The Transcribers Art5.Indd

Sonata, K. 322 Domenico Scarlatti Diffi cult do you call it, Sir? I wish it were impossible! —Samuel Johnson he transcriber looking through keyboard is played on the instrument for which it was Tmusic for suitable material must constantly originally written. It is particularly a problem ask herself a simple question: Is it even possible with music written between 1600 and 1817. Be- to play this on the guitar? Th ere can be a wide fore this span there was a theoretically reliable range of transcribers’ willingness to modify the correlation between time signature and tempo. original music, but all too often we are simply All tempos were numerically related to a basic, confronted with the limitations of the guitar presumably universal, beat—the tactus—which as compared with a keyboard instrument. An was about 60 to 70 beats per minute. Th is men- objective assessment of these limitations, while sural notation allows us to establish the tempos dismaying, is also necessary in producing use- of modern performances with a high degree of ful musical transcriptions. So how does the gui- confi dence. tar measure up as a solo instrument? Well, its In 1817 Beethoven was the fi rst well-known pitch range is rather narrow. Its dynamic range composer to use a recent invention, the metro- is weak. It can only produce four notes simulta- nome, to establish tempos for his music. From neously and has relatively modest contrapuntal this time on, a composer’s intentions about agility. Th ere are innumerable combinations of tempo could be accurately communicated to the notes that cannot be played because they are ei- performer. It turned out, however, that even this ther too close together or too far apart, or both. did not solve the problems. Beethoven himself is It cannot sustain notes and so can only suggest said to have radically changed his own previous connected melody. Its variety of timbres is less metronome markings and he once wrote that than the organ or voice. And, a few superhu- the metronome was “of no value.” man players aside, for most of us mortals the Many guitar transcriptions are from the pe- guitar can produce notes at only relatively slow riod with the least agreement about tempo, that tempos. Any one of these limits may eliminate is, the Baroque and Classical periods. After a keyboard piece from serious consideration 1600 tempo words were increasingly used, while for transcription to the guitar, but the last one, mensural notation declined. Tempo words car- tempo, is the focus of this article. Transcription ried little precision, however. Each theorist of inevitably involves modifi cation. Th e question I this era seems to have had his own table of tem- will explore is: How is the tempo of a piece af- po words. Not only do these tables contradict fected by transcription to the guitar? each other as to what speeds to attach to particular words, sometimes they even disagree as to Tempo and Performance the order of quickness, that is, whether allegro is faster or slower than allegretto, etc. Compound- Th e selection of the tempo of a piece of music ing the problem were the overlapping defi ni- is hardly a trivial matter, even when the music tions of tempo words. Some were descriptions of 26 moods, as in allegro (cheerful). Others described musical continuity”—there are still real, practi- speed, as in lento (slow). Over time some mood cal limits to this principle. words came to have speed meanings, but others What of the other end of the spectrum? It did not. Th e result is considerable uncertainty. seems that there are reasons for a lower tempo Underlying most of the debates about tempos giusto on the guitar. First, there is the often was another concept that was thought to bring overlooked fact that the guitar is a low pitched some coherence to it all—the tempo giusto— instrument. Since guitar music is usually written but even this term brings confusion in that it is with an octave transposition—or with a small sometimes used to mean “strict tempo.” It is the “8” at the bottom of the clef—it is easy to forget other meaning to which I refer: Tempo giusto that the E on the fi rst string twelfth fret is only means the “right tempo.” Th e idea was that each the top space on a regular treble staff , and the piece of music has an implicit and discoverable open sixth string is below the bottom of a staff correct tempo. Leopold Mozart said that infer- with a bass clef. Th e overall pitch of an instru- ring the correct tempo from the score “infalli- ment has implications for tempo. Lower pitches bly shows the true quality of a musician.” Th e are slower to speak. Larger forces and move- implication was that the tempo words could get ments are required to set the string in motion, you to the right neighborhood and then your re- and the acoustic events that follow the plucking fi ned sense of the tempo giusto could take over of the string take longer to play out. As a result, for the fi ne tuning, so to speak. rapid notes have less clarity than they would if I will show you some hard evidence that bears higher pitched. In addition, the guitar’s shorter on this question a little further on, but we must string lengths, compared to, say, the harpsi- fi rst recognize that the foregoing has shed little chord, mean lower tensions and less clarity. light on the central question about tempo and A more subtle point relates to diffi culty. transcription. Th e question might be reworded Technically, the guitar presents monumental at this point: Does the tempo giusto of a piece obstacles to speed compared to a keyboard in- of music change when it is played on a diff er- strument. Each note played on the guitar usu- ent instrument? In fact, I have found in music ally requires two fi ngers. Successive notes re- literature no direct reference to this issue at all. quire extremely precise coordination of fi ngers Th e only remaining avenues for investigation on both hands. Th e point is not just that a gui- are unfettered, but informed, speculation and tar cannot be played as fast as a keyboard, it is observation of the actual performance practice that the perceived diffi culty, including speed of the best players. and complexity, is part of the total experience of the listener. To quote Kirkpatrick again, “Per- Tempo and Transcription haps the very opposition with which the artist is confronted by the tools and materials of his Th ere are several qualities of the guitar itself that medium is a stimulant necessary in some mea- may aff ect tempos. Certainly, as an instrument sure to the intensity and concentration of his that cannot sustain tones, the guitar has defi nite communication through domination of that lower limits of reasonable tempo in slow pieces. medium.” Most guitar music played on the pia- Bowed string instruments, organ or voice can no sounds thin—it presents little opposition, in shape a coherent line using tempos that would Kirkpatrick’s words—and it is natural (“giusto”) completely fragment the melody on the guitar, to play it faster. Conversely, the guitar gives us or the piano. Although—as Ralph Kirkpatrick more opposition, and hence, slower tempos may wrote about nonsustaining instruments, “It is fi t better. not sound but mental expectation that produces Earlier in this article I made unfl attering com- 27 parisons of the guitar’s capabilities, and of course performer. To cut down the size of the search I only told half the story. While on each of the di- focused on two composers: Domenico Scarlatti mensions I listed (pitch range, dynamics, com- and Enrique Granados. Both composers wrote plexity, etc.) the guitar is far surpassed by other keyboard music that has been transcribed and instruments, it may be that no other instrument recorded many times, and so provided lots of has as great a variety of these dimensions within data points from which to observe patterns and which one can create artistic nuances. It may draw conclusions. I later narrowed the search be the most versatile of instruments, in that it further when I found out which particular can produce distinctions in more ways. Th e vio- pieces had been recorded the most. While there lin is sadly lacking in contrapuntal ability, the were a few recordings in my own collection and harpsichord cannot vary loudness at all, and the at the local library that I could actually listen to piano always has the same timbre. Th e guitar and measure with the infamous metronome, I can do these things and more, simultaneously. needed more information. How I obtained this Well played guitar music presents the listener was a fascinating experience that I hope will be with a wealth of subtle variations and nuances a useful digression for readers. Th ose of you who of sound. Th is is a lot of information to process. are already connected to the Internet may fi nd Perhaps the tempo giusto depends on the rate of a few new resources mentioned here; those who information. If this is so, then slower tempos are have yet to connect may fi nd that there are good necessary in performing guitar transcriptions. reasons to do so. Of course, this assumes that the player is doing Without access to many actual recordings, I something artistic with all of the instrument’s resorted to the next best source of information potential.

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