sentimentality in the performance of absolute music- pablo casals's performance of saraband

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Sentimentality in the Performance of Absolute Music: Pablo Casals's Performance of Sarabandfrom Johann Sebastian Bach's Suite No. 2 in D Minor for Unaccompanied Cello, S. 1008Author(s): John H. PlanerSource: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 2 (1989), pp. 212-248Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/742067

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Sentimentality

in

the

Performance of

Absolute

Music:

Pablo

Casals's

Performance of

Saraband

from

Johann

Sebastian

Bach's

Suite No. 2 in D Minor

for

Unaccompanied

Cello,

S.

1008

JOHN

H.

PLANER

You are

fascinated

by

the

notes,

by

how

it is written. Never

do the

same

sonority.

Never

Never

Something

has

to

move down or

up.

Always Always

Character,

character

always Rhythm

doesn't mean

anything.

I

hear the

notes,

yes, but the notes have no interest if you don't give the character.

-

Pablo

Casals1

Pablo

Casals,

the

greatest

cellist of all

time,

owed the

superiority

of

his inter-

pretations

to

the

quality

of

his convictions

resulting

from an

exceptional

musical

intuition,

based

upon

a

broad

knowledge

and

ever-strengthened

by

the

sacred

fire

of

exaltation.

-

Paul Tortelier2

HE

question

I

propose

to

examine

is whether

a

performance

of

absolute music

may

be called

sentimental

in

any dispassionate,

empirical, objective

sense.

In

order to

avoid excessive abstraction

and

to test

the

generalities,

I

approach

this

question by

reference

to

a

specific,

recorded

performance:

Pablo

Casals

playing

the Sara-

band

from

Johann

Sebastian

Bach's

Second Suite

for

Unaccom-

panied

Cello,

S.

1008.

Although

we shall

examine

his

performance

1

Pablo

Casals-Musician

of

the

Century:

A

Portrait in His Own

Words,

Columbia

Records,

Album

M

5

30069,

Record

M

30216,

Side 1

[9].

Casals

is

rehearsing

the

Overture

from

Bach's

First

Suite for

Orchestra,

S.

1066.

2

David

Blum,

Casals

and

the Art

of

Interpretation,

introduction

(Berkeley, 1980),

p.

v.

212



Sentimentality

in

Performance

213

in

detail,

we must not lose focus and assume

that Casals's

performance

is the

object

of our

inquiry.

Rather we

seek

to ascertain

if we can affirm in

any

non-subjective sense that a

performance

of

absolute

music

is

sentimental,

not

to

criticize

Casals's

general

musicianship

or

philosophy

of

interpretation.

But

by focusing

upon

one

performance

of

one

dance

of one

suite,

we

can examine

in

detail

what Casals

has

done and

then,

within

that

single

performance,

explore

the

questions

and issues

relating

to

sentimentality

in

performance.

In

other

words,

Casals's

performance

becomes the

means

by

which

we

examine the

nature

of

sentimentality

in musical

performance-the

microcosm within which

we

explore

the macrocosm.

Sentimentality

in

Verbal Media

Sentimentality

is

dishonesty

expressed

as emotional

exaggera-

tion.

In

art,

as

in

daily

experience,

exaggeration

is a

manifestation

of

dishonesty: exaggeration

has a

basis

in

reality,

but

the artist

distorts

and

thereby

misrepresents

that

reality.3

Such

exaggeration

may

be factual

or

emotional.

If

exaggeration

of

fact is

positive,

we

call the

dishonesty

"flattery," "hyperbole,"

and

"encomium."

We

recognize

and

accept

such

dishonesty

in

certain

emotional

situations,

such

as

eulogies,

for in

the emotional trauma of a

funeral,

we

do not

expect

or

want hard truth:

we

would

hardly

approve

of an

objector

who

rose to rebuke

the

eulogist

for

unwarranted,

effusive

praise.

Similarly,

Wordsworth's sonnet

"London,

1802"

greatly

exaggerates

the

abilities

of

John

Milton,

though

certainly

not his talents.

