Czerny's 'Impossible' Metronome Marks

MARTEN NOORDUIN Czerny's 'impossible' metronome marks / would like to thank my supervisor Barry Cooperfor his help m the preparation of this article. 1. Linde Grossmann: 'Czerny in der zeitgenössischen Klavierpädagogik', in Dominik Sackmann, ed.: Carl Cferny: Komponist, Pianist, Pädagoge (Mainz, 2009), pp.97-129. 2. See Carl Czerny: On the proper performance of Beethoven's works for the piano, ed. Paul Badura-Skoda (Vienna, 1970). 3. For a more detailed discussion of Czerny's non-pedagogical works, see Randall Keith Sheets: 'The piano sonatas of Carl Czerny', PhD diss., University of Maryland, 1987; and David Gramit, ed.: Beyond the art of finger dexterity: reassessing Carl C^erny (New York, 2008). 4. Anon.: 'Joh. Sebastian Bach's Klavierwerke', in Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung vol.48 no.i8 (6 May 5. Johann Sebastian Bach: The well tempered clavichord, ed. Carl Czerny (London, 6. Johann Sonnleitner: 'Czernys rätselhafte BachTempi oder: Versuch über die variable Art das Metronom zu gebrauchen', in Bach-Interpretationen, edd. HILE Carl Czerny was one of the most fashionable composers of his time, he is mostly remembered for his etudes and exercises, many of which are still used in piano lessons today.' In addition, Czerny's comments on Beethoven's compositions, most notably for the works for piano,^ are also still used by performers and teachers. Since these instructions supposedly represent Beethoven's opinion, however, they do not provide us with clear information on Czerny's musical style. Only recently has there been an effort to rediscover his sonatas, concertos and other compositions, many of which require a great deal of technical ability.' Czerny's editions of Johann Sebastian Bach's works for keyboard were the most complete and important at the time of publication.'' They were claimed to be at least partly based on Beethoven's playing, but the editor's opinions also had a lot of influence in the editing process.' Czerny's metronome marks for both his own works and for Bach's have been criticised in modern times for being almost impossible to play due to their high speed,*^ an instance of which can be seen in ex.i. While bar 24, with demisemiquavers in the right hand at a speed of 552 notes per minute, seems to be realistically performable, the next bar is much less so. During the first three beats of bar 25, the demisemiquaver sextuplets are supposed to be played at a speed of 828 notes per minute. During the last beat, with ten notes in the right hand for every quaver in the left hand, the speed increases to an improbably fast 1380 notes per minute. While the smoriando indication at the second half of the last beat may provide the pianist with some relief, the difficulty is again increased by Czerny's indication that this passage should be repeated ten times. Because of these technical demands, and perhaps also because of the sometimes poor musical content in these works, Czerny's etudes have not often been recorded. In the few recordings that have been made the suggested speeds are at best approached, and only attained, in a few pieces.'^ The extreme velocities demanded in ex.i are not an exception, and similar W Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen & Dominik Sackmann (Bern, 2003), pp.i46-77. [Balázs Szokolay:] 'Carl Czerny piano works', Youtube, accessed 14 May 2012, www.youtube.com/play listHist=PLCD22oc)yoDc,i63 4zy&feature —plcp (Youtube playlist on the artist's own channel with videos containing the tracks of his Czerny CD from 2000 — the CD is no longer available). Szokolay's recording of a selection of Czerny's etudes often stays far below Czerny's indicated speed: no.39 from the School of velocity for example is played at a speed of around 80 crotchets per minute, while Czerny indicates 104. THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 19 2O C':^rny's 'impossible' metronome marks [Andantino con moto ( J'=i38)] Ex.i: Czerny: Die Schule des Virtuosen [op.365], vol.i (Vienna, 1836), no.5, bars 24—25. This passage is part of a longer section which has to be repeated 10 times. 8. Of all the recordings surveyed for this paper, Glenn Gould's comes closest to Czerny's speed, at about 100 crotchets per minute: Bach: Partitas, BWV 825~82y, vol.I, Glenn Gould, Sony Classical 5048502 (2002). 9. Bach: Oeuvres complets, ed. Czerny, vol.7. 10. In Guiseppe Buonamici's edition of op.740, for example, all metronome marks are lowered by approximately 5 to 20 per cent. See C. Czerny: L'arte di render agili le dita, ed. Guiseppe Buonamici (Milan, C.1910). speeds can be found in many other etudes by Czerny. This leads one to believe that from the point of view of a modern piano pedagogue, these works confront students with almost unrealistically high expectations. Works by other composers which Czerny edited show that the fast 'unreasonable' tempos do not exclusively occur in the purely didactical works. Fig. I illustrates the tempo that Czerny recommends for the first of JS Bach's Kleine Präludien. Even though the tempo suggestion for this prelude seems to fall within the realm of physically possible tempos for well-trained virtuosos, for almost every other pianist simultaneous close adherence to the articulation and the metronome mark would be very challenging. This would explain why of all the recordings surveyed for this article, the fastest performance is still significantly below Czerny's speed.* For young students, for whom the editor claims that Bach's Kleine Präludien were intended,' the suggested speed would be even more problematic. For the pianist who is interested in giving a performance based on historical evidence, Czerny's metronome indications for both his own works and those by other composers provide more questions than answers. While some indicate a tempo that seems very suitable by modern standards, many others seem to demand a hardly reasonable degree of virtuosity. For this reason some modern editors consider them inappropriate and choose to not print them altogether, or to supplant them with their own.'