The Short

8 Tempo
Historical evidence and contemporary experience demonstrate that tempo is among the most variable and contentious
issues in musical performance. The majority of musicians regard it as their inalienable right to select their own tempo.
To a considerable extent the exercise of choice in this, as in other inter-pretative matters, has been seen throughout the
period as an essential part of the performing musician's creativity. John Holden put the matter nicely when he
observed in 1770:
it must be acknowledged that the absolute time which ought to be allowed to different pieces, is the most
undetermined matter, that we meet with, in the whole science of music. There is one insuperable difficulty, which
frustrates all attempts towards regulating this particular, viz. the different humours and tastes of different persons;
which are so various, that one person shall think a tune much too quick, for the intended expression, while another
thinks it not quick enough. 504
for the modern performer who wishes to approach the composer's intentions as closely as possible it is important not
to misunderstand the workings of the relevant conventions and, through simple ignorance, choose a tempo radically
different from that envisaged by the composer. This can all too easily happen when a term such as ‘andante molto’ is
used by some composers to mean a faster pace than their normal andante and by others a slower one, or when the
significance of ? for the tempo in particular cases is unrecognized. It is arguably more fundamental to the integrity of a
composition that the performer should appreciate the thinking that lay behind the composer's methods of indicating
tempo than that he should attempt to achieve specific chronometric tempos (however authentic) in particular cases;
indeed, if this more limited end is attained the likelihood of choosing radically inappropriate speeds is greatly
504 Essay, 36.