Mood: Tempo & dynamics

Tempo and Musical Direction

Let's start with tempo. If this piece was being played in an orchestra, it would probably be a bit slower because you can sustain the sound much more than on a piano.

The Nature of the Piano

• The piano is a percussive instrument, and the sound eventually dies away.
• We want to create a feeling that has direction, sustaining the harmony.

Flowing Bass Line

• The flowing bass line should be:
  • Not a walking pace, but just a little bit slower than a walking pace.
  • The editor suggests a tempo of crotchet equals 30, which is really slow.
• Focus on the left hand:
  • The bass part can have more movement.
  • Aim for an almost undulating left-hand accompaniment.

Schenkerian Analysis

• In many of Bach's works, you can reduce this:
  • There was a very famous person, Schenker, Schenkerian analysis reduces the whole piece to its harmonic structure.
  • For example, in the first two bars, we can see:
    • Descending octaves in D major, which then rises slightly.

Musical Direction

• We want to maintain that musical direction always in the back of our mind.
• The tempo should flow, with each note of the left hand leading to the next note:
  • It's like footsteps walking; you never really stop on each one.
  • The only places you stop are at the second time bar and at the very end, as the left hand is always continuous.

Dynamics Awareness

• Because we are playing on a modern piano, we should be a little aware of dynamics, though just very stylistically:
  • We don't want any great fortissimos here; it would sound horrible.
  • The playing should always be very sweet.
  • Aim for a little more warmth with a piano quality that edges towards mezzo-piano (MP) and then fades away.