The history of tempo rubato ('stolen time') is as old
as music itself, composers and performers ever
introducing expressive fluctuation of the tempo contrary
to music's precise notation. The technique has been
variously described by theorists and composers as 'an
honest theft', 'a pernicious nuisance', even 'seductive'
(by Franz Liszt), yet it remains integral to the
performance and history of music. Professor Hudson's
book is the first to present the complex history of this
device. He identifies and traces the development of two
main types of rubato: an earlier one in which note
values in a melody are altered while the accompaniment
keeps strict time, and a later, more familiar, one in
which the tempo of the entire musical substance
fluctuates. In the course of his narrative he ranges
widely over western music, from Gregorian Chant to
Chopin, from C.P.E. Bach to jazz, quoting extensively
from the writings of theorists, composers, and
performers.In so doing he not only suggests new ways of
approaching the rubato in the music of
nineteenth-century composers like Chopin and Liszt,
where we expect to encounter the term, but also
illuminates the music of earlier and later periods,
revealing its use even in the music of that most
metronomic of composers, Stravinsky. As such his book
will be of wide interest and of particular relevance to
performers. The text is illustrated throughout by some
150 music examples and a number of illustrations. |
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