If

the

exaggeration

of

fact

is

negative,

we call

the resultant

work

"misrepresentation,"

"defamation,"

or

"libel."

In

these

ac-

cusations

of

dishonesty,

we

accuse

the

artist

of

bias,

of

diverging

from

honesty

by

exaggeration.

If

the artist's

intent

is

not

truth,

but

rather

feeling

or

flattery

or

humor,

perhaps

such

distortion

is

justified.

If

the

artist

aspires

to seek

truth, however,

it

is

not

acceptable.

An

artist

may

also

exaggerate

feelings.

An

excess

of

emotion

we label as

sentimentality;

an

insufficiency

we call

insensitivity.

3

Understatement

is

not

necessarily

untrue.

While

it

does

not

state

the

full

extent,

its

muted

claims

are

nevertheless

true.

Thus a

great

work

is

a

good

work

as

well.



214

The Musical

Quarterly

Thus

a

continuum extends from

sentimentality

to

insensitivity.4

M. H.

Abrams

defines

sentimentality

as

an excess of

emotion,

an overindulgence in the "tender" emotions of pathos and sympathy.

But

he notes

that

excess or

overindulgence

is relative

to

the author

and

period,

and

what

seems

sentimental

to us

may

have been written

and

read

by

some

with

deep,

sincere

feeling.

Abrams

prefers

to

define

sentimentality

not

by

the

type

of

feeling

or

intensity

but

rather

by

the use of

cliches

and

commonplaces

to

express

feeling.5

Abrams is

correct

in

noting

the

difficulty

of

citing

the

moment

when

emotion becomes excessive and

in

acknowledging

that

sincere

individuals

expressing genuine

emotions

may

write sentimental

works.

But

Abrams errs

in

equating

sentimentality

with

triteness.

A

sentimental work

often is

trite,

but not

invariably.

Also,

Abrams

does

not

distinguish

between intent and

accomplishment;

thus

a sincere intent

complicates

his

ability

to

identify

a work

as

sentimental.

I.

A.

Richards also

provides

a

helpful

definition.

A

response

is sentimental

when,

either

through

the

over-persistence

of ten-

dencies

or

through

the interaction

of

sentiments,

it

is

inappropriate

to

the

situation

which

calls

it

forth. It becomes

inappropriate,

as

a

rule,

either

by

confining

itself

to

one

aspect only

of

the

many

that the situation

can

present,

or

by substituting

for it

a

factitious,

illusory

situation that

may,

in

extreme

cases,

have

hardly

anything

in

common with

it.6

To

paraphrase

Richards,

a

sentimental

response

is

inappropriate

to its

context

because it

ignores many aspects

of a

situation

in

order

to

distort one

or

because

it confuses

reality

with

illusion.

In

both

instances the

exaggerated

emotion,

whether

intentional

or un-

intentional,

is

dishonest.

While often we

cannot

identify

the

psy-

chological

source

of an

artist's

sentimentality,

the

resulting

work

still

contains

excessive emotion

for the

context which

occasions

it.

I

define

"sentiment"

as

those

feelings

which

arise from the

profoundest

recognition

of our humanness-our

mortality,

and

4

I.

A.

Richards,

Practical Criticism:

A

Study of Literary

Judgment

(New

York,

reissue

of

1929

edition), pp.

252-54,

notes

that

insensitivity

generally

results

from

some

painful

experience

which

we

refuse to

contemplate.

The

result

may

either be

sentimentality,

which

substitutes a more pleasant or flattering aspect, or insensitivity, which refuses to admit

feeling.

s

M. H.

Abrams,

"Sentimentalism"

in

A

Glossary

of Literary

Terms,

4th

ed.

(New

York,

1981),

p.

175.

6

Practical

Criticism,

p.

246.



Sentimentality

in

Performance

215

hence

the

preciousness

yet

fragility

of existence.

Honesty

and

sentiment admit our

mortality,

but

do not dwell

excessively

or

primarily upon our emotional responses to it. Instead they urge

us to live more

sensitively.

