Performance Practice Review

Volume 6
Article 9
Number 1 Spring

"Perspectives on Mozart Performance." By R. Larry

Todd and Peter Williams
Malcolm S. Cole

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Cole, Malcolm S. (1993) ""Perspectives on Mozart Performance." By R. Larry Todd and Peter Williams," Performance Practice Review:
Vol. 6: No. 1, Article 9. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.199306.01.09
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R. Larry Todd and Peter Williams, eds. Perspectives on Mozart
Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Cambridge
Studies in Performance Practice, No. 1. xiv, 246p. ISBN 0-521-40072-4.

In the process of telling his father about an evening spent with Georg Joseph
Vogler, Mozart asks,

And wherein consists the art of playing prima vista? In this: in playing
the piece in the time in which it ought to be played, and in playing all
the notes, appoggiaturas, and so forth, exactly as they are written and
with the appropriate expression and taste, so that you might suppose
that the performer had composed it himself.'

How simple he makes sight-reading appear and, by extension, performance

practice! And yet, two hundred years after his death, the search for
appropriate solutions continues, as in the present volume, an approach to the
topic "from the competing, but complementary, viewpoints of performers
and scholars." {xiv).

With Perspectives on Mozart Performance, the "Cambridge Studies in

Performance Practice" debuts, a series intended to provide "a forum through
which the most important current research may reach a wide range of
musicologists, performers, teachers and all those who have come to regard
questions of performance practice as fundamental to their understanding of
music." (dust jacket). Collected in this inaugural volume are ten essays.
Some of the contributors address traditional components of the subject,
albeit often in innovative ways: ornamentation (Paul Badura-Skoda,
Frederick Neumann); tempo (Jean-Pierre Marty), the cadenza (Eduard
Melkus, Christoph Wolff), and improvisation and Mozart the fortepianist
(Katalin Komlos). Others open thought-provoking newer vistas: Mozart's
approach to string writing (Jaap Schroder, Robin Stowell), the chromatic
fourth, a figura of particular significance for Mozart and others (Peter
Williams), and Mozart according to Mendelssohn, a contribution to
Rezeptionsgeschichte (R. Larry Todd).

The proceedings open with "Mozart's Trills," by Paul Badura-Skoda.

Refining and updating views originally articulated in the Badura-Skodas'
Mozart-Interpretation [see note 3 for particulars], the author sensitively
explores six topics: long trills beginning on the upper auxiliary, long trills

'Emily Anderson, ed., The Letters of Mozart and His Family, 3rd ed. (New York:
Norton, 1989). Letter 273a, 449.

98
 Reviews 99

beginning on the main note, speed and ending, short trills and snaps,
execution of the tr sign as a short upper appoggiatura, and execution of the
tr sign as a turn. Although deeply indebted to Clementi's Pianoforte School
(London, 1801), Badura-Skoda by no means relies exclusively upon it. To
the contrary, he deals with several types not found in Clementi's table, such
as written-out trills in ribattuta style, trill chains, and trills preceded by a
short note of the same pitch, a favorite figure of Mozart's that continues to
challenge the modern performer.

Katalin Komlds's '"Ich praeludirte und spielte Variazionen': Mozart the

Fortepianist" begins with an adventurous foray into the realm of
improvisation. From nomenclature, identification of the keyboard
instruments used, descriptions of the playing, and various scraps of music,
the author deduces much to help us understand Mozart's broad
improvisational styles: free fantasy, strict style, and galanterie, with its
"observance of fine nuances, articulation, precision, differentiation of light
and shade, and Geschmack und Empfindung" (30). She turns then to
written-out compositions. In variation sets, especially their adagio com-
ponents, Koml6s finds "a treasure house for those who wish to borrow ideas
for the occasional ornamentation of the more sparsely notated sonata or
concerto slow movements: (39-40). Considered also are Mozart's mature
concertos and his free fantasies. Combining her analytical results with
documentary evidence both indirect and direct, Komlds constructs a
compelling picture of Mozart the fortepianist. During the early
developmental stages of the fortepiano, she concludes, "it was Mozart who
immediately understood both the nature and potential of this new instrument
and made it the vehicle of his self-expression and performance fantasy."
(54).