° However, this practice merely covers up the problem, and increasing our understanding of how the fast metronome indications were interpreted will contribute to a better understanding of the performance practice of the Allegro vivace. 4 Praluifíeu. ' •^ '? > " Fig.2: Jean Sebastien Bach: Oeuvres complets., ed. Carl Czerny, vol.8 (Vienna, i:.i84o), Kleine Präludien no.i BWV 933 period overall. In order to explore this problem, several theories that attempt to explain the existence of these metronome marks will be discussed. The misused metronome 11. On the autograph of Beethoven's song So oder so, the composer wrote '100 according to Maelzel, but only for the first bars, because the feeling has its own tempo which is not fully expressed by this number'. From footnote 2 of 'Letter 1095', L. V. Beethoven: Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, vol.4, ed. Sieghard Brandenburg (Munich, 1996), p.38. All translations are by the present author. 12. Czerny: Von dem Vortrage^ dritter Teil aus Vollständige theoretischpractische Pianoforte-Schule op.500 (Vienna, 1839) , p.24. 13. ibid., pp.25—26. 14. ibid., pp.27-28. One theory commonly put forward is that the metronome marks do not apply to the entire work, but only to the first bars." There are three objections to this theory. Firstly, Czerny himself explicidy indicated that 'the player has to perform every musical piece strictly in the tempo that has been indicated by the author, from beginning until the end, without ever departing from it."^ Secondly, some of Czerny's most problematic metronome marks are found in his works that were explicitly written for the development of virtuoso abilities, such as the above mentioned School of virtuoso. Slowing down significandy seems to contradict the purpose of these pieces. Thirdly, the constant figuration that is present throughout most of these pieces will make any ritardando stand out. Czerny seems to be aware of this, as he recommends its use in his Pianoforte-Schule as a stylistic device and gives eleven instances in which it might be appropriate.'' As his examples show, however, they only very rarely apply to the kind of passagework that is found in his etudes, and would therefore not have a significant effect.'"* Therefore, as the evidence contradicts any other interpretation, it seems most likely that Czerny's marks apply to whole sections or movements, instead of only for a few bars. There are several other theories that could explain the existence of these indications. The first is the most simple: the difference in the mechanical action and sonority between early 19th-century pianos and modern ones is big enough to account for the fast metronome marks. Czerny himself seems to have been aware of the problems that arise from playing on a different keyboard instrument, as he writes in the preface to his edition of The well tempered clavichord: 'When an exceedingly rapid time is indicated it is naturally intended for the pianoforte only. If, however, it were desired THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 21 22 enemy's 'impossible' metronome marks to play such pieces on the organ, the tempi would have to be much more moderate.''' Czerny obviously realised that organs cannot accommodate some of his faster tempos, presumably because of the difference in touch and response time compared to the pianoforte. The same reasoning can apply to modern pianos, which perhaps explains the lower metronome marks in some editions. However, the recent practice of playing on reconstructed or restored 19th-century pianos has shown that even on Czerny's own instruments his 'exceedingly rapid' indications remain problematic,'* which raises the question of why they were written in the first place. 15. Bach: The well tempered clavichord, ed. Czerny, p. 3. 16. Sonnleitner: 'Czernys rätselhafte Bach-Tempi', pp. 147-48. 17. Beethoven: The ^^5piano sonatas, vol.2, ed. Barry Cooper (London, 2007), p.ii. 18. See for instance Dagmar Beck & R. Levine: 'Anton Schindlers 'Nutzanwendung' der Cramer-Etüden: zu den sogennanten Beethovenschen Spielanweisungen', in Zu Beethoven III: Aufsätze und Dokumente, ed. Harry Goldschmidt (Berlin, 1988), pp. 177-208. 19. On Chopin: the complete piano works: etudes, Zbigniew Raubo and Tatiana Shebanova, IMC Music (available via iTunes, 2010), Chopin's speeds are attained or closely approximated. 20. Czerny: On the proper performance, p.64. According to Barry Cooper, Czerny's metronome marks for Beethoven's works often 'seem on the fast side, and although a few are plainly erroneous, others seem fast mainly because speeds in music generally tended to slow down during the decades after his death, so that people became accustomed to hearing much of [Beethoven's] music at a slightly slower pace than he intended, in both quick and slow movements."' There is indeed plenty of evidence for this: during Beethoven's lifetime, there were already those who argued for the adoption of slower musical tempi. The most infamous was Anton Schindler, who falsified evidence to support his own views.'