Sub-divide, and conquer, pt. 2

I happen to having my morning espresso in a Starbucks this morning – after all, Someone has to keep the empire from collapsing. Anyway, a couple of ladies are sittin’ next to me having their morning ‘coffee clutch’ in voices none too subtle.

I’ll press on.

After I sent my last newsletter I was reminded of other compelling cases for sub-division; namely, in the outer movements of classical period music.

– Uh-oh, another member of the coffee-clutch just showed up; fresh peels of laughter, more talk of grooming –

Take Mozart’s wonderfully effervescent and virtuosic ‘Sinfonie Concertante’. The first movement is marked in 4/4 time, also known as ‘common time.’

And when the movement is played in this pulse it has a way of sounding that way; common. It lacks gait, and the music comes off sounding heavy and plodding.

On the other hand, hang the music on a sub-divided 4 (one-and-two-and) and the music immediately shifts into a higher gear. For me it like driving along at 40 mph in an old ’67 VW bug with worn rings, versus doing the same speed in a well-tuned Jag E-type.

No comparison.

The same applies for the last movement, marked in 2/4. Play it in a sub-divided 1 and the music immediately gets air born and bubbles with energy.

Now, sub-division can be quite useful in slow movements as well, actually. The 2nd movement of the ‘Concertante’ is marked in 3/4. Most conductors, however, will revert to beating the music in 6 as the music is marked ‘Adagio.’

To me this is a mistake. It’s not that I would play in 3, either. That would come off flippant. It’s in a sub-divided 6 that the movement finds its real home. It has flow without flippancy. And there is still the space for nuance and expansion.

So, when you’re playing those classical period sonatas, concertos, chamber music, and symphonies, take advantage of what sub-division can bring to the music. The game just gets more and more interesting.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Speaking of some interesting games. The Caprices of Nicolo Paganini are some of the most challenging games a violinist can undertake. I’ve some wonderful tools to help you play to win.