"Time is the soul of music," the father claimed. For the son, tempo was "the
most difficult and most important, and the main thing in music" (letter of 24
October 1777). Frustratingly, the problem of determining tempo for music
composed in a pre-metronomic age remains vexing. In "Mozart's Tempo
Indications and the Problems of Interpretation," Jean-Pierre Marty, writing
as scholar and conductor, helps performers bring to life the results presented
so elegantly in his recent book, The Tempo Indications of Mozart [see note
3]. Marty is convinced that tempo indications were part of "a common
language, almost a code, which was shared by all eighteenth-century
composers and, concomitantly, understood by all experienced performers"
(70). Thus, when properly read, Mozart's tempo indications convey
important messages through ingredients such as meter, a key note value or
values, and the role of the upbeat. For Mozart performance, then, "tempo"
is not synonymous with "time." Indeed, in reducing tempo to the
100 Malcolm S. Cole

quantitative, the advent of the metronome "represented a distinct setback for

both the comprehension and the expression of tempo" (72). The purely
quantitative element alone is insufficient. Equally important are the
qualitative elements, especially articulation. In this way one can, on the one
hand, differentiate tempos through internal articulation rather than through
speed and, on the other, convey the same tempo feeling through different
means. Indeed, "the dialectic of time and tempo, the paradox of a living
order emerging from an abstract one, is at the centre of the art of the
interpreter" (70).

Eduard Melkus writes "On the Problem of Cadenzas in Mozart's Violin

Concertos." An examination of thirty-six cadenzas by other composers (we
have none by Mozart) in terms of length, material, tonal plan, and difficulty
demonstrates graphically how unsuitable the familiar modern choices are.
Adopting a sensible, musical scheme calculated to help violinists devise
their own cadenzas, Melkus first draws upon three didactic collections from
the Classic Period. He then proposes ways of adapting piano-cadenza
material to violin cadenzas, by condensing and simplifying passage-work,
for example. Finally, recognizing that competition juries will continue to
require the standard, overly long, stylistically inappropriate cadenzas, he
appends some practical suggestions to make them more Mozartean.

To a Will Crutchfield article2 Frederick Neumann responds with "A New

Look at Mozart's Prosodic Appoggiatura," i.e., unwritten appoggiaturas
added by singers, chiefly in recitatives, to reflect "the prosodic accent on the
penultimate syllable of a feminine ending" (92). Neumann argues for
greater flexibility of application, or non-application, based on considerations
such as the power of note repetition, Salieri's testimony, theorists' evidence
(by Agricola, Rellstab, Marpurg, and Mancini), and composers' evidence
(by Mozart and Gluck). Re-examination and reinterpretation of
Crutchfield's own evidence further strengthens Neumann's conviction: "the
insertion of appoggiaturas was a matter of music-dramatic judgment, not of
legal obligation" (116).

In "A Performer's Thoughts on Mozart's Violin Style," Jaap Schroder shares

welcome reflections derived from thirty-five years of professional
involvement with Mozart's string music. In brief, to recreate Mozart's spirit
in performance one must "rediscover the many stylistic points that have
been obscured by later technical developments which have radically altered

2
Will Crutchfield, "The Prosodic Appoggiatura in the Music of Mozart and His
Contemporaries," Journal of the American Musicological Association 42 (Summer 1989),
229-74.
 Reviews 101

the sound." (117): vibrato, intonation, bowing speed, tempo, articulation,

and the realization of Mozart's embellishments. With abundant supporting
examples, Schroder demonstrates that Mozart's violin technique, based on
that of the baroque masters, achieved "a clarity and brightness of tone that
enabled players to produce a well-articulated sound, intense but not tense"
(119). This music, which lives by constant impulses and relaxations,
requires a performance style that combines incisiveness and lightness, that
produces excitement and avoids dragging.

A key component of Schroder's essay, articulation (with its interrelated

matters of phrasing and accent) is the focus of Robin Stowell's "Leopold
Mozart Revised: Articulation in Violin Playing during the Second Half of
the Eighteenth Century." Mozart's lifetime coincided with a dramatic
change of emphasis in articulation practice, "the clear, distinct mid-
eighteenth-century style of playing [the "ordinary" manner of bowing—a
non-legato stroke] gradually giving way to a late eighteenth- and early
nineteenth-century manner founded on a legato approach as a general rule"
(132). Receiving careful attention is a host of topics, among them staccato
notation, slurs, portamento, phrasing, and bowing. To a remarkable degree,
during this crucial period of transition, Leopold Mozart's principles of violin
playing withstood the test of time.