** Czerny, on the other hand, was among those who kept using fast metronome marks, a tradition that was alive until approximately 1840, if not later. This can be seen in Czerny's marks for his Eleventh Sonata (ex.2), and Chopin's marks for his Etudes op.25 (fig.2). While there are many recordings of the Chopin etudes, only a small number closely approach or attain the given metronomic instructions."' Czerny's metronome marks for the above-mentioned etude op.365 no.5 and BWV 933 have, to the best of my knowledge, never been fully attained. The explanation that Czerny's suggested speeds can be attained if one uses the right instrument and follows his advice that '[a]ll single difficulties are matters of attentive practice',^" is therefore somewhat unsatisfactory. An additional theory needs to bridge the gap between performance practice and notation of Czerny's metronome marks. The broken metronome One possibility would be applying Peter Stadlen's theory regarding Beethoven's fast metronome marks to Czerny's. Stadien identified 66 metronome marks by Beethoven that he thought were misrepresentative of Beethoven's intentions; he considered them so fast that they could not possibly be right. In order to explain these numbers, Stadien acquired a metronome similar to the one Beethoven used, and subjected it to various kinds of abuse in order to try and create a mechanical problem that would Ex.2: Carl Czerny: Onpème granJe sonate pour piano (Vienna, 1843), Eleventh Sonata op. 730, fourth movetnent, bars 255—56 [Allegretto con anima ( J = velocissimo con fuoco Fig.2: F. Chop'm: Dou^e etudes pour le piano, oeuvre 25 (formant le 3e et 4e livraisons d'etudes) (London, 1837), Etude op.25 no. 11, bars 1—2 21. Peter Stadien: 'Beethoven and the metronome ', in Soundings vol. 9 (1982), pp.38-73. 22. Clive Brown: 'Historical performance, metronome marks and tempo in Beethoven's symphonies', in Early Music vol.19 ('99')) pp.247—50, 252—54, & 25Ó & 258, at p.249. 23. Clemens-Christoph von Gleich: 'Die Theorie des variable Metronomgebrauchs', in Die Musikforsckung vol. 41 (January-March 1988), pp.46—49. This kind of argumentation was first forwarded in Willem Retze Talsma: Anleitung ^ur Entmechanisierung der Musik, Band I: Wiedergeburt der Ä/a.r.ii^er (Innsbruck, 1980). only affect the faster tempos, and which could possibly have gone unnoticed by the user. After concluding that this was impossible, Stadien postulated lapses in the composer's tempo sense, recurrent mechanical incompetence on part of the clockmaker fixing the metronome, and mysteriously intermittent mechanical faults.^' Stadlen's theory was criticised for not being based on any hard physical evidence, and therefore hard to accept, but its premise was also considered problematic: whether a tempo is considered too fast is left completely up to Stadlen's subjective opinion of what Beethoven's intentions were." It seems therefore imprudent to adopt Stadlen's theory, and other options have to be considered. The 'variable' metronome Clemens-Christoph von Gleich, among others, suggested the so called 'Theory of variable usage of the metronome',^' which he apphed to Beethoven's metronome marks, but could also apply to Czerny. Von Gleich starts by quoting an article by the inventor of the metronome, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung from 1821: 'Because experience teaches me every day how poorly the division of my THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 23 24 enemy's 'impossible'metronome marks metronome is understood by musicians — which wrongful use has been spread by it being considered not more than a Black Forest clock - 1 think it is necessary that the following words are taken to heart.'^'' Von Gleich does not cite the rest of the article in which Maelzel gives instructions on how to prevent this incorrect use of the metronome, however — with good reason, as will be shown below. Instead, he claims that what Maelzel means is that the common way to use a metronome (J = 60 indicates a speed of 60 minims per minute) is incorrect. He then goes on to select eight different metronomic indications by Beethoven. The selected indications, of which it is not clear on what criteria they are selected, can be found in Table i, along with their speed converted to crotchets per minute. 24. Johann Nepomuk Maelzel: 'Anzeige', in Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung vol.23, IntelligenzBlatt no.% (September 1821), P Gleich: 'Die Theorie', p.47. 25. Sonnleitner: 'Czernys rätselhafte Bach-Tempi'. Von Gleich argues that because the two allegretto movements (3 and 4) are about 220% apart in absolute speed, the notation of movements 4—8 must be interpreted in a non-literal way. This 'variable' use of the metronome boils down to playing some movements at half the indicated speed, which would result in a more linear correlation between tempo and tempo indication. However, the author gives no indication how to tell these 'variable ' movements from the 'normal' ones. Johann Sonnleitner has argued for an expanded version of the theory in a more elaborate way.^' He compares some of Czerny's metronome marks for waltzes and minuets to those used in instruction books for dancing published at the time that Czerny wrote his music, and finds that Czerny's dance pieces often transgress on the recommended speed for dance music by a factor of two. Sonnleitner sees this as evidence that Von Gleich's Table i : Selected movements of works by Beethoven. The last column shows the metronomic speeds converted to crotchets per minute. NUMBER WORK MOVEMENT TEMPO INDICATION METRONOME MARK METRONOME MARK (CONVERTED) I String Quartet op. 18 no.6 2 Adagio ma non troppo >=So J = 2O 2 Septet op.2O 6 Andante con moto ^^ = 76 J = 38 3 Symphony no. 8 2 Allegretto scher^ando ^^ = 88 J = 44 4 String Quartet op.74 4 Allegretto con varia^ioni J = 100 J = 100 5 Symphony no.6 I Allegro ma non troppo J = 66 J = i3x 6 Symphony no.4 4 Allegro ma non troppo J = 8o J = i6o 7 Symphony no.i 4 Allegro moho e vivace J = 88 J = i84 8 String Quartet op. 18 no.2 4 Allegro moho, quasi presto J = 92 J=i84 20. ibid., p.i5527. Johann Sonnleitner: 'Mozart-Symposium Wien 2006, Beitrag von Johann Sonnleitner', accessed 10 October 2012, http://johannsonnleitner.ch/ download/ Mozart-Symposion JVten2oo6. pdf 28. In 2010 Harke de Roos performed and recorded Beethoven's Second Symphony with the Wiener Symphoniker using 'variable' metronome marks. See Deutsche Welle (English): 'The old Beethoven beat', Youtube, accessed 10 February 2013, www. youtube.com/watch ?v '=-Kib20 CwGxJo. 