what do you think?
My teacher and I were having a similar discussion, though at the moment we had not addressed tempo issues. We were discussing the order of the variations and whether they make some sort of "form" as a whole. I haven't had time to really look into this yet, so maybe I'll expand the question here. Does anyone know of any good reference material that might address some of the larger theoretical issues of the piece?
The primary goal of our discussion was really to determine how to make the piece cohesive. At first thought, keeping the same general tempo throughout may help that goal. I don't know yet. I'm trying to figure out how to think about the piece overall. Is it designed in a psuedo ABA form? Which variations 'go together' conceptually, etc. Beethoven put them in a particular order for a reason, what was that reason? Do I want to accentuate that reason? Do I want to depart from that? How do I make that happen, whichever way I decide?
I suppose the questions go on and on, that's the joy and frustration of it.
Anda,
As far as sending the PDF, I'll have to see. It comes off of the CD Sheet Music disc, I haven't looked at how, if possible, to get the files off the disc. I usually just print what I need from the disc. I'll look into it.
More pondering...
In thinking about your question a little more, I can see both tempo ideas having merit. Keeping a fairly steady tempo throughout may help to provide a more cohesive overall work. Is that your goal? Changing tempos for each variation and giving each one a 'life of its own' is, to me at least, an equally valid interpretation, if that were the goal. I think it all really comes down to what ultimately becomes the most important concepts for you, or for me. This piece is technically challenging for me, so it may be awhile before I can adequately express anything other than noise.
Jef
Topic: Recommendations for Versions of Beethoven's 32 Variations? (Read 1594 times)