INTERPRETATION IN CONDUCTING
(_Continued_)
DYNAMICS
[Sidenote: IMPORTANCE OF DYNAMICS]
Another important factor in the expressive rendition of music is
_dynamics_, _i.e._, the relative loudness and softness of tone. The
composer is supposed to have a fairly large share in this phase of
expression, and in modern music always indicates in the score at least
the most important dynamic changes that he has in mind. But our
observation of musical performances tends to make us feel that in this
aspect, even more than in tempo changes, it is the conductor or
performer who must bear the greater responsibility, and that the
_amount_ of dynamic contrast to be employed certainly depends entirely
upon the taste of the conductor or performer.
It is safe to say that the dynamic factor is easier to control than is
the tempo, and yet in spite of this fact, there is no question but
that the rendition of most choral and orchestral music could be made
much more interesting if it could be given with a greater variety of
dynamic shading. Nor is there, in our opinion, any question but that
the changes from _forte_ to _piano_ and _vice versa_, the gradually
worked up _crescendos_, the vigorous accents on certain important
tones or chords, together with those subtler shadings often referred
to as _dynamic nuances_, may become just as important and powerful a
means of conveying emotional effects as tempo. Joy and triumph and
exuberance are of course expressed by _forte_ and _fortissimo_ effects
(the crowd at a football game does not _whisper_ its approval when its
own team has made a touch-down), but the image of a mother singing a
lullaby would demand altogether different dynamic treatment.
The _crescendo_ is one of the most powerful means of expression that
the composer has at his disposal--especially in writing for the modern
orchestra, but there seems to be a good deal of misunderstanding on
the part of amateur conductors and performers about the real meaning
of the term. _Crescendo_ does not mean _forte_; indeed Weingartner
(_op. cit._, p. 6) quotes von Bülow as remarking that _crescendo
signifies piano_,--meaning of course that a _crescendo_ usually
implies a soft beginning.
It should perhaps be noted at this point that there are two varieties
of _crescendo_; one being produced by performing succeeding tones each
more loudly than the one immediately preceding it; the other by
prolonging the same tone and increasing its power gradually as it
continues to sound. The first type is much commoner than the second,
and is indeed the one kind of _crescendo_ that is possible in piano
playing; but the second variety can be secured in the case of an organ
with swell box, the human voice, and in both string and wind
orchestral instruments. Since some of the most beautiful musical
effects may be produced by the use of this second type of crescendo,
it should be employed very much more than it is in choral and
orchestral music. The English conductor Coward takes the ground that
the swell (a combination of _crescendo_ and _diminuendo_) is the most
powerful choral effect in existence.[17]
[Footnote 17: Coward, _Choral Technique and Interpretation_, p. 112.]
When the composer wishes to build up a really tremendous climax and
sweep all before him by the intensity of the emotional excitement
generated, he frequently indicates an increase in the amount of tone,
coupled with a very gradual acceleration in tempo, all proceeding by
slow degrees, and perhaps accompanied by a rise from a low pitch
register to higher ones. If on the other hand, he wants to let down in
emotional intensity, he does the opposite of all these things. The
combination of _crescendo_ and _ritardando_ is also tremendously
effective.
In order to bring together in fairly comprehensive array the terms
that are ordinarily used by the composer to indicate various
expressional effects, a table of the most frequently encountered
dynamic expressions is here included.
_Pianississimo_ (_ppp_) }
_pianissimo possibile_ } (as softly as possible)
_pianissimo_ (_pp_) (superlative of _piano_--very softly)
_piano_ (_p_) (softly)
_più piano_ (more softly)
_il più piano_ (most softly)
_piano assai_ (very softly)
_mezzo-piano_ (_mp_) (moderately softly)
_forte_ (_f_) (loudly)
_fortissimo_ (_ff_) (superlative of _forte_--very loudly)
_fortississimo_ (_fff_) (as loudly as possible)
_più forte_ (more loudly)
_il più forte_ (most loudly)
_il più forte possibile_ (as loudly as possible)
_mezzo forte_ (_mf_) (moderately loudly)
_forte-piano_ (_fp_) (loudly followed immediately by softly)
_forzando_ (_z_) } (These words and signs indicate that
_sforzando_ (_sf_ or _sfz_) } a single tone or chord is to be
_forzato_ (_fz_) } accented, the amount of stress
_sforzato_ (_sf_ or _sfz_) } depending upon the character of the
[accent hairpin symbol] or } passage and of the composition)
[accent symbol] }
_rinforzando_ (_rinf_) } (reinforced; a definite increase in power
_rinforzato_ (_rfz_) } extending through a phrase or passage)
_crescendo_ (_cresc._ or [crescendo symbol]) (gradually becoming
louder)
_decrescendo_ (_decresc._ or }
[decrescendo symbol]) } (gradually becoming softer)
_diminuendo_ (_dim._ or }
[diminuendo symbol]) }
_crescendo poco a poco_ (becoming louder little by little)
_crescendo subito_ (becoming louder immediately)
_crescendo molto_ (becoming much louder)
_crescendo al fortissimo_ (becoming gradually louder until the
_fortissimo_ point has been reached)
_crescendo poi diminuendo_ } (gradually louder then
_crescendo e diminuendo_ } gradually softer)
_crescendo ed animando_ (gradually louder and faster)
_diminuendo al pianissimo_ (becoming gradually softer until the
_pianissimo_ point is reached)
_morendo_ }
_perdendosi_ } (gradually dying away, _i.e._, becoming slower
_smorzando_ } and softer by very small degrees)
_calando_ }
_con amore_ (with tenderness)
_con bravura_ (with boldness)
_con energia_ (with energy)
_con espressione_ }
_espressivo_ } (with expression)
_con brio_ (with brilliancy)
_con fuoco_ (with fire)
_con passione_ (with passion)
_con grazia_ (with grace)
_con tenerezza_ (with tenderness)
_dolce_ (gently) (literally, sweetly)
_giocoso_ (humorously) (_cf._ jocose)
_giojoso_ (joyfully) (_cf._ joyous)
_con maestà_ }
_maestoso_ } (majestically)
_pastorale_ (in pastoral, _i.e._, in simple and unaffected style)
_pomposo_ (pompously)
_scherzando_ }
_scherzo_ } (jokingly)
_sotto voce_ (with subdued voice)
We shall close our discussion of the subject of dynamics with a brief
presentation of a few practical matters with which every amateur
conductor should be familiar.