In "Mozart According to Mendelssohn: A Contribution to Rezep-

tionsgeschichte," R. Larry Todd examines Mozart's attitudes toward the
high-Classic style. Utilizing several little known sources, Todd explores
two facets: how Mendelssohn's response to Mozart shaped his own
development as a composer; how Mendelssohn's efforts as conductor,
pianist, and chamber musician "served to strengthen and confirm Mozart's
canonisation in the classical school" (161). Included here is a helpful
preliminary list of Mendelssohn's known performances of Mozart. Of
particular interest is Todd's investigation of Mendelssohn's cadenzas for
Mozart's piano concertos, notably the two he composed for the Double
Concerto in E b , K365. The second, especially, emerges as a stylistically
appropriate, "meticulously crafted miniature composition with a carefully
unified thematic, harmonic, and tonal structure" (196).

In a stimulating extension of the boundaries customarily observed in

performance practice studies, Peter Williams offers "Some Thoughts on
Mozart's Use of the Chromatic Fourth," one of the 17th and 18th centuries'
most common thematic allusions. His concern here is not simply with how
music was performed, but also how it was heard. Whether the figure
appears as a simple formula or as a well-developed idea controlling longer
paragraphs, Mozart uses it particularly for serpentine lines, melodic and
102 Malcolm S. Cole

essentially decorative (Symphony in G Minor, K550, all movements), and

for bass lines, harmonic and coda-like (Sonata for Two Pianos, K448/III).
Occasions likely to elicit chromatic fourths are the key of D minor, minuets,
Kyries, and instrumental pieces otherwise marked by bright, open Affekt.
Viewed atmospherically, the chromatic fourth can bring with it "a sense of
expectancy, even anxiety," as in the slow introduction to the "Prague"
Symphony (216). Citing the overture to Don Giovanni, and noting the
variety of treatment the chromatic fourth finds in Figaro, Williams poses
two provocative questions: in a given verbal context, what are the levels of
allusion for chromatics?; when is a chromatic line over the melodic interval
of a fourth a true "chromatic fourth"? Having answered some questions and
raised many more, Williams concludes "that Mozart's use of the chromatic
fourth was exceptionally varied . . . and that more often than not there was
associated with it some manner of performance (dynamic, articulation) that
marked it out from its surroundings or contributed to the character of those
surroundings" (224).

Christoph Wolff authors the closing essay, "Cadenzas and Styles of

Improvisation in Mozart's Piano Concertos." Four basic problems, or
questions, trigger his inquiry: the function of Mozart's cadenzas; why did he
write alternative versions?; how do the cadenzas reflect the early
performance history of the piano concertos?; how do the cadenzas as
improvisatory elements correspond and harmonize with the concerto
development from K175-595? In probing these areas, Wolff calls into
question several long-held bits of conventional wisdom, among them "the
often expressed view that Mozart's piano concerto cadenzas were primarily
written for students incapable of improvising" (230). To the contrary,
Mozart kept a portfolio for his personal use. Indeed, a second portfolio,
now lost, may have existed for the later concertos! With the passage of
time, Mozart adopted an increasingly "anti-improvisatory" approach.

The chronology of Mozart's cadenza style reflects a move from the

motivically free-wheeling fantasia manner to motivically and metrically
tightly controlled improvisational gestures which are gradually more and
more removed from genuine improvisation and, instead, come much
closer to compositional elaboration (234-35).

Through the cadenza, Mozart as composer/performer could "change,

modernise, and individualise a finished work through later re-performances"
(p. 238).

Attractively designed and cleanly printed, Perspectives on Mozart

Performance is a joy to read. Generous musical examples, useful tables and
 Reviews 103

charts, and five clearly reproduced figures supplement the literate prose of
this truly international band of contributors. The editors deserve credit for
felicitously coordinating styles, thus achieving a connecting thread while
preserving individuality at the same time. Throughout, the translation of
foreign-language quotes is commendable, as is Tim Burris's translation of
the Melkus essay.

Criticisms are few. Some misspellings and damaged characters appear,

especially in the second half of the volume. The spelling of Sarastro as
"Zarastro" (68) seems unnecessary. For American readers, a refresher
course in English equivalents for note values is highly recommended.
Comprehension of Marty's essay depends upon facility with minims,
crotchets, quavers, etc. Glancing through those essays supplied with
subtitles, one might question why the type face-changes for Badura-Skoda's
two last categories of trill realization (23-24; it is already somewhat
confusing that the five categories announced on pp. 1-2 have been
supplemented by a "Speed and Ending" section and interrupted by an
examination of trills not mentioned in dementi's table). In a purely
organizational matter, readers of Koml6s's essay might wonder why, after a
lengthy look at variations, the author shifts to concertos for one paragraph
(41-42), only to return to variations for several more pages.

