In the Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen, published simultaneously in German and French in 1752, Quantz provides in chapter XVII, paragraphs 45-60, a series of indications for defining tempos and speeds of musical pieces.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
In paragraph 45 he underlines the importance and need to establish certain rules for measuring time well, stating (paragraph 47) that the best method is to use the heartbeat (“der pulschlag an der hand” in German, “le battement du pouls à la main” in French) of a healthy person.
THE DEFINITIONS OF TEMPOS
The definitions of tempos, all in Italian both in the German and French texts, are divided into four classes based on speed (paragraph 49)
1 Allegro assai
2 Allegretto
3 Adagio cantabile
4 Adagio assai
Each one of these includes the other countless definitions which can be summarized in the following table:
| 1 | Allegro assai | Allegro di molto, Presto |
| 2 | Allegretto | Allegro ma non tanto, non troppo, non presto, moderato, ecc. |
| 3 | Adagio cantabile | Cantabile, Arioso, Larghetto, Soave, Dolce, poco Andante, Affettuoso, Pomposo, Maestoso, alla Siciliana, Adagio spiritoso, ecc. |
| 4 | Adagio assai | Adagio pesante, Lento, Largo assai, Mesto, Grave, ecc. |
The author also continues in paragraph 50 by saying that “the Allegro assai represents the fastest category”, the Allegretto is “one time slower than the Allegro assai, the “Adagio cantabile is one time slower than the Allegretto, the Adagio assai once slower than the Adagio cantabile”.
The ambiguity of the wording “once slower” also comes from the original German “ist noch einmal so langsam …” and French “va encore une fois si lentement …”.
The italian translation made by Luca Ripanti[1] says “è una volta più lento …”.
Similarly, the Spanish translation by Agostino Cirillo[2] reports “una ves mas lento …”.
The only translation that provides an unambiguous definition is the English one by Reilly[3] which states “is twice as slow …”.
Quantz himself takes care of removing any ambiguity in paragraph 51, which confirms what Reilly anticipates in his translation of paragraph 50.
Quantz states that “in simple time (4/4):
in an Allegro assai, each pulse beat corresponds to a minim;
in an Allegretto, one pulse beat for each quarter note;
in an Adagio cantabile one pulse beat for each quaver;
in an Adagio assai two pulse beats for each quaver;
In alla breve tempo (2/2):
in an Allegro assai, each pulse beat corresponds to a semibreve;
in an Allegretto, one pulse beat for each minim;
in an Adagio cantabile one pulse beat for each quarter note;
in an Adagio assai one pulse beat for each quaver”.
Thus Quantz establishes that the words “once slower” correspond to a halving of the speed.
Paragraph 51 is the crucial one for the definition of the tempos and the measurement of the pulse beats as it reports all the complex cases of binary and ternary tempos.
Quantz further adds that “there is a genre of Allegro moderato (Gemässigtem Allegro) which is halfway between Allegro assai and Allegretto. It appears frequently in vocal pieces and is also used in compositions intended for instruments incapable of performing too rapid passages. It is usually indicated by expressions such as Poco Allegro, Vivace, or, in most cases, simply Allegro”.
Quantz also specifies (paragraph 52) that the tempo measurements refer to instrumental pieces such as concertos, trio sonatas and solo sonatas.
THE DEFINITIONS OF SPEED
In paragraph 55 he defines the measurement of the pulse rate with greater precision and detail, establishing that it is 80 beats per minute.
On the basis of this indication and the considerations in paragraph 51 it is possible to define the metronomic speeds of each tempo.
For this purpose we can use the important study on Quantz concertos published by Meike ten Brink entitled “Die Flötekonzerte von Johann Joachim Quantz”[4]. On page 132-133 the metronome indications of the various tempos are summarized in the table:
SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON QUANTZ SPEED
At first glance it appears that the speeds chosen by Quantz for fast movements are exaggerated and that the solution of halving the speeds at each category change, makes slow movements too slow.
However, to confirm the indications provided in paragraph 51, examining other references relating to speeds, in the remaining chapters of the Versuch, further qualitative indications are found:
- “If an Allegro that should be played with particular fire were performed so much more slowly than it should be, the listener would certainly soon feel like going to sleep (XVII 45);
- “What in former times was considered to be quite fast would have been played almost twice as slow as in the present day […] Contemporary French musicians have retained this style of moderate speed in lively pieces to a large extent” (XVII 50);
- “No more than eight very fast notes can be executed in the time of a pulse beat[5] either with double-tonguing or with bowing (XVII 51); “the double tonguing is used only for the very quickest passage-work” (VI sez. III par. 1);
- “to end a piece either slower or faster than you have begun it is in both cases an error. The former, particularly in an Adagio, often makes it almost impossible to tell wether the piece is written in a duple or triple meter. the melody is gradually obliterated and in its place almost nothing but harmony is heard” (XVII 35);
- “The principal character of the Allegro is one of gaiety and liveliness, just as that of the Adagio, on the contrary, is one of tenderness and melancholy” (XII 3).
