Help ! french tempo markings !! ^^

zipher · Post by **zipher** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:13 pm

hello,

my name is Matt and i play flute. I am preparing a piece for up comming districts audition and have come th the point where i need to incorperate proper speed of tempo in my playing. I am playing a fairly simple piece called DANSE DE LA CHEVRE by Arthur Honegger, i can generally translate what each tempo means but i need the specifics on them, like exact tempo markings that i could plug into my metronome and see how fast or slow the fast or slow means lol. so here are some of the markings if anyone could give me the metronome speeds that i could put it on for each marking, that would be very helpful. thank you ^_^.

Lent=
T Vif=
Danse Vif=
Plus lent=
Vif=
poco rit=
Un peu plus lent <not sure if these are supposed to be together but in the score they are right next to eachother>=

Jennifer Grucza · Post by **Jennifer Grucza** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:28 pm

First of all, tempo markings are always relative. Not all allegros or adagios are the same. So you can't really pin down a particular metronome marking - you have to use your own judgment (or better yet, ask your teacher or listen to a recording or two).

Lent means slow
Plus lent means slower
not sure what vif means - I'm guessing livelier/faster
poco rit. is Italian, not French, and it means slow down a little
Un peu plus lent means a little slower

It is annoying having to read French markings, isn't it? German is even worse.

zipher · Post by **zipher** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:11 pm

yeah i would ask my teacher but its summer break so iam on my own ^^. i find German easier to read because ive taken it for 4 years. let me make an addition to my first post for "dance of the goat." i know tempo markings are relative but i have bad judgement on them so iam looking for someone elses judgment. Where would you start your metronome for these given tempo markings?

jbuck919 · Post by **jbuck919** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 10:22 am

Jennifer Grucza wrote:
It is annoying having to read French markings, isn't it? German is even worse.

Ah, but the Germans have nothing like Satie's "Jouer comme un rossignol qui a mal aux dents" (To be played like a nightingale with a toothache.)

zipher · Post by **zipher** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:41 pm

Lol , is that a french music note that one would put in their piece, as a direction on how to play?

must it be, it must be? whats that from ?

Jennifer Grucza · Post by **Jennifer Grucza** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:29 pm

must it be, it must be? whats that from ?

I think that's a Mendelssohn quartet... you can "hear" the question and answer in the music. Not sure if it's based on a song (like Schubert's Death and the Maiden quartet and Trout quintet).

Oops, no, I'm wrong. "Must it be?" is Beethoven, "Is it true?" is Mendelssohn (just Googled).

jbuck919 · Post by **jbuck919** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 8:24 am

zipher wrote:
must it be, it must be? whats that from ?

They are the words assigned to the principal motifs of the last movement of Beethoven's string quartet opus 135. Nobody can swear to what Beethoven was referring to, but let's just say I don't think it was taxes.

zipher · Post by **zipher** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:31 pm

any way this piece i have to play sounds like a really slow one.

Sporkadelic · Post by **Sporkadelic** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:03 pm

Vif = lively. "T Vif" I would take to mean "très vif" = very lively.

PJME · Post by **PJME** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:27 am

"have saved the best till last – Emily Beynon's superb performance of Honegger's Danse de la chèvre. She succeeds in integrating the various moods of the piece –cool and mysterious at the opening, sprightly and rhythmic for the goat's dance, warm and generous in the lyrical music – and the whole thing is beautifully timed. Listening to this track made me realise what was missing from so much of the rest of the disc – a sense of performance and, above all, spontaneity. In sum then, a disc all flautists should hear and an essential library purchase for the Francophile completist. "

L'ALBUM DES SIX
Emily Beynon – flute
Andrew West – piano
Hyperion CDA 67204
£££

Poulenc: Flute Sonata; Auric: Aria, Imaginées I; Tailleferre: Pastorale, Forlane; Durey: Sonatine for flute and piano, Deux Dialogues; Honegger: Danse de la chèvre, Romance; Milhaud: Sonatine for flute and piano; L'Album des Six for piano; TPT: 73'.

Another good performance can be found on the Timpani label .(complete chambermusic of Honegger).

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:43 am

Sporkadelic wrote:Vif = lively. "T Vif" I would take to mean "très vif" = very lively.

Yoo-hoo, Nashua! :-)

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Help ! french tempo markings !! ^^

Help ! french tempo markings !! ^^

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