The _pianissimo_ of choruses and orchestras is seldom soft enough. The
extreme limit of soft tone is very effective in both choral and
orchestral music, and most conductors seem to have no adequate notion
of _how soft_ the tone may be made in such passages. This is
especially true of chorus music in the church service; and even the
gospel singer Sankey is said to have found that the softest rather
than the loudest singing was spiritually the most impressive.[18]
[Footnote 18: On the other hand, the criticism has been made in recent
years that certain orchestral conductors have not sufficiently taken
into consideration the size and acoustics of the auditoriums in which
they were conducting, and have made their _pianissimos_ so soft that
nothing at all could be heard in the back of the room. In order to
satisfy himself that the tone is as soft as possible, and yet that it
is audible, it will be well for the conductor to station some one of
good judgment in the back of the auditorium during the concert, this
person later reporting to the conductor in some detail the effect of
the performance.]
_Pianissimo_ singing or playing does not imply a slower tempo, and in
working with very soft passages the conductor must be constantly on
guard lest the performers begin to "drag." If the same virile and
spirited response is insisted upon in such places as is demanded in
ordinary passages, the effect will be greatly improved, and the
singing moreover will not be nearly so likely to fall from the pitch.
The most important voice from the standpoint of melody must in some
way be made to stand out above the other parts. This may be done in
two ways:
1. By making the melody louder than the other parts.
2. By subduing the other parts sufficiently to make the
melody prominent by contrast.
The second method is frequently the better of the two, and should more
frequently be made use of in ensemble music than is now the case in
amateur performance.
The conductor of the Russian Symphony Orchestra, Modeste Altschuler,
remarks on this point:
A melody runs through every piece, like a road through a
country hillside. The art of conducting is to clear the way
for this melody, to see that no other instruments interfere
with those which are at the moment enunciating the theme. It
is something like steering an automobile. When the violins,
for instance, have the tune, I see to it that nobody hurries
it or drags it or covers it up.
In polyphonic music containing imitative passages, the part having the
subject must be louder than the rest, especially at its first
entrance. This is of course merely a corollary of the general
proposition explained under number three, above.
In vocal music the accent and crescendo marks provided by the composer
are often intended merely to indicate the proper pronunciation of some
part of the text. Often, too, they assist in the declamation of the
text by indicating the climax of the phrase, _i.e._, the point of
greatest emphasis.
The dynamic directions provided by the composer are intended to
indicate only the broader and more obvious effects, and it will be
necessary for the performer to introduce many changes not indicated in
the score. Professor Edward Dickinson, in referring to this matter in
connection with piano playing, remarks:[19]
After all, it is only the broader, more general scheme of
light and shade that is furnished by the composer; the finer
gradations, those subtle and immeasurable modifications of
dynamic value which make a composition a palpitating,
coruscating thing of beauty, are wholly under the player's
will.
[Footnote 19: Dickinson, _The Education of a Music Lover_, p. 123.]
In concluding our discussion of dynamics, let us emphasize again the
fact that all expression signs are relative, never absolute, and that
_piano_, _crescendo_, _sforzando_, _et cetera_, are not intended to
convey to the performer any definite degree of power. It is because of
misunderstanding with regard to this point that dynamic effects are so
frequently overdone by amateurs, both conductors and performers
seeming to imagine that every time the word _crescendo_ occurs the
performers are to bow or blow or sing at the very top of their power;
and that _sforzando_ means a violent accent approaching the effect of
a blast of dynamite, whether occurring in the midst of a vigorous,
spirited movement, or in a tender lullaby. Berlioz, in the treatise on
conducting appended to his monumental work on Orchestration, says:[20]
A conductor often demands from his players an exaggeration
of the dynamic nuances, either in this way to give proof of
his ardor, or because he lacks fineness of musical
perception. Simple shadings then become thick blurs, accents
become passionate shrieks. The effects intended by the poor
composer are quite distorted and coarsened, and the attempts
of the conductor to be artistic, however honest they may be,
remind us of the tenderness of the ass in the fable, who
knocked his master down in trying to caress him.
[Footnote 20: Berlioz, _A Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and
Orchestration_, p. 255.]