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The Case of Compensating Rubato

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Sarah Martin
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Abstract

Rubato has for centuries been linked with the idea of compensating tempo modulation. Despite the wealth of references to this idea in writings by famous performers and teachers over the ages, scholars investigating the idea have so far emphatically dismissed the notion as a myth, or at best a rationalization. In this article, I take as a starting-point these performers' writings, and show that it is scholars rather than performers who have reduced the idea of compensation to an abstract principle. Using Debussy's 1913 piano-roll recordings as examples, I show with the aid of empirical timing data and close listening that compensating rubato is far from a myth in the performance practice of the early twentieth century.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Musical Association , Volume 127 , Issue 1 , 2002 , pp. 95 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Musical Association, 2002

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References

My thanks to Nicholas Cook and two anonymous readers for their invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this article, and to Rod Johnson, who wrote the computer program Sforzando Pro for Windows.Google Scholar

1 Robert Philip, Early Recordings and Musical Style: Changing Tastes in Instrumental Performance, 1900–1950 (Cambridge, 1992), 38.Google Scholar

2 John McEwen, Tempo rubato or Time Variation in Musical Performance (London, 1928), 22.Google Scholar

3 See Hudson, Richard, Stolen Time: The History of Tempo rubato (Oxford, 1994), and Sandra Rosenblum, Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications (Bloomington, 1988).Google Scholar

4 William Rothstein, ‘Heinrich Schenker as an Interpreter of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas’, 19th Century Music, 8 (1984), 3–28 (p. 15). In this article, Rothstein mentions that Schenker was an advocate of the idea of compensating rubato (as evident in Schenker's unfinished work about performance entitled Vom Vortrag (On Performance), recently published as The Art of Performance, ed. Herbert Esser, trans. Irene Schreier Scott, New York, 2000) and comments that ‘a thoughtful musician might well be surprised to find such a widely and often thoughtlessly parroted idea expressed by a thinker of Schenker's sophistication’.Google Scholar

5 Quoted in McEwen, Tempo rubato, 11.Google Scholar

6 A Dictionary of Musical Terms (1895), ed. Theodore Baker (New York, 1923), 169.Google Scholar

7 Franklin Taylor, Technique and Expression in Pianoforte Playing (London, 1897), 72–3.Google Scholar

8 Nicholas Cook, Beethoven: Symphony no. 9 (Cambridge, 1993), 50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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10 Quoted in Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, Chopin, Pianist and Teacher, as Seen by his Pupils, trans. Naomi Shohet with Krysia Osostowicz and Roy Howat, ed. Roy Howat (Cambridge, 1988), 49–50.Google Scholar

11 Hudson, Stolen Time, 328.Google Scholar

12 In his 5000 Musical Terms (Boston, MA, 1851), John Adams defines ‘Tempo Rubato’, and states that the term ‘implies that the time is to be alternately quickened and retarded, but so that one process may compensate for the other’. Richard Hudson comments that this definition is to his knowledge the first time that the concept of compensation is applied to general tempo modifications. See Hudson, Stolen Time, 317.Google Scholar

13 See Tosi, Pier, Opinioni de' cantori antichi e moderni (1723), trans. John Ernest Galliard as Observations on the Florid Song (1743; repr. London, 1926), 129, 156. Tosi writes that good taste in performance includes ‘going from one note to another with singular and unexpected Surprises, and stealing the Time exactly on the true Motion of the Bass … The stealing of Time [Il rubamento di Tempo], in the Pathetick, is an honourable Theft in one that sings better than others, provided he makes a Restitution with Ingenuity.‘Google Scholar

14 Tobias Matthay, Musical Interpretation: Its Laws and Principles, and their Application in Teaching and Performing (London, 1913), 70–1.Google Scholar

15 Matthay, ‘Musical Interpretation’, 70.Google Scholar

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21 Ibid., 100.Google Scholar

22 Quoted in Philip, Early Recordings, 44.Google Scholar

23 Mozart, W. A., for instance, wrote in a letter to his father in 1777 that ‘Everyone is amazed that I can always keep strict time. What these people cannot grasp is that in tempo rubato in an Adagio, the left hand should go on playing in strict time. With them the left hand always follows suit.‘ See Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, The Letters of Mozart and his Family, trans. and ed. Emily Anderson (London, 1985), 340.Google Scholar

24 Quoted in Hudson, Stolen Time, 320.Google Scholar

25 Wanda Landowska, Landowska on Music, collected, edited and translated by Denise Restout (London, 1965), 383.Google Scholar

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27 Taylor, Technique and Expression, 72–3.Google Scholar

28 McEwen's observations pre-date similar ones published by the well-known music psychologist Carl Seashore in his 1938 work Psychology of Music (repr. New York, 1967). In this book Seashore presents the results of his empirical studies of performance timing using the ‘Iowa piano camera’, but he does not specifically address the issue of compensating rubato. Instead, he limits himself to rather general observations concerning such matters as ‘consistency of interpretation’ between multiple performances of a work by the same performer. He stops short of providing a detailed musical assessment of his timing data.Google Scholar