Sentimentality

thus is

an

artist's

naive

or

calculated

appeal

to

vicarious

sympathy, pity,

or

grief

for

emotional

effect,

an

exaggeration

to

evoke

in

the beholder an

excessive

and

prolonged

emotional

response.

It differs from

sentiment

as

pathos

differs

from

tragedy: by

the absence of

awareness and

proportion.

Thus

emotion

is

certainly

not

sentimentality.

Rather

sentimentality

is

overindulgence

or

inappropriate indulgence

in

sentiments

which

themselves are

precious.

It is

a loss of

perspective

which

results

from

exaggeration

of

the true. The

degree

of

dishonesty

corresponds

directly

to

the

degree

of

distortion.

Insofar

as

sentimentality

is

untrue,

it

represents

a failure of

the artist's critical

judgment,

the

perspective

he or she

brings

to

life

and

also to

art,

an

imbalance between

feeling

and

content.

If

the

artist

is

naive,

he or

she

overweights

the emotional from

personal preference.

If

the artist is

consciously

appealing

to

sen-

timentality, the motive is often popularity, for many people enjoy

sentimentality

more than

they

value

sentiment. But it

also reflects

an

attitude toward

the

beholder or

listener: the

artist's

personal

intrusion into the

beholder's reserve.

An

invitation to

an emotional

debauch

reveals little

respect

for

the

audience.

When

sentimentality

becomes

an end

in

itself,

nothing

remains

once we

excise the sen-

timental

passages,

as

for

example,

in

Eugene

Field's

deeply

beloved

"Little

Boy

Blue."

As

sentient

beings,

we are

vulnerable to

such

sentimentality. But

sentimentality,

like

guilt,

is

futile and

unwholesome. It

damages

our

opportunities

to

experience

genuine

sentiment. And it

prevents

ac-

curate

understanding

of

the human

condition,

of

others and our-

selves.

In

exaggerating

sentiment,

it

also

devalues the

genuine.

It

en-

courages

inactive

feeling

directed toward

a

fictitious

situation,

instead

of

the

painful

but

salubrious

examination of

meaning

and

values.

The

idealization of love in

sentimental

novels,

songs,

and

films

harms us

all,

but

particualry

the

young;

it

encourages

wildly

unrealistic con-

cepts of perfect marriage, utter happiness, and sublime contentment.

Sentimentality urges

us

to remain

emotional

adolescents.

No

wonder

the

subsequent

disillusionment

overwhelms "Little

Boy

Blue"

is be-

loved,

but

exactly

what

understandings

of love

do its

readers have?



216

The Musical

Quarterly

Moreover,

sentimentality

often conceals serious artistic

defects.

Absence of

content,

absence

of

genuine

sentiment,

and

absence

of originality, as well as presence of structural defects, illogic, and

irrationality

all

disappear

beneath the

swell

of

emotion.

In

yielding

to its seductive

pleasures,

we

yield

our critical

perspectives

toward

reality

and

art;

feeling

replaces thought,

and

we

drown.7

Sentimentality

can

arise

in

the

artist,

interpreter,

or

perceiver.

If

it exists

in a work of

art,

such

sentimentality

originates

in the

artist's attitude

toward

the

subject

and toward

the

perceiver.

We

detect

such

sentimentality

in art

in

the same

manner that

we

detect

the

artist's

intent.

Admittedly,

some

subjects may

indeed

lend

themselves

readily

to

sentimentality,

such

as

death,

particularly

of a child or an

innocent;

illness,

preferably

terminal;

idealized

love;

or,

ideally,

all three:

the terminal illness

and death

of a

pure,

innocent

child. Yet such

subjects

can indeed be treated

without

sentimentality

if

the

presentation

is honest and

if

the artist

balances

sentimental

elements with

nonsentimental

ones,

as

in

Dylan

Thomas's

"A

Refusal to

Mourn

the

Death,

by

Fire,

of a

Child in

London."

An

interpreter

of

art-specifically

in

the

recreative

arts

of music and theater, and the recitation of poetry-may also distort

a

work

by

a sentimental

realization.

