Stolen Time: The History of Tempo Rubato

by Richard Hudson

Tracing the complex history of tempo rubato , this book identifies and traces the development of two main types of an earlier one in which note values in a melody are altered while the accompaniment keeps strict time, and a later, more familiar one in which the tempo of the entire musical substance fluctuates. In the course of his narrative, Hudson ranges widely over western music, from Gregorian Chant to Chopin, from C.P.E. Bach to jazz, quoting extensively from the writings of theorists, composers, and performers. In so doing he not only suggests new ways of approaching the rubato in the music of nineteenth-century composers like Chopin and Liszt, where we expect to encounter the term, but also illuminates the music of earlier and later periods, revealing its use even in the music of that most metronomic of composers, Stravinsky.

Genres: Music

488 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 1995

Reviews

[Richard Pohl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perhaps the most comprehensive resource on the history of the agogic treatment of music; the core of the treatise is based on differentiation and description of two different historical meaning "tempo rubato" - "early tempo rubato" - which means slight prolonging and shortening of specific structural melodic notes and "later tempo rubato" - meaning tempo fluctuations within bars and phrases (accel. - ritard.). Author goes on to describe and explain both in a very detailed way, offer suggestions how to apply them in music of specific composers ranging from baroque or even earlier masters till the very recent ones from the twentieth century. An excellent book for anyone interested in performing practices - if you ever wondered where comes the old habit of "divided hands" playing at the keyboard, you might find an answer there and much more as well, of course. Five stars.