29. Maelzel: 'Anzeige', PP-54-55- theory must have applied to Czerny metronome marks, but also argues that dividing all metronome marks by two is not appropriate in every case. Sonnleitner claims that Von Gleich's 'variable' interpretation finds its origins in an old-fashioned theory on tempo that involved the use of a pendulum, in which one counted complete cycles, rather than half cycles in case of the metronome.^'' The evidence cited in support of this theory was published about a century before Maelzel invented his metronome, and even Sonnleitner himself seems to have to admit that in order for his arguments to have any basis it is necessary to first postulate that this pendulum theory was still so widespread that the use of the metronome was affected by it. He then proposes a complicated system of 'translations' which involves applying Czerny's metronome marks to units other than the indicated ones depending on a large variety of rhythmical qualities that occur, which results in the metronome marks being reduced by varying degrees. At the Mozart Symposium in Vienna in 2006 Sonnleitner presented a more general solution that could easily be applied to Czerny's etudes. Essentially, the metronome should be kept ticking at the same speed, but the note value which corresponds to each tick is left to the musical taste and technical ability of the performer.^^ Theories about the 'variable' use of the metronome seem to be so widespread that in certain places they have entered performance practice,^* but their existence seems to be mainly due to their convenience. It is therefore important to show how their proponents carefully cherry-pick their historical evidence in order to avoid contradicting their own theory. When Von Gleich cited Maelzel's article from the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, he cited only the first few lines in which the inventor complained about musicians not using the metronome in the right way. The rest of the article contains a very different description of the use of the metronome from the one that Von Gleich and Sonnleitner suggest: What great contradiction can be found in the terms of different musicians. During my presence in London, J. B. Cramer complained to me that no one played his exercises in the tempo that he wanted. He gave both works numbers in my presence, and the extent that they concur with his Italian tempo descriptions can be seen in the accompanying table. When Mr. Cramer indicated a moderato with J = 63, he indicated another with J = 116, so almost twice as fast. While marking one moderato in a 2/4 bar with J* = 100, he marked another with J^ = 202. Who would understand the meaning of the composer without a metronome.' Mr Nicolo considers an Andantino in 6/8 a movement which he marks with J . = 52, while Catel understands Andantino in that metre as a speed which he marks with J . = 126.^' Maelzel's observation that composers use very different speeds for the same Italian tempo descriptions implies that, in contrast with what one can see on some metronomes, there was no such thing as a real allegro range at the time. The entire point of having a metronome was that a composer could THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 25 20 enemy's 'impossible' metronome marks indicate a speed regardless of the accompanying Italian tempo description, which would apply mainly to the general feeling of the movement. Maelzel makes it quite clear that in every case J = ii6 is almost twice as fast as J = 63, regardless of the circumstances. Even if Maelzel had been less clear on this topic, the fact is that if the 'variable ' metronome theory is correct, composers had to be at least a little proficient in basic arithmetic. But as Beethoven himself said,^° and as his calculations show,'' he was very bad at it, and he would have been unable to perform necessary divisions and multiplications. To conclude, besides the fact that Sonnleitner has to admit that there is no full explanation for his theory, as the question why composers would present musicians deceptive instructions is never answered, it is also not supported by evidence.'^ As a result of this, the theories of 'variable' metronome usage which argue that certain metronome marks have to be reduced because they seem inconsistent with others can therefore be rejected. The inconsistencies between these indications is precisely why Maelzel claims that the metronome is a necessary means to transmit the intentions of the composer. This leaves us with only one interpretation: the metronome marks are meant be read in the way that they are written, no matter how fast. Metronomic speed in context 30. 'Letter 54', in Briefwechsel Gesamtausgabe, vol.i (Mutiich, 1996), pp.63—64, at p.64. 31. Barry Cooper, ed.: The Beethoven compendium (London, 1996), p. 157. 32. Wolfgang Auhagen points out many more inconsistencies with this theory. See Wolfgang Auhagen: 'Zur Theorie des variablen Metronomgebrauchs', in Die Musikforschung vol.42 (January-March 1989), pp. 5 5-60. 33. D.S.: 'Neue Kreisleriana', in ^4AiZ vol.34 no.8 (19 September 1832), p.631. Having established that Czerny's metronome marks should be read in the same way as modern ones, we can now move to see how the fast tempos were received by Czerny's contemporaries, and if they were considered as problematic then as they are now. First, in order to find out how the public generally appreciated fast tempos, we turn to a humorous section in the AMZ., the 'Neue Kreisleriana', named after the fictional antisocial composer Johannes Kreisler from ETA Hoffmann's novels. In this section advice is given how to spread bad taste by ruining good operas. Besides several pieces of advice that are generally effective in ruining any work (make sure that the musicians rehearse badly, and that many mistakes are clearly heard by the audience), the author also gives advice on how to ruin a performance by using tempo alone: 'One rushes through the named operas, from the overture on, in forced tempos - Adagio and Andante at a strong gallop - as fast as possible, and try in this way to avoid every clear understanding of the intention of the composer, his particular understanding of the text, his voice leading, and his instrumentation.'" The reviewer obviously does not hold playing in the fastest possible tempo in high regard, since it will lead to bad playing. Since many of Czerny's metronome marks suggest a tempo that exceeds the limits of the abilities of 34. GW Fink: 'Recensionen [op.337]', in AMZ vol.37 no.io (11 March 1835), pp.165-66, atp.i66. 