as the role that it continues to play today.
For those of you lucky enough to be around the city this summer, make sure you head toward Kensington to check out the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Now under the auspices of the BBC, the performance series was led for many years by Sir Henry Wood since its inception in 1893. The idea was to create a casual atmosphere where people could stroll about during performances, and still today the area directly in front of the stage at Royal Albert Hall is cordoned off for just for “Prommers” who can get a great deal on tickets for just five pounds.
The complete 2010 schedule is available here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2010/
One of the things that we will discuss that is so intriguing is the difference in the culture between a festival like the Proms, and one typically viewed as more traditional, such as the Salzburg Festival in Austria. So many wonderful composers visited London and were inspired by its culture, beauty, and people, but since music in so many ways grew out of the Austro-Germanic tradition, it likely held a certain distinction or perhaps even exoticism for those visiting for the first time. Especially for those of us in New England, that seems incomprehensible, since much of the English musical tradition is alive and well here and we are so accustomed to it.
So, ultimately the question that I find it interesting to try to answer is to ask what the common thread of musical changes and inspiration would have been for those composers visiting the city. One of many questions to ponder as the next library conversation draws near!
