Poco Moto

[luvslive]

I am teaching a student Fur Elise and am curious to what the Poco Moto at the opening is referring to.  I know it means little motion/movement.  Does this mean the tempo stays steady throughout or that it is not to be played quickly, or both.  Thanks for any help. 
PS-As a kid I used to add rubato to this piece...and I don't remember anyone arguing with me...yikes!

[zheer]

Good question, all i know is that it should not be playd too slowly, fastish with wide dynamic range lots of color and expressio , it should flow.

[wenat]

Poco Moto....with movement or with motion, obviously means moving along, so playing rubato would not be wrong....Fur Elise played at a strict tempo would sound terrible!

[luvslive]

Con Moto means "with motion"
Poco Moto means "little motion"
that's why I asked..but maybe I'm missing something.   I did more rubato than anyone should EVER do with that piece...I never listened to classical music as a kid and tended to make up my own rhythms and that my teachers did not stop me from murdering that piece is a crime.

[bernhard]

Con Moto means "with motion"
Poco Moto means "little motion"
that's why I asked..but maybe I'm missing something.   I did more rubato than anyone should EVER do with that piece...I never listened to classical music as a kid and tended to make up my own rhythms and that my teachers did not stop me from murdering that piece is a crime.

Indeed, “little motion”.

It is a tempo direction, meaning that it should not be played too fast , but a bit slower.

That is what it say in my Peters edition. However, my Grafton edition comes up with “con moto e leggiero”, meaning fast and nimbly.

Since this piece was never published in Beethoven´s lifetime and was scribbled down to please one of his female students (Therese Malfati), chances are that he did not write down a tempo direction in the autograph, and these are editor´s additions.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[will]

I think your original question has been answered but some interesting tidbits from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BCr_Elise:
"Beethoven scholars and critics are not entirely certain who "Elise" was. The most popular theory is that Beethoven originally titled his work "Für Therese", Therese being Therese von Malfatti, the daughter of a Viennese medical doctor, and at the time the focus of Beethoven's attention."

"In some parts of Taiwan, Iran and most probably in other countries, the tune is played by garbage trucks to notify people to bring their trash out to be picked up. In Brazil and Turkey the tune is played on trucks that sell gas cylinders to notify people that the truck is nearby."

I have read about "Fur Therese" before but can anybody verify the trash and gas cylinder bit? LOL.

[bernhard]

I´ve been in Brazil for the past two months and have not seen anything of the sort. In fact, in all large cities, gas is piped, not distributed in cylinders by Fur Elise blasting trucks. In the rural areas, cylinders are delivered to grocery stores (again, no blaring trucks) from where they are collected by the interested parties. So, I would say it is not true.

I have heard Fur Elise as a mobile phone ringing tone on occasion though (in several countries). althoug it surprises me no one has yet thought of using Sorbji´s OC for the purpose.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[luvslive]

thanks bernhard for your thorough answer, and will for the interesting, but perhaps not fully true, tidbits.   

[bernhard]

You are welcome.

[will]

I´ve been in Brazil for the past two months and have not seen anything of the sort. In fact, in all large cities, gas is piped, not distributed in cylinders by Fur Elise blasting trucks. In the rural areas, cylinders are delivered to grocery stores (again, no blaring trucks) from where they are collected by the interested parties. So, I would say it is not true.

What a shame - Honestly I was hoping someone could verify it! The image makes me laugh. Oh well, back to reality Will...

[will]

thanks bernhard for your thorough answer, and will for the interesting, but perhaps not fully true, tidbits.   

Ha, whoever contributed to the Wikepedia page must have a sense of humour.

[bernhard]

What a shame - Honestly I was hoping someone could verify it! The image makes me laugh. Oh well, back to reality Will...

Although I found it not to be true in Brazil, it may well be true in turkey. So, do not loose all hope.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[will]

Don't worry, I've still got the image of people from Taiwan and Iran rushing their garbage out into the street when they hear the piece!

[andrevidal]

I'm from Brazil and I can confirm that it is true. When I was a child it was very common in São Paulo and I vividly remember listening to the "gas truck song" (it is how the song is better know I'm Brazil btw) when visiting my aunt back in the 90's.

My mother in law still hates the song exactly for this reason, because it was the gas truck song for a big part of her life.

To this day gas trucks are still being used on most cities to supply gas tanks to poor neighborhoods, with piped gas being a privilege to condominiums and closed communities. Most people here still rely on gas tanks (my parents included), but nowadays it is usually delivered by motorcycles.

I´ve been in Brazil for the past two months and have not seen anything of the sort. In fact, in all large cities, gas is piped, not distributed in cylinders by Fur Elise blasting trucks. In the rural areas, cylinders are delivered to grocery stores (again, no blaring trucks) from where they are collected by the interested parties. So, I would say it is not true.

I have heard Fur Elise as a mobile phone ringing tone on occasion though (in several countries). althoug it surprises me no one has yet thought of using Sorbji´s OC for the purpose.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.