29 McEwen, Tempo rubato, 31.Google Scholar

30 Quoted in Hudson, Stolen Time, 320.Google Scholar

31 Philip, Early Recordings, 47.Google Scholar

32 Ibid., 47–8.Google Scholar

33 Philip, Early Recordings, 47.Google Scholar

34 Ibid., 67.Google Scholar

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36 Ibid., 1, 329.Google Scholar

37 Nicholas Cook, ‘Analysing Performance and Performing Analysis’, Rethinking Music, ed. Nicholas Cook and Mark Everist (Oxford, 1998), 239–61 (p. 251).Google Scholar

38 Richard Langham Smith, ‘Debussy on Performance: Sound and Unsound Ideals’, Debussy in Performance, ed. James R. Briscoe (New Haven and London, 1999), 3–27 (pp. 25–6).Google Scholar

39 Jennifer Tong, ‘Rubato and Metaphor: Some Preliminary Thoughts’, unpublished article, 5; see also her ‘Separate Discourses: A Study of Performance and Analysis’ (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southampton, 1994).Google Scholar

40 Quoted in Eigeldinger, Chopin, 49.Google Scholar

41 It is possible that when Mikuli described Chopin's rubato as ‘much maligned’ he did not mean that it was widely criticized, but rather that it was badly imitated by most players.Google Scholar

42 Tong, ‘Rubato and Metaphor’, 23.Google Scholar

43 Hudson, Stolen Time, 320.Google Scholar

44 These recordings were made for M. Welte & Soehne in Paris on 1 November 1913 using the Duo-Art Reproducing Piano system. The recordings have recently been replayed and recorded on a modern piano by various different producers and released on CD. The particular CD used in this study was produced by Denis Condon – see Debussy, Claude, Children's Corner and selections from Préludes, Book 1 (Condon Collection, CD 690.07.011, 1992).Google Scholar

45 Langham Smith, ‘Debussy on Performance’; Cecilia Dunoyer, ‘Debussy and Early Debussystes at the Piano’, Debussy in Performance, ed. Briscoe, 91–118.Google Scholar

46 Jacques Durand, Quelques souvenirs d'un éditeur de musique (Paris, 1925), 21 (‘un rubato imperceptible cadrant toujours dans le temps‘).Google Scholar

47 Marguerite Long remarks that ‘Son prodigieux amour de la nature le plonge dans l'élément de vie d'où elle sort: l'eau. Il n'en perd pas un reflet, un courant, une caresse, une traîtrise … Tout cela compose, en musique, une nuance impossible à définir si on ne la sent … le rubato, lié a l'interprétation de Debussy comme à celle de Chopin … Chez l'un et l'autre des deux musiciens, ce rubato reste délicat, difficile à obtenir tel qu'il a été voulu, c'est à dire “imbriqué” dans l'exactitude rigoureuse. Tel, encore une fois, le flot captif de ses berges. Rubato ne veut pas dire altération de ligne, de mesure, mais de nuance et d'élan. Or, ces nuances auxquelles Debussy tenait farouchement, le “Tempo rubato” de “Reflets dans l'eau” en est l'armature’ (‘[Debussy's] prodigious love of nature immerses him in that very element of life from which nature springs: water. He notices every reflection, current, caress and turbulence … All this is reflected in music by nuances impossible to define unless one feels them … rubato, inseparable from the interpretation of Debussy's music as it is from that of Chopin … In the music of both these composers, this rubato is delicate and difficult to achieve in the way that Debussy wanted it, that is, held together in rigorous exactitude. In the same way, once again, a river is captive of its banks. Rubato does not mean alteration of the melody line or the beat, but of nuance and élan. Now the Tempo rubato of Reflets dans l'eau serves as the framework for these nuances which Debussy maintained tenaciously‘). See Long, Marguerite, Au piano avec Claude Debussy (Paris, 1960), 45 (my translation).Google Scholar

48 Taylor, Technique and Expression, 72–3.Google Scholar

49 McEwen, Tempo rubato, 15.Google Scholar

50 McEwen states that ‘If we wish to observe absolute accuracy in timing the events of life, we put our trust in clocks and watches, not in our subjective feelings of time-interval and time-succession … The fallacy, therefore, which underlies this “law” of rubato is the assumption that the human mind is capable of the same sort of accuracy as a mechanical time-measurer’. See ibid., 25.Google Scholar

51 Ibid., 21.Google Scholar

52 The particular program used was Sforzando Pro for Windows, devised by Rod Johnson. Sforzando also measures dynamics in a recording.Google Scholar