Finally,

we

may

also

perceive

a

nonsentimental

work

sentimentally

if we

exaggerate

its

senti-

ment and

deemphasize,

or

ignore,

counterbalancing

elements.

Since

we all are

susceptible

to

sentimentality,

we

must seek those

means

by

which we detect it.

We

detect

sentimentality by

its

exaggeration.

The

strength

of

emotional

descriptions

in verbal

media are

one indicator.

Often

an

interpreter

of

music

or a reader

of

poetry

will hesitate

a

moment

before

the main

climax,

thereby increasing

its

effect.

The

sentimental

work

does

not

hesitate:

it uses all

means

possible

to

create,

attain,

and

prolong

that

climactic

moment.

Thus we

detect

sentimentality

by

the

time

or

space

devoted

to

evoking

or

describing

such

emotions.

Certain

types

of

sentimentality

reveal their

presence

by

their

death

orientation,

specifically

the

emphasis

on the sadness

of death

rather

than the

difficulties

of

coping

with

existence.

Finally,

the

extreme

idealization

necessary

for

sentimentality departs

from

the

reality

of

our daily experiences. The sentimentalist feels that such idealization

7

Not

all art

which

provides

escape

or

sensual

pleasure

is sentimental.

For

example,

popular

western

novels and science

fiction are

often,

though

not

necessarily, escapist;

they

need

not be

sentimental,

too.



Sentimentality

in Performance

217

increases

the

pathos.

Therefore

Eugene

Field would

never mention

that Little

Boy

Blue

picked

his

nose,

suffered from flatulence

and

hemorrhoids,

and

enjoyed

drowning

kittens

Sentimentality

in Absolute

Music

and

Non-Representational

Art

The

examples

of

sentimentality

cited above involve verbal

meaning

or

representational

art. We therefore

may inquire

whether

absolute

music and

non-representational

art can be sentimental.

Monroe C.

Beardsley

asserts

that,

"A

work of

music,

or a

per-

formance

of a work of

music,

can

be

sentimental when affected

distortion

of

phrasing

and

dynamics

creates constant local

expecta-

tions,

which are

never

musically

satisfied,

and

only

succeeds

in

making

fuzzy

the

underlying

musical

structures."8

That

explanation

has several

problems:

the

phrase

"affected

distortion"

is

unclear,

perhaps

hopelessly vague.

The most

pro-

nounced

aspects

of

traditional

musical

structure,

the

repetition

of

melodic

material

and

the

recurrence

of

tonal

centers,

are

not

affected

by

dynamics

and

phrasing;

hence

they

do not make

structure "fuzzy." Music continually presents local expectations

which

are satisfied and unsatisfied.

But

Beardsley's explanation

is

also

insightful.

In

absolute music

a

performance may

be

sentimental

in

the

same

way

that the

recitation of a nonsentimental

poem may

be: both are distortions.

In

the

recreative

media,

including

absolute

music,

an inter-

pretation

is

sentimental

if it is

exaggerated.

Since

the

musical

score

indicates

the

pitches,

harmonies, textures,

and orchestration

with

relative

precision,

a

performer

can

do little to

change

or

exaggerate

them.

The

element

of

music

most

ripe

for sentimental

exploitation

is

rhythm,

particularly tempo.

Sentimentalist

interpretations prefer

extremely

slow

tempos

and

rubato,

the

performer's subjective

fluctuations

of

the

pulse.9

While

a

performer

can

change

the

dynamics, phrasing,

and

the

voicing

(prominence

of

each

part),

sentimental

interpretations

distort the

tempo

the

most. Not

all

music which

is

slow or which

has

rubato, however,

is

necessarily

sentimental.

Much

music

of

the nineteenth century contains such indications, and only an

8

Monroe

C.

Beardsley, Possibility of

Criticism

(Detroit,

1970),

pp.

108-9.

9

The

term "rubato"

also bears

a

different sense

in

the

music

of

Chopin.

Curt

Sachs,

Rhythm

and

Tempo

(New

York,

1953).