To obtain maximum benefit from this sophisticated, state-of-the-art

contribution, a great deal of preliminary reading (and listening) is
desirable.3 In no way is the citation of titles in note 3 an implication that
some of the Cambridge essays might simply be rewrites of earlier
scholarship. To the contray, the volume is filled with important new
concerns, new information, new insights, and new interpretations. For
example, now believing that a main-note beginning is required to create the
proper melodic effect for the opening of the Piano Concerto in G, K453,
Badura-Skoda no longer advocates one of the executions of the short trill
that he recommended in both his book and his NMA edition of this concerto.

Throughout, the contributors demonstrate a keen awareness of each other's

work and a genuine respect for it. See, for example, the exchange of ideas

3
Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda, Mozart-Interpretation (Vienna: Eduard Wancura, 1957),
trans. Leo Black as Interpreting Mozart on the Keyboard (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1962;
repr. New York, 1986); Jean-Pierre Marty, The Tempo Indications of Mozart (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1988); Frederick Neumann, Ornamentation and Improvisation in
Mozart (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986); Robin Stowell, Violin Technique and
Performance Practice in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1985).
104 Malcolm S. Cole

between Neumann and Badura-Skoda, or Melkus's use of the Badura-

Skodas' findings about keyboard cadenzas as a springboard to his work on
violin cadenzas. Moreover, they are admirably aware of other scholars'
efforts. Although it appeared too late for incorporation in Wolffs research,
Robert Levin's important "Instrumental Ornamentation, Improvisation, and
Cadenzas" is cited conspicuously at the end of Wolffs essay.4 That Levin
could not have been involved more directly in the Cambridge project is
unfortunate. To judge from his Requiem reconstruction/composition and his
unforgettable fortepiano recital at the recent "Mozart's Music: Text and
Context" conference (the Clark Library), his view would have enriched
further an already lavish offering.5 And, of course, new work continues to
appear. For the cadenza, an area of concern to several of the contributors,
there is now Philip Whitmore's book to consider.6

Within this volume, the contributors examine a vast repertoire of

instrumental and vocal music (not exclusively by Mozart). A refreshing
attention to strings (Melkus, Schroder, Stowell) redresses somewhat the
long-existing imbalance between keyboard studies and everything else.
Several threads are pursued throughout the book, offering the reader a
tantalizing range of nuance. Here, for example, are three capsule views of
tempo: "The dialectic of time and tempo . . . is at the centre of the art of the
interpreter" (Marty, 70); "Playing the classical violin . . . helps to rediscover
a sense of speed that is closely related to the human pulse and does not need
extreme values at both ends of the scale" (Schroder, 122); "Clearly the
system based on tempo terms was far from infallible as a means of
establishing the optimum speed on which the music's proper effect so vitally
depended" (Stowell, 151).

In their different ways, the contributors are both refining the field and
expanding its boundaries, seeking enlightenment rather than dogmatic
answers to questions incapable of such answers. To take the Neumann-
Crutchfield dialogue as an example of refinement, each potential prosodic
appoggiatura amounts to a detail, nothing more. However, projected over

Robert Levin, "Instrumental Ornamentation, Improvisation, and Cadenzas,"

Performance Practice. Music after 1600, ed. Howard Mayer Brown and Stanley Sadie (New
York: Norton, 1990), 267-91.

Sponsored by the UCLA Center for 17th- and 18th-Century Studies and the William
Andrews Clark Memorial Library, this conference of lectures, workshops, and performances
took place April 3-4,1992, at the Clark Library.

Philip Whitmore, Unpremeditated Art: the Cadenza in the Classical Keyboard

Concerto (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991).
 Reviews 105

an entire score, these details profoundly influence the shape and impact of
the performance. To cite one example of extending the boundaries,
Williams, having presented a magisterial overview of the chromatic fourth,
stops short of drawing firm conclusions, modestly cautioning instead,
"There is no real system or theory to be constructed, merely a versatile
practice to be observed, illustrated, and contemplated" (225).

In this first volume of "Cambridge Studies in Performance Practice," R.

Larry Todd and Peter Williams, both currently at Duke University, have
sought "to encourage a cross-fertilisation of viewpoints from scholars and
performers, and to open up for further consideration new issues in
performance practice" (dust jacket). In both respects, they and their
contributors have succeeded admirably.

Malcolm S. Cole