Page 303 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2025. Glasbena interpretacija: med umetniškim in znanstvenim┊Music Interpretation: Between the Artistic and the Scientific. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 8

Summaries

Jakob Barbo
Selecting the Tempo of Mozart‘s Works – Traversing the Minefield of Historical Sources
The enduring popularity of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s works from their
inception to the present day has led to the emergence of numerous miscon-
ceptions regarding their interpretation, particularly in the area of tempo se-
lection – a matter that was of particular importance to the composer. Sec-
ondary sources often rely on historical documents that are geographically
and temporally close to Mozart‘s time, but this proximity does not necessar-
ily guarantee their relevance. We will begin by identifying the key, indisput-
able sources: Mozart‘s own scores, his revisions of these scores, his letters,
as well as the writings of his father, Leopold. Each of these will be presented,
with special attention given to Leopold, whose violin school, Versuch ein-
er gründlichen Violinschule from 1756, is often dismissed merely as a begin-
ner’s manual, even though it stands out from similar works due to its deep
insight, which is the result of the author’s broad erudition and lifelong ded-
ication. Time signature emegers as the most crucial element in tempo no-
tation, followed by tempo words as a supplementary, later-developed piece
of information. The importance of correct and the pitfalls of incorrect un-
derstanding of tempo notation elements are demonstrated through an ex-
ample, on which the established hierarchy of relevant sources is also tested.
Keywords: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Leopold Mozart, tempo,
meter.

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