35. Anon.: 'Die Schule des Virtuosen', in AMZ vol.4o no.34 (22 August 1838), p.555. 36. Anon.: 'Recension [op.7]', in AMZ vol.24 no.23 (5 Junei822), pp.382-84, at p.383; Anon.: 'Recension [op. 58]', /ÍMZ vol.27 no-6 (9 February 1825), pp.87-88. 37. Anon.: 'Kurze Notizen', \xiAMZvo\.\r no.27(4 April 1810), pp.426—27. 38. Ignaz Moscheles: Studies for the pianoforte op.70,1 (London, 1827). 39. Anon.: 'Review of music [Moscheles op.70,1]', in Harmonicon vol.5 (July 1827), p.135. most people, this advice can be taken as a warning against adhering to them in performances. The joker from the 'Neue Kreisleriana' is by no means alone in this opinion. In a review of Czerny's Forty daily etudes op.337 the reviewer mocked the seemingly impossible demands made in the preface, which included repeating fast passages many times: 'Was Czerny not laughing, when he wrote this preface.-^ [...] Everyone who is able to do this day after day, we promise him, his head will become like a lantern'.^'* The reviewer's attitude to the technical demands made by the composer indicates that they were not met by many pianists. In other reviews, too, we can see that Czerny's technical demands must have been problematic: in the review of the Schoolof virtuoso op.365, the reviewer considers the work most suitable for those who still have to work on their technical skills. Recalling ex.I, which contains hemidemisemiquavers and a high metronome mark, it is not surprising that the reviewer warned pianists against trying to play the etudes too fast, especially if their technique was still developing." The sonatas were considered to be even more difficult than the etudes, because of their technical demands as well as their length.'* As Chopin's markings show, Czerny was not the only one who wrote fast metronome marks. Examining Czerny's metronome marks in the context of those for etudes by other composers, and comparing those to the reviews of the time might create a better understanding of how these fast tempos were interpreted. Johann Baptist Cramer was among the first to use the term 'etudes' in the modern sense, and ptiblished his four books of etudes in two sets in 1804 and 1810, well before Czerny. His works were praised as one of the reasons that the general level of piano playing had risen considerably in the years before. The etudes were not considered unusually hard when they were published, and reviews were enthusiastic about the fact that the difficulties were both mechanical and musical.'^ The etudes by Ignaz Moscheles, which were published when he was already living in London, received less attention in Germany than in England, but were still very positively reviewed. While Moscheles states in the introduction to his 'Studies for advanced performers' that the etudes are not suitable for players who have not yet gained enough experience in performing, the works themselves seem far less technically demanding than some of Czerny's etudes.'** The review in the Harmonicon was especially appreciative of this fact: 'The exercises are all practicable without that monstrous devotion of time which some compositions of the kind demand [...] it ought to be known that [Moscheles] has not been guilty of publishing difficulties which no ordinary practitioner can surmount, and no rational person will attempt'.'' THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 201J 27 28 Cierny's 'impossible' metronome marks While most of Czerny's etudes were yet to be written when Moscheles's etudes were being reviewed, it is not a stretch of the imagination to see that the perceived difficulties that would only be attempted by irrational people can be found in some of the above-mentioned works by Czerny. Even though Moscheles's second book of etudes containing the other half of op.70 was considered to be more difficult than the first, it avoided being so difficult that ordinary well trained pianists would not be able to play it.''" 40. Anon.: 'Review of music [Moscheles op.70, II]', in Harmonicon, vol.6 (June 1828), 41. GW Fink: 'Recension [Chopin op. 10],' in AMZ vol.36 no.6 (5 February 1834), pp.81-89, at pp.82-83. 42. W. Chr. M. Kloppenburg: Nieuwe Leergang voor het Piano- Onderwijs (Amsterdam, 1986). 43. Ignaz Moscheles: Studies for the pianoforte op.70, 2 vols (London, 1827-28). 44. JB Cramer: Etudes pour piano, 4 vols (Leipzig, ^.1890). 45. F. Chopin: Dou^e grandes etudes pour le piano, oeuvre 10, 2 vols (London, 1835-36); F. Chopin: Douie etudes pour le piano, oeuvre ¿5, 2 vols (London, 1837). 46. Czerny: Die Schule der Geläufigkeit auf dem Pianoforte oder jo Uebungsstücke, um die Schnelligkeit der Finger {H entwickeln [op.299], 3 vols (Vienna, 1833); Czerny: Die Schule des Virtuosen [op.365], 4 vols (Vienna, 1836); Czerny: Die Kunst der Fingerfertigkeit [op.740], 4 vols (Vienna 1844). Chopin's etudes were considered to be revolutionary, in technique as well as in musical content: 'By Jupiter! what Mr Chopin gives us in these two books, is new. [...] Many will wonder what is required here. The pieces are as difficult as they are new.'''' Chopin's etudes were considered to be so much more difficult than the etudes by Cramer, Moscheles, and Czerny, that the reviewer predicted that there would be many pianists who would not be able to play them at all. In summary, Moscheles's and Cramer's etudes were broadly speaking considered the easiest, with Czerny's being harder, and Chopin's the hardest. Today, modern piano methods (which seem to ignore Czerny's metronome marks) often have similar hierarchies, with Chopin's etudes generally being considered more difficult than Czerny's."