About Expressive Opportunities of the Musical Tempo: Studying the Relationship of Author Text and Performance Interpretation in Music and Theoretical Education

Abstract

Musical tempo is one of the most important elements of musical language, the expressive meaning of which is determined both by the composer’s idea and the performer’s interpretation. The ambiguity of the author’s tempo designations and the lightness of perception of tempo changes by listeners explain the wide use of variability of tempo interpretations for the implementation of individual performance concepts. The article reveals the role of tempo in forming ideas about composing styles among listeners of different eras, in updating existing performance stereotypes, and reveals the relationship between the historical life of a work and the permissibility of its various tempo incarnations. Specific examples in the aspect of the problem of selecting audio materials for training courses in music-historical and music-theoretical disciplines show the expressive possibilities of musical tempo, its role in transmitting the genre, style, and image of musical works from the point of view of compliance of performing tempo solutions with the composer’s idea and artistic expediency. The possibility of including comparative characteristics of interpretations in the study of music-theoretical disciplines to reveal the diversity of music content is justified.

Keywords

• musical tempo
• performance interpretation
• performance concept
• musical style
• musical genre
• musical content
• composer’s text
• music-historical disciplines
• music-theoretical disciplines
• audio materials