Interpretation Of Classical Music

How did the great composers really perform and express their own songs?

A few 100 years ago there was no method to record sound. The only way music was recorded or “noted” was in the form of a manuscript. The classical composers used dynamics, tempo and articulation terms/signs to indicate the way a song or piece “should” be interpreted. 

This leaves room for variation and how music is played today, hundreds of years later. I always explain to my students that we don’t exactly know how the great composers really performed their own songs. Imagine you could hear Bach perform his own Toccata and Fugue in D minor or Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata...

Tempo also raises a huge concern. The metronome was only invented in 1815. Beethoven was maybe the first notable composer to indicate specific metronome markings in his music. This was done in 1817. Classical tempo markings were thus relative to the composer. 

So we don’t even have an “exact” indication of tempo for classical music before the year 1800. How fast did Mozart really play his piano sonatas ?

To use a simple example: I drive comfortably at 120km/h on a motorway. I would say this is a moderate speed. For someone else a moderate speed could be 100km/h or 140km/h. 

This makes you think hey? ...