*^ From the point of view of modern piano methods and 19th-century music reviewers, attaining Czerny's speeds should therefore be easier than attaining Chopin's. This is not what modern performance practice suggests, however. The number of recordings of Chopin etudes that follow the indicated tempos is far greater than those of studies by Czerny. Part of the explanation for this is most likely the fact that Czerny's etudes are much less frequently recorded than Chopin's, but there are indications there is something innate about Czerny's metronome marks that makes them so hard to attain. If Czerny wrote etudes that really were easier than Chopin's, why do we have such problems adhering to his metronome marks.'' The metronome as an indicator of difficulty In order to explain this apparent contradiction, the difficulty in these etudes needs to be re-examined as objectively as possible. Assuming that pianists in the first half of the 19th century adhered or aspired to adhere to the metronome marks, the most suitable way of assessing difficulty is to focus on the speed of the works, as etudes tend to get harder if they are played faster. In order to assess the difficulty of the etudes by the different composers, as many etudes as possible have to be used to get a representative sample. For this purpose, 36 etudes by Moscheles,"" 84 by Cramer,'*'' 24 by Chopin,'" and 150 by Czerny were selected.''* For each composer, only those series of etudes were included that specifically aimed at virtuosity in order to produce a set of works that represents the most technically difficult etudes that a composer has produced. For this reason, Chopin's Trois etudes from Méthode des méthodes and other sets of 'slower' etudes have been excluded here. For every etude in this set, several key characteristics were recorded: the most prevailing figuration, the unit and number of the metronome mark, and the time signature. For instance, the information gathered from Chopin's etude op.io no.2 (see flg.3) can be found in Table 2. OPUS NUMBER NOTES INDICATION METRONOME MARK Allegro 144 METRONOME TIME NOTES PER UNIT SIGNATURE MINUTE J C 576 Table 2: An example of what information is used from Chopin's etude op.io no.2 The speed of the prevailing figuration in notes per minute is displayed in the bottom right cell of the table. While the speed is expressed in notes per minute, this concerns only the top line of the right hand: the chords and bass notes are not included in this calculation. This method is of course fairly one-dimensional in its approach to technical difficulty and can only serve as a rudimentary indication, as speed is not the only factor determining the technical difficulty of a piece. For this reason, it is necessary to identify the etudes which contain especially problematic figurations such as thirds, trills, large jumps and repeated notes. These difficulties, however, seem to be spread out across the works of all four composers more or less equally, and are not particular to one set of etudes. In fact, some of Czerny's etudes have almost identical difficulties compared to Chopin's, as can be seen in fig.3 and ex.3. The few slower etudes that were included because they were part of a set that mainly contained fast etudes (such as Chopin's op.25 no.7) present a different problem altogether. Since the main difficulty is often not primarily based on speed, there are two possible options: either not include these works, or find passages in the etudes that do require virtuosity and use those for analysis. In order to avoid the charge of cherry-picking evidence, because the technical demands in these passages are comparable to those in fast etudes, and because these passages are often the most difficult of the entire etude, the latter option has been chosen. Finally, before taking the average of each set, in order to prevent the skewing of the averages by technical elements that escape this method, such as glissandos, the top and bottom 2.5% of each set is excluded. The averages thus obtained (see Table THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 29 30 C^erny's 'impossible'metronome marks t-r-t. f ^ Fig.3: Chopin's etude op.io no.2, bars 1-2 Allegro (J = 138) Ex.3: Czerny's etude op.365 no.19, bars 1—2 3) should be reasonable approximations to the difficulty of these works, although one should be cautious of drawing conclusions based on small differences that could fall within the margin of error. Czerny's speeds are 23 to 45% faster than those of the other three composers, a difference which seems large enough to be significant. It can therefore be concluded that they are also more difficult if one adheres to the metronome marks. This difficulty is not limited to Czerny's etudes: if one repeats the same procedure for the fast movements of several of his piano sonatas,"" other piano works,"*" and chamber music works,"*' one finds an average speed of 714 notes per minute. Since modern piano methods and the editors of the AMZ considered Chopin's etudes the most difficult, it can be concluded that Czerny's works, which require the pianist to play significantly faster than Chopin's etudes, were not commonly played at the indicated speed by the readers of the AMZ. We have now arrived at a somewhat paradoxical situation, in which Czerny wrote some very fast metronome marks, and in which the reviewers 47. Czerny: Seconde sonate pour piano-forte seul (Vienna & Leipzig, date unknown); Czerny: Sixième Grande sonate pour piano-forte seul (Paris, date unknown). 