conductor substitutes his own judgment for that of the composer, assuming that the latter either made a mistake in indicating the tempo, or else that he had not tried the composition at the tempo preferred by the conductor, and therefore did not realize how much more effective it would be that way.
FINDING THE CORRECT TEMPOIn the main, there are five methods upon which the conductor depends for determining the correct tempo of a composition. These are:
- The metronome indication, found at the beginning of most modern scores.
- The tempo or mood expressions (andante, allegro, adagio, et cetera), which have been in universal use for two centuries or more, and which are found in practically all music, even when a metronome indication is also given.
- The swing and, in vocal music, the general spirit of the text.
- Tradition.
- Individual judgment of tempo as depending upon and resulting from the "quality" of the music.
Of these, the fifth, viz., individual judgment is most important, and is the court of final resort in the case of the mature musician; but the amateur who has had but little experience and who is therefore without any well developed musical taste must depend largely upon his metronome, upon his knowledge of Italian tempo terms, and upon tradition. A brief discussion of these matters will accordingly be in order at this time.
THE METRONOME AS A TEMPO INDICATORThe metronome[1] is a sort of clock with inverted pendulum, the ticks or clicks of which can be regulated as to rate of speed by means of a sliding weight. When this weight is set at the point marked 64, for example, the metronome- ↑ The metronome is supposed to have been invented, or at least perfected, by a Bavarian named Maelzel, about 1815, and for many years the Maelzel metronome was the only one in existence. Hence the letters M.M., still found in many scores, in connection with tempo indications.
