Event Host: School of Music
Short Description: This talk examines modern performers’ comments about the value (or lack thereof) of authorial metronome marks in relation to their sense of communicating the true spirit of the work.
Metronome Marks, the Composer’s Intention, and the Sense of the Work presented by Mary Hunter, musicologist, Bowdoin College.
When, as performers, we assert that we are being faithful to the intentions of the composer, or that we’re observing Werktreue, we are often making choices about which intentions matter most, or about what constitutes the “Werk” to which we are being “treu.” There is no better example of this than our attitudes to composer’s metronome marks. This talk examines modern performers’ comments about the value (or lack thereof) of authorial metronome marks in relation to their sense of communicating the true spirit of the work.
Lectures are held Mondays at 4 p.m. in the 18th Avenue Library, 175 W. 18th Ave. (Music/Dance Library, second floor, room 205), unless otherwise noted. These events are free and open to the public.