53 Debussy dedicated Children's Corner to his daughter Claude-Emma, nicknamed ‘Chouchou’. The dedication reads: ‘A ma chère petite Chouchou, avec les tendres excuses de son Père pour ce qui va suivre’ (‘To my dear little Chouchou, with tender excuses from her father for what follows‘). Readers with access to the internet are referred to sound clip 1 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 1–4, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording; Claude Debussy, CD 690.07.011, Condon Collection, 1992). This and other sound clips below © Dolphin Music Group, but all efforts to contact them to seek permission to reproduce these extracts have been in vain. Any reader who knows their address is requested to contact the editorial office. (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 1–4, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording; Claude Debussy, CD 690.07.011, Condon Collection, 1992). This and other sound clips below © Dolphin Music Group, but all efforts to contact them to seek permission to reproduce these extracts have been in vain. Any reader who knows their address is requested to contact the editorial office.' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Debussy+dedicated+Children's+Corner+to+his+daughter+Claude-Emma,+nicknamed+‘Chouchou’.+The+dedication+reads:+‘A+ma+chère+petite+Chouchou,+avec+les+tendres+excuses+de+son+Père+pour+ce+qui+va+suivre’+(‘To+my+dear+little+Chouchou,+with+tender+excuses+from+her+father+for+what+follows‘).+Readers+with+access+to+the+internet+are+referred+to+sound+clip+1+at++(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+1–4,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording;+Claude+Debussy,+CD+690.07.011,+Condon+Collection,+1992).+This+and+other+sound+clips+below+©+Dolphin+Music+Group,+but+all+efforts+to+contact+them+to+seek+permission+to+reproduce+these+extracts+have+been+in+vain.+Any+reader+who+knows+their+address+is+requested+to+contact+the+editorial+office.>Google Scholar

54 See sound clip 2 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 11–14, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+11–14,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

55 See sound clip 3 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 21–3, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+21–3,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

56 See sound clip 4 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 32–4, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+32–4,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

57 See sound clip 5 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 43–5, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+43–5,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

58 See sound clip 6 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 63–6, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+63–6,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

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60 Matthay, Musical Interpretation, 64.Google Scholar

61 A significantly narrower range is evident in more recent performances (see below).Google Scholar

62 Quoted by Roy Howat in the editor's introduction, Claude Debussy, Préludes, Book 1: The Autograph Score (New York, 1987), v.Google Scholar

63 Moura Lympany, Claude Debussy, CD 24356 82372 (EMI, 1993).Google Scholar

64 See sound clip 8 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 32–4, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+32–4,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

65 See sound clip 9 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Dr Gradus ad Parnassum, bars 53–6, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(Dr+Gradus+ad+Parnassum,+bars+53–6,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

66 Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Claude Debussy: Images 1 & 2; Children's Corner, CD 415 372-2 (Deutsche Grammophon, 1971, re-released 1986).Google Scholar

67 Pascal Rogé, Debussy, CD 417 792-2 (Decca, 1979).Google Scholar

68 Roger Woodward, Images of Debussy, CD 446 740-2 (ABC, 1995).Google Scholar

69 Hudson, Stolen Time, 334.Google Scholar

70 Quoted in Eigeldinger, Chopin, 49.Google Scholar

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72 Hudson, Stolen Time, 348. See also Eigeldinger, Chopin, 274.Google Scholar

73 See sound clip 10 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (La danse de Puck, bars 32–5, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(La+danse+de+Puck,+bars+32–5,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

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76 Dunoyer, ‘Debussy and Early Debussystes at the Piano’, 94.Google Scholar

77 Debussy's first book of Préludes was published in 1910.Google Scholar

78 See Dunoyer, ‘Debussy and Early Debussystes at the Piano’, 93.Google Scholar

79 José Bowen, ‘Finding the Music in Musicology: Performance History and Musical Works’, Rethinking Music, ed. Cook and Everist, 424–51 (p. 439).Google Scholar

80 See Smith, Langham, ‘Debussy on Performance’, 22–3. Although he makes detailed observations about Debussy's arpeggiation of the right-hand chords in this passage, he does not mention the marked disjunction between right and left hands.Google Scholar

81 See sound clip 14 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (La cathédrale engloutie, bars 16–17, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).+(La+cathédrale+engloutie,+bars+16–17,+played+by+Claude+Debussy,+1913+piano-roll+recording).>Google Scholar

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83 See sound clip 16 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Golliwogg's Cake-Walk, bars 8–13, played by Claude Debussy, 1913 piano-roll recording).Google Scholar

84 A good example of the accompaniment style of compensating rubato can be heard in Pablo Casals's 1950 recording with the pianist Paul Baumgartner of J. S. Bach's Cello Sonata no. 1 in G major (in the Allegro non tanto section of the first movement). Since Casals worked with the pianist Alfred Cortot (Casals played in a piano trio founded in 1905 with Cortot and Thibaud), who in turn studied with one of Chopin's last pupils, it is possible that Casals inherited the accompaniment style of compensating rubato through his association with Cortot.Google Scholar

85 Matthay, Musical Interpretation, 61.Google Scholar