48. Czerny: Trios grands allegros pour le piano-forte, no.i—2 (Vienna, 1820s); Czerny: Introduction, Variations brilliantes, et Rondeau de Chasse (Aldiswil & Lottstetten/ Waldshut, date unknown) [reprint of first edition, no.3 missing]. 49. Czerny: Grande sonate brilliante pour le pianoforte a quatre mains (Vienna, date unknown); Czerny: Second grand trio pour le piano-forte, violin, et violoncello (Leipzig, 1829). Table 3: Average speed in etudes by Moscheles, Cramer, Chopin, and Czerny COMPOSER AVERAGE NOTES PER MINUTE Moscheles Cramer Chopin Czerny 487 516 57Ö 711 and readers of the AMZ, a musical newspaper in which Beethoven published his metronome marks for the first eight symphonies,'" decided to ignore them. The explanation, I believe, can be found in examining the kind of newspaper that the AMZ was. Adjusting the metronome When the AMZ reviewed Czerny's first sonata, which is described as a work that is in many places very difficult, the following was said about a section in which Czerny allowed a Gjt to be followed by an Ab: [the reviewer desires] the avoidance of even the single offence against orthography occurring on page 37. One can see quite clearly that Mr Czerny wrote like this on purpose, but it is still wrong and even worse when many new, even great composers, do the same in the case of enharmonic modulations when they are in a strange mood. These examples cause more harm than they seem to do good, and instead of the wrong notation of the notes providing beginners with more overview of the chords (and what else could one's intentions be), it confuses them and makes it impossible to learn the chords, until they write the passage down correctly themselves.'' 50. Anon.: 'Die Tempo's sämmtlicher Sätze aller Symphonien des Hrn L. v. Beethoven, vom Verf. selbst nach Maelzels Metronom bestimmt', in AMZ vol.19 (December 1817), pp.873—74. 51. 'Recension [op.7]', p.384. 52. Karl Landsteiner: Das Babel des Ostens: Bilder aus dem Wiener Leben (Würzburg, 1871), pp. 158-59. The number of problems supposedly resulting from this single enharmonic respelling, which the reviewer must have painstakingly tracked down through 37 pages of music, appears a little unrealistic. This, and the assertion that every composer intends to provide 'beginners with more overview of the chords', goes to show how important it was that music remained understandable for those who did not know much about it. For departing from an established rule there seemed to have been only one reason: to help a dilettante understand the music better. Karl Landsteiner gave the following typical description of a Viennese dilettante: 'He himself plays the viola when he has to and sings, depending on the circumstances, the first tenor or second bass. Incidentally, he is more a theoretician than a practitioner, as he says himself. [...] He knew Beethoven and knows many anecdotes about him. He went to school with Schubert, something of which he is quite proud.''^ It is not hard to see how this kind of musician, who seemed more concerned with talking about music than performing it, would benefit from a simpler notation. When Czerny started to publish works that were more accessible to the ordinary player, many reviewers wrote that he had finally come to his THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 31 32 C:^erny's 'impossible' metronome marks senses: 'Assuredly M. Czerny begins to see the futility of composing [...] music which only professors, and those of the plodding kind, will ever be patient enough to practice and play.'" When he published works with more difficult metronome marks, the dilettantes most likely simply played them slower if that was musically satisfactory, as they could not play it faster. The fact that some of these pieces were actually supposed to be played much faster than they were was presumably ignored and left to those pianists 'of the plodding kind'. Czerny's editions of Bach are also discussed in a manner focused on those with lesser abilities. His edition of Das wohltemperierte Clavier was praised thus: The tempo, in disregard of which not rarely mistakes of a disturbing and destructive nature are made, is just like the performance [indications] based on the undoubted character of every movement, after that on the well-preserved memory of how Beethoven played a great number of these fugues, and is lastly based on the convictions by Czerny gained from studying these works for 30 years. [...] Otily for some rather difficult fugues, we recommend that even after proper practice a slightly more moderate tempo is maintained at least for a time, in the same way that the editor recommends a slower tempo when these pieces are played on the organ.''' 53. Anon.: 'Review of music \L'espérance^', in Harmonicon vol.5 (November 1827), p.230. 54. Anon.: 'Joh. Sebastian Bach's Klavierwerke', pp.298-99. While the reviewer acknowledges that the tempos suggested by Czerny made musical sense and were even based on many years of study and authority, he does feel the need to provide the dilettante with a way to be able to slow down the tempo in order to make some of the more difficult fugues playable. Some of the other Bach editions published by Czerny were not always reviewed in so much detail, but presumably the same reasoning applies. Throughout Czerny's career, he often wrote fast metronome indications, which, as the evidence indicates, seem to have been treated in more or less the same way they are treated today. The fast metronomic indication of Czerny's pieces seems to have been considered an avoidable obstacle for those that did not possess the technical abilities to adhere to them. The difference between pianists then and pianists now in this respect may therefore be much smaller than is sometimes assumed. While the goal of historically informed performance has never been to recreate the performances of 19th-century dilettantes, it is hard to imagine that the findings in this article only applied to them, since adhering to Czerny's metronome marks makes his works so much more difficult than almost everything else that was written at the time. Therefore, even on 19th-century instruments, we can possibly justify lowering some of these marks slightly without being out of touch with the historical performance practice, as many of Czerny's contemporaries would presumably have done the same. 55. 