Te decet hymnus discusses ideas about tempo based on an interview he heard between Terry Gross and Quincy Jones:
Ms. Gross asked Mr. Jones about his success producing recordings for so many artists in so many genres. His single-word reply: Tempo. It all boils down, he expanded, to getting the tempo right.
The counsel plagues me, frequently. It cautions me as I prepare for choir rehearsal. It colors the way I hear organists lead hymns. It makes me a little uptight as a song-leader. And when I get the tempo wrong - or am in a position to fix someone else's tempo, and don't - it haunts me, sometimes for days!
Quincy Jones, whose music and recordings have long been part of my life sound-track, is not the final word on this subject. But it is a wise word: most of getting our music right is getting the tempo right. Even when everything else is spot on, the wrong tempo will spoil it. But in reality, getting the tempo just right is often the key to getting everything else the way it should be.
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1 comment:
Well, yes. But the *correct* tempo is not only a function of the music, but of how it interacts with the people performing it and the space it's performed in. A tempo that's perfect for a choir with a light, transparent sound will be too fast for a choir with a rich, glowing sound. I guess this is why it's an art rather than a science...
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