218

The Musical

Quarterly

insensitivemusicianwould

play

Chopin,

for

example,

with the

regu-

larity

of

a metronome. nsofar

as

rubato

destroys

the marchof

the

metricpulsations n orderto sensitizeandindividualizemeter,some

rubato

may

be

integral

o the

style

although

sentimentalists dd

an

excessive

and

inappropriate

mount.Much

nineteenth-century

music,

by major

as

well

as minor

composers,

is

sentimental o lesser or

greater

degrees.

0

But when

performers

rained

n

the

grand

raditions

of

the nine-

teenth

century

interpret

compositions

by

renaissance,

aroque,

and

classical

composers, hey

often distortthe

tempo

in

order o

play

the

music with

greaterexpression.

At issue is

whether a

point

exists

when

we

can affirm

in

a

relatively

objective

sense that

such

flexi-

bility

is

excessive,

that

it

exceeds

legitimate

nterpretationby

dis-

torting

he

very

music t seeks

to

interpret.

Sentimentality

n

the Performance

f

AbsoluteMusic

We

have

defined

sentimentality

n

verbal

and

representational

media as "an artist's

naive

or

calculated

appeal

to vicarious

sym-

pathy, pity,

or

grief

for emotional effect:

exaggeration

o evoke

in the beholder an excessive or prolongedemotional response."

Such

exaggeration

evealseither that the artist

is

unawareof

con-

siderations

or

perspectives

which would counterbalance

the

emotional ones

or

else that

he or

she chooses to

ignore

them.

In

absolute

music,

which

cannot

convey

specific

emotions,

much

less

"tender"

ones,

sentimentality

onsists

of

conscious

or

subconscious

exaggeration

or emotionaleffect.

In

examining

Casals's

erformance

of

a saraband

rom

Bach's Suite

in

D

Minor

for

unaccompanied

cello,

we

focus

not

so much

upon

Bach's

music as

upon

Casals's

interpretation

of it. Since a

performer

createsmusic on the basis

of a

composer's

score,

accurate criticism of

performance equires

that

we

try

to ascertain

he

composer's

ntent and then

compare

it with the

aural

realization

n

performance.

Both

of those

processes

are difficult.

Bach's

notation is

visual

and

relatively

precise,

but

discovering

his

intent

is

complex.

The

diverse

interpretations

f Bach's

music reflect

different

conceptions

of

that intent.

Furthermore,

Casals's

realization

of

Bach'snotation

is entirely aural and involves both overt and subtle gestures.We

can

describe

in

words

or

via

transcription

into musical notation

10

For

example,

the

title

of

a series

of

publications

on music

of

the nineteenth

century

is

entitled Trivialmusik

des

19ten

Jahrhunderts.



Sentimentality

in

Performance

219

the obvious

shadings

of

tempo,

dynamics,

phrasing,

and

intonation;

but

nuances,

which furnish

the

subtlety

which

satisfies

knowledge-

able and critical listeners, are difficult to describe.

We

shall

begin

by

describing

how Casals has

interpreted

Bach's

saraband.

From

the individual notes

themselves,

the

foreground,

we shall

seek the

principles

governing

his

interpretation.

Once

we

understand

the

what,

how,

and

why

of

Casals's

interpretation,

we

can move toward criticism.

Our

goal

is

to

discover the

point

at

which the emotional

intensity

of

a

performance

becomes ex-

cessive and hence sentimental.

Obviously

musical

performance,

as a human

activity,

is

not a mechanical

process,

and we know

that

performers

who

try

to mimic

machines

rarely

produce

satis-

fying

music. That is so

because not all notes

serve identical

or

equivalent

functions;

therefore

sensitive

performers,

like

Casals,

differentiate these

notes,

treating

them as

if

each

were

an individual

human

being,

whose

significance,

whose

stature,

depends

upon

its

function within the

community,

notes with

complex

attractions

and

oppositions

within

the

musical

phrase.

But

such differentiation

necessarily

distorts,

exaggerates.

We

seek

to discover

when such

practices become excessive, and therefore objectionable. Casals

himself

acknowledged

that

no

performer

enjoys

absolute freedom:

I

like

fantasy,

I

like

that,

but

fantasy

with order.