'Leslie Howard, piano - Czerny Etude in D flat major, op.299 no.39 (School of velocity)', Youtube, accessed 14 October 2012, www.youtube.com/ watch ?v =6oJBxaFl6EA. This simple point has far-reaching implications. This article explicitly leaves out Czerny's marks for Beethoven's works, as they were presumably based more on the composer's opinion than on Czerny's. In the light of the findings in this article, however, they — as well as those by other composers seem to — require further investigation and reconsideration. We will probably never know for sure if Czerny himself followed his own metronome marks when performing, but there is some evidence that indicates that it just may be possible. On 4 February 2010, the Australian pianist Leslie Howard played Czerny's etude op.299 rio.39 in London. The performance was recorded and placed on Youtube, which allows us to confirm that Howard indeed played at the indicated speed, reaching the 832 notes per minute that Czerny indicates." Rare performances like this one show that Czerny's metronome marks fall within the realm of possible speeds, but only for a small number of elite pianists, of which the composer was one. The possibility that Czerny really did play these works at the tempi indicated should therefore not be excluded, which seems to be the most likely explanation for the existence of these indications. Given the fact that he was considered to be one of the best pianists alive in his day, he could have replied in the same way that Vladimir Horowitz allegedly did, when asked why he played a certain passage so fast: 'Because I can.' THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 33 34 enemy's 'impossible' metronome marks H Z tú s s o u tí w «-^ IS '^ IS IS H Z N IS IS 00 IS (S IS \ IS \ IS IS \ IS IS 0 0 ~s^ -\ rS SO I.H N C^ S £ 0 0 0 0 0 0 fS C^ -•t »s 00 \ N u vo (• ' > - ^ ^ 00 <S SO C\ VO PO (S 00 iN TT rt \ \ \ ^v N ^ fS (S 1N o O » o M O O v o ' ^ O O O N O O O O (S O ^ ( ^ V O Í > - V O S D O O r ^ O O r ^ O O t~--00 t ^ t ^ O O t~--00 t ^ S D O O C N O O C O O O O O O O o "^ H S Z "^ " ^ 00 oo N 2 2 2 < S 2 o" o" "o " o ^ so O s t ^ „ o Z H Ö S (J O bD o oP s o O O O O O bb U U <U lí QJ QJ 2 2 2 o o o o o o "3 P s u ' o ' o ' o ' o ' o ' o a S ä p n S S S S S S o o „ OsCsi- 1. O M o M bb bb M & bb lí r-1 ^ n i s í í j r i s o n o <U (U SO r^ Ov SO o so 00 HH Os 0 0 O O O O O O QJ Ul 1-1 l-t U iH 1-1 O bD bD bD tiD hO bí cd ÛJ QJ OJ flJ QJ OJ > : = ! : = ; =3 =3 s :=! ' ^^••*•í í < í ^ < 3 ^ < 1 o "^ 2 2 2 p 2en 2öl o o en "o •^ •o^ P ? J 'ppo pop 'pop'popp ' opp' Ôä ^3 2P 2 P p o o »J o cu-Q o- :=! 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" CN O SOSOSOSOSO I— 2y y b b ä b b 2 b b y 2 2 2 o o (S r ^ o o SO tj o S "J a > ^ < S 00 > t~~- 00 C^ O o '> bb 2 <; s — (S ;5-;^;:5-'^^Ti-rfTtTi-':}--rJ-':J-TtTfTi-'rl-Ti-'^^Ti-Tj-Ti-'^-^Tl- THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 37 C':^erny's 'impossible' metronome marks c i o S c o CD o S- Z Pí U U U - * 00 00 - ^ 0 0 VO o 0 0 VO 00 M oo o o s o c V o bb & <u o (U (U 1 00 VO U ( S v o O o o v o Cv »y". O ^ Cv t^ ^ VO VO VO o (S f^ U O O O V O V O ^ V O 0 0 VO c ^ Gv VO r^ ^ t ^ t ^ VO ^ t^ <; I ^ t ^ V O . H W M - . " - l - l C \ O S M " O N 2 olto A llegro llegro comm olto A llegro leggie: (U •* M ^ VO VO M" r s 0 0 O - . •M C O O ' . 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O R o o o o o o o o ^H n r^ fS 1- o o o o o - THE MUSICAL TIMES <S rS V V V V Winter 2013 41 enemy's 'impossible' metronome marks -o O O s «r 'S -• ë en- IL) è 8 c '« c o U ^ bD CO tí 2" 'S2 •S J! d I S tí E iH c eu te Pi u bD bD bD rt 0 g u O LH c 0) u O ^ ti c <; a < o 'G o ora c bb cl S d nï C O agití u SSO r o •y tino g 2 .2 :s o -o mae O o O SO (S llet 42 g o 3 S o o H 00 ^^ a• - -^ VO w vooooovo CO H W O - i - . / - v o M M V O 00 r) ly^ OO 00 r^ VO ^ o 00 (S »i^ VO 00 t^ 00 O VO r^ fc v§ r^ 00 O VO 00 t^ r^ z :s r^oovovooo z a. 2 O 8 8 M ^H ^ 00 00 00 -H o 2 O o 2 6 « . •^ ÛJ Q CÖ u tud en V O P ^ n t! Kn 2 o 2 c 8 1 S2 '^ H S O ^ p. m THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 43 gle C:^erny s 'impossible' metronome marks en z P Man S p C/) c ^00 IS CS U ^ so ly~. (^ ri u-^ •^ iS ty— SO P O Tf IS ^ ro U (S0000\0 U ri 00 >^ SO ¡A SO O U U 00 O oo O ^ •* » ^ O o -a OH ^ 4Í bp 'g 4Í .t; S3J Ë tp 22 '^ i 2 S S " 2 S en CLH p O eu o O ta o V bc'bb o 'bb tj <; S > 00 ON O i-H O -H (N m -^ o tí p, 2 tat OO fS I Som -a Thii 44 eu ) O ta g tí o B o 1/3 00 " U O S D U U 00 o vo o o 00 ^ o O 00 fs so vo rl .H o o vo vo Os -H o ^ M vo S e o o ÈP o 8 &• 2 2 2 <u «i bp hp s := = .¿ « en O cu OH 2 2^E bD bD o « 1¡ íU 5í -o " " c o CO 11 s < < < ; ' > S <:=!; <=3s <o ; <c ; o ^ ^ ^ Os o o tu < ^:J O S c <; o S n:3 C <; OAissa i II — -2 O o 2 00 vo •+ n M o lerato e sosten gro non tanto gro lerato ante corîmoto lerato assai ante ma estoso o vo ex en eu Ö < < §1, sus E^oo O s o —' VOVOVO l > t ^ THE MUSICAL TIMES Winter 2013 45 40 Cierny's 'impossible' metronome marks % I -«1-0000 "^ \ "\ H O O U cfl , , OO-v^-^ \ (S " ^ ri III O S (S ^^ ri p w Z o3 z z p O ^ Í S O O O O O O o 00 I Z o •ä 8 2 « or! 2 _ "^ 're 8 H -Hg S <; <; J c CO crt o o H M i= ^ !^= "^ ä 2 2 V a. I <>'<'< bD bD 2 QJ QJ 5 IS IS H P O -I Z 5 1 -o c IU 2 p Z p pi. o o o o o o o o o o o o "o o ^ s I 2 8 s ä &2 ^ ^ g 1 o o o y r H N Copyright of Musical Times is the property of Musical Times Publications Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.