However, there are exceptions to the choice of speeds indicated by Quantz:
- “In a large place, where there is much resonance, and where the accompanying body is very numerous, great speed produces more confusion than pleasure” (XVI 18);
- “No attempt ought to be made to play Allegro more quickly than the passage-work can be played with uniform quickness […] the tempo must be set in accordance with the most difficult passage-work” (XII 8);
- As regards opera arias in the Italian style, each one seems to require a particular tempo which must be adapted to the vocal abilities of the singer (XVII 52);
- “What is true of arias is also true of church music, except that both the execution of the performance, and the tempo, if it is to be suitable for the church, must be a little more moderate than in the operatic style” (XVII 53);
- As far as French dance music is concerned, each piece has its own characteristics and requires its own particular tempo ”since music of this kind is very circumscribed, and it is not as arbitrary as Italian music” (XVII 56); “the orchestra must accomodate itself to the dancers movements as much as possible, and this is easily done if now and then one attends to the fall of their feet” (XVII 57).
Further confirmation of the speeds indicated by Quantz is obtained from the description given in chapter XVIII in which the characteristics of the pieces are illustrated (solo music, triosonatas, quartets, operas, etc.).
Regarding concerts, in paragraph 40 Quantz says:
“A timepiece may be consulted to ensure suitable length in a concerto. If the first movement takes five minutes, the Adagio five to six minutes, and the last movement three to four, the entire concert will have the requisite length. In general, it is more advantageous if the listeners find a piece too short rather than too long”.
If we select ten of the over 300 concerts (from numbers 201 to 210) composed approximately in the years in which the Versuch was written and we apply to them the speeds indicated by Quantz in chapter XVII paragraph 51, we obtain an average duration equal to:
4,59 minutes for the first movement;
5,30 for the second;
3,54 for the third.
In the aforementioned study by ten Brink dedicated to the Quantz concerts, she applies similar reasoning to three concerts (46, 95 and 263) chosen in the first period of production (Dresden), in the middle one (Berlin) and in the final one.
The average duration is equal to:
4.17 minutes for the first movement;
5.50 for the second;
3.18 for the third.
Finally, Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, who worked in Berlin at the court of King Frederick II in the same years in which Quantz published the Versuch, in his treatise Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen in chapter 36 paragraph 7 states that in Berlin “the Adagio is played much slower (weit langsamer) and the Allegro much faster (weit geschwinder) than is common elsewhere”.
IN CONCLUSION
The Versuch is the first treatise on music in which the speed characteristics of various musical pieces are illustrated so extensively and in detail before the invention of the metronome, the patent for which dates back to 1816 thanks to Johann Nepomuk Mälzel.
The question that comes naturally concerns to what extent it is possible to apply Quantz’s indications to the music of his time and subsequent eras.
The criteria indicated in the Versuch were most likely adopted in the circle of musicians who worked at the court of Frederick II in Berlin around 1750, the Graun brothers, Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, Franz Benda, to name only the most renowned, as well as the King himself Friedrich the second, who composed more than 120 sonatas and four flute concertos with stylistic characteristics very close to those of Quantz.
The music performed in the Dresden court in which Quantz was active from 1716 to 1741 also contributed to the formation of Quantz’s stylistic code and to the drafting of the Versuch[6].
What was renowned as the best orchestra in the Western world was active in that court, directed by the violinist Pisendel – who was also a student of Vivaldi in Venice – and became a great friend of Quantz. Great composers such as Heinichen, Pisendel himself, Lotti, Fasch, Zelenka etc. worked there, and Vivaldi dedicated a concert of his to it.
In Dresden Quantz had the opportunity to know Vivaldi’s instrumental works in depth and to be influenced by them throughout his first period of compositional activity, maintaining throughout his life a great admiration for the Venetian composer who he had the opportunity to meet personally in Venice in 1726.
It therefore seems probable that in relation to the speeds adopted, the Venetian style was not too far from Versuch’s subsequent indications.
In consideration of the fact that the vast majority of Vivaldi’s concertos report simple tempo indications for the three movements, such as Allegro-Largo-Allegro, one could also hypothesize that the Allegro moderato (or simply Allegro) indicated by Quantz as intermediate between the Allegretto and Presto were typical of Vivaldi’s fast tempos.
As regards French music, Quantz himself says that French composers still adopt very moderate tempos even for pieces of a certain liveliness.
However, after the publication of the treatise, which had good fortune with numerous new editions, the historical and stylistic changes in the musical field in the second half of the eighteenth century and above all the spread of the metronome in the early nineteenth century contributed to overcoming the theories of Quantz, but not to diminish the importance of Versuch in the history of music.
[1] Rugginenti editore, 1992
[2] PhD thesis Universidad de Murcia, 2015
[3] Faber and Faber, 1967. All quotes in quotation marks below are from Reilly’s English translation of the Versuch
[4] Georg Olms Verlag, 1995
[5] 10,66 notes per second
[6] See: QUANTZ AND THE FLUTE AT DRESDEN: HIS INSTRUMENTS, HIS REPERTORY AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE VERSUCH AND THE BACH CIRCLE (dissertation by Mary A. Oleskiewicz- 1998)
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