Fantasy

with

love.

Ah,

we

talk

of

democracy

and

freedom,

yes,

freedom,

but

with

order.

Fantasy

with

order. Freedom with order.

You can't

do

anything you

like.

Well,

now,

music

is

the same.

Yes,

fantasy

as

much

as

you

like,

but

with order.

Liberty

with

order.

1

At

some

point

freedom

becomes

license,

and

the

desirable

becomes

excess. Inappropriate indulgence in sentiments themselves precious,

originates

in

imperfect,

imbalanced

perception;

it

constitutes

a

loss

of

perspective

which

falsifies

the

true.

If

we

cannot

identify

that

point

with

reasonable

precision,

criticism of

performance

cannot

rise

beyond

subjective

affirmation

of

personal

preference.

But

should

we

discover

excess,

we

may

not

label it

intentional

dishonesty.

Casals

revered

Bach,

and we

have no

right

to

doubt

his

sincerity

or to

impugn

the

genuineness

of his

desire

to

realize

Bach's

notation

honestly

and

appropriately.

Casals

repeatedly

expressed

his devotion to

Bach,

and his actions

accord

with his

professions:

"

Pablo Casals-Musician

of

the

Century,

Record

M

30216,

Side

2

[10].



220

The Musical

Quarterly

Bach is

my

best friend.

Bach is

forever,

and

nobody, nobody

will

reach

the

greatness

and

the

profoundness

and the

diversity

of

Bach.

He

is the

god

of

music,the imageof whatI dream n musicandwhatI sayin music.12

Yes,

Bach is universaland has

said in music

everything

that

we

desire

in

life.13

But

unfortunately

purity

and

nobility

of intent

are

no

guarantee

of an

honest,

sensitive,

or

noble

result.

To

specify

whether Casals's

interpretation

is

sentimental,

we

must examine

the

musical notation

Bach

furnished

for his

saraband,

for

only

by

ascertaining

Bach's

intent can

we

criticize

Casals's

performance

against

it.'4

We

will

make

only passing

reference to

performances

of the saraband

by

other cellists and to

performing

editions. Such

comparisons help

cellists

ascertain the

breadth

and limits of

contemporary

performances,

the

stylistic

evolution

of

interpretation

in the twentieth

century,

and

contemporary

performance

practices.

But

validity

is

not,

and

has

never

been,

decided

by

either

vulgar

or erudite consensus.

The sources

for

Bach's

intent reside

in his

written,

musical

notation;

the

sources

for

Casals's

interpretation

are

oral and aural.

Casals refused to edit or annotate a printed edition of Bach's cello

suites.

In

an

interview,

Jose

Corredor

asked

why

Casals

refused

to

publish

such

an

edition,

since he had

received

numerous offers.

Casals

replied:

No There

will

not

be

any

edition

of

mine,

of

either

the

Bach Suites

or

the

Beethoven

Sonatas,

although

I have been

asked

by

quantities

of

publishers

to do

it.

(For

the Suites

I

use the

facsimile

edition

of

Anna-Magdalene,

ach's

copy.)

My

way

of

performing

a

work does

not

last

longer

than the actual

playing

of it: that is to

say,

I don't

know,

and cannot know

beforehand,

f I shallnot

introduce modifications

when

playing

it afresh. What would

happen

then

when

those

who

listen

to me

realise

I

am

not

observing

he indications

I

wrote

myself,

and

which

they may

have

observed

literally?

This is what

I was

saying previously

-my

technical

means

develop

side

by

side

with

my

personal

conceptions,

and

I

don't

see

how

I

can

communicate these unless

I

do it with

my

'cello

in

my

hands

and-by

chance-bringing

some

new

contributions to

each

12

Ibid.,

Side 1.

13

Ibid.

14

"Only by assuming the existence and the accessibility of a standard against which

interpretations

of a

composition

must

be

measuredcan

we

prevent

performances

rom

degenerating

nto

displays

of

personal

self-indugence

nd

critiques

from

becoming

mere

exercises

in

autobiography."

Edward

T.

Cone,

"The

Authority

of Musical

Criticism,"

Journal

of

the

American

Musicological

Society,

34:1

(Spring,

1981), p.

13.



Sentimentality

in Performance

221

performance.

I

don't

agree

with

those

who,

preparing

some

new

edition,

in

order to

justify

their

work,

cram it with

their

personal

additions. It

creates

such confusion; there are already too many editions, and mine would only

add

to the

general

confusion.

The

only

thing

that matters

is

the

personalway

of

performing

the notes

and

values we have in front

of

us,

and

there

is

no

edition which can

do

that

for us.15

Thus

Casals's

interpretation

is

primarily

aural. We shall

utilize

Casals's

performance

of the

second

suite which was recorded

in

November,

1936.16

But Casals often discussed

his

philosophy

of

musical

interpretation,

and

his

ideas

about

Bach,

authenticity,

and

rhythm

are available

in

diverse

printed

and

recorded

sources.17

Understanding

the

bases

of

Casals's

interpretation

furnishes

insight

into a fine musician's

feelings

and

thoughts, insights

which

reveal

his

strengths

and

weaknesses,

and

thereby

enrich

us.

Casals's

Interpretation

of

the

Saraband

The

best

way

to

study

Casals's

interpretation

of

the

Bach

saraband

is

to

listen

to

it-repeatedly.

The

following

analysis

describes what Casals has

done,

revealing

visually

those

aural

gestures

which constitute his musical

interpretation.

The

verbal,

notational,

and

graphic

descriptions,

the words and

measurements,

have

signi-

ficance

only

insofar as

they

allow

us to describe

precisely

what

Casals has

done

in

performance.

Such

precise

description

is

pre-

requisite

for

criticism,

for

examination

of

the

presence

or

absence

of

sentimentality.

Responsible

criticism must

transcend

description

but cannot

avoid or

ignore

it.

Is

Jose

Maria

Corredor,

Conversations

with Casals

(New

York,

1957), pp.

210-211.

16

A recording of this performance is currently available on a three-disk, monaural

recording:

Angel

CB-3786,

entitiled

Bach: The Six

Suites

for

Cello Solo:

Pablo

Casals

(recorded

1936-39).

This

recording

is a reissue

of the

Angel

Great

Recordings

of the

Century

disks,

COLH

16-18,

recorded

in

November,

1936

(Suites

2

and

3);

June,

1939

(Suites

1

and

6);

and

June,

1939

(Suites

4 and

5).

17

For

example,

see

Casals's

autobiography,

Joys

and

Sorrows;

collected

conversations

with Casals

by

Jose

Corredor;

master

classes

recorded

at

the

University

of

California

at Los

Angeles;

and a collection

of

Casals's

observations

on

his

life,

freedom,

Bach,

and

inter-

pretation.

Portions

of

master

classes,

speeches, rehearsals,

and

conversations

are

available

in

a

five-record set

published

by

Columbia

Records,

Album

M

5

30069/M30216.

It

is

drawn

from CBS

News

production

Small

World

(March,

1960);

CBS

Television Network

pro-

duction Casals at 88 (Dec., 1964); Press conference (Oct., 1958); National Educational

Television

(producer

Nathan

Kroll)

of

master

classes

at

University

of

California at

Berkeley;

Interview

with

Thomas

Frost in

Marlboro,

Vermont

(July,

1966);

Conversations

with

H.

L.

Kirk

at

Casals's

home

in

San

Juan

(Nov.,

1966);

Rehearsals

at the Marlboro

Music

Festival

in

1953

and

1966.



222

The Musical

Quarterly

Casals

interprets

the saraband in a

slow,

legato, gentle, yet

intensely

emotional manner. Whether

or not we

conclude

that

Casals's emotional interpretation is refined or raw, controlled or

excessive,

his

performance

nevertheless

reveals

keen

musicianship,

which he manifests

by

maintaining vitality

in

long

notes

played

at

a

slow

tempo.

He understands

that music

continually

leaves and

approaches

moments of

varying

degrees

of

importance,

and

that

performance

must

therefore contain

continually

fluctuating

degrees

of

musical

energy.

His

slow

legato conception

of the saraband

de-

emphasizes

strong dynamic

accentuation,

but

in

compensation,

Casals reveals the relative

importance

of each

note

through

rubato.

The

music below

presents

the

musical notation

according

to

the

Anna-Magdalena

Bach

copy

of the saraband above

two

tran-

scriptions

of Casals's

performance.

The

transcriptions

were

prepared

in four

ways: transcription

at normal

speed;

transcription

at

half

speed;

measurement at

half

speed

with

stopwatch

from one articulation to

another;18

and

correction via

a

melogram

prepared

at the Hebrew

University

at

Jerusalem.19

I

estimate

the

accuracy

of the

transcription

as

plus

or minus .05 of a second, or within a thirty-second note.

The

first

transcription

reflects the manner

in

which

Casals

conceived his

interpretation.

Casals looked at

Bach's

notation

and

tried to

perform

it;

he

did not

consciously

alter durations

and

relations,

but

he

did

try

to

impart

to

each

note

its

proper

character.

The extent

of

his

rubato

is shown

by

Mazel

metronome

markings,

both

by

measure

and

by

beat.

When

a note

is

tied

across

a

beat,

as

in

the first

measure,

I

have

estimated the articulation

by

sub-

dividing the duration of the tied note into equal parts. That practice

admittedly

introduces

an element

of

error,

but

the

metronome

markings

themselves,

while

reasonably

accurate,

are

certainly

not

precise

either.

Our

transcription

can

only

approximate

such

fluc-

tuation because

the rubato

corresponds

to the

performer's

perception

as

he

shapes

each

phrase.

The

second

transcription

shows the aural effect

upon

the listener

of

Casals's rubato. Fluctuations in

tempo

are

perceptible

only

18

Durations of double, triple, and quadruple stops were determined from the initial

attack

of the

lowest

note until the

articulation

of the

subsequent

beat or

its subdivision.

19

I

am

grateful

to

Professors

Ruth

Katz

and

Dalia

Cohen of the

Hebrew

University

at

Jerusalem

for

providing

a

melogram

of

Casals's

performance by

which

I

could correct

my

own

transcription.



Sentimentality

in Performance

223

when a

performer

articulates

notes;

therefore when a note is

held,

the

listener,

not

perceiving

articulations which indicate

acceleration

or deceleration of the

pulse,

continues the

pulse

which the

performer

has

previously

established.

Casals's

performance

does

indeed have

an

integer

valor:

the

sixteenth-note

is

usually

around .30 of

a

second,

and on

that basis

we

can

prepare

a

transcription

which

represents

what the listener

hears,

a

transcription

which

may

or

may

not

vary

greatly

from that which

the

performer

follows.

In

that

transcription,

notes

are

shown

by

their absolute

durations;

therefore in

many

measures,

more than the

equivalent

of

twelve sixteenth-notes

occur.

I have used the tenuto bar in a specific sense to represent a note

which has been

lengthened

the

equivalent

of

one

thirty-second

note. The

average tempo

is

approximately

M.M.

42,

plus

or minus

one,

for

the

quarter-note.

Collectively,

the

transcriptions showing

Casals's rubato and

the listener's

apprehension

of durations

can

help

us

explore

the

more

obvious

aspects

of

his

interpretation.

The

transcriptions

them-

selves,

however,

are

only approximations

and

can

reflect

only

large

gestures. Allowing

for

a

margin

of error

of a

thirty-second

note,

or even a sixteenth-note,

they

still are useful for our

purposes:

they represent

a

visual means

of

exploring

the basis for Casals's

interpretation

and for

discussing

the

subject

of

sentimentality.

Principles

Underlying

Casals's

Interpretation

The

transcriptions present visually

the most overt

features

of

Casals's

performance;

now we

seek

the

principles underlying

that

interpretation.20

Guiding

Casals's

performance

is

the

assumption

that some

pitches

are more

important

than others. The most im-

portant

pitches

are

"points

of

arrival,"

structural

pitches21

toward

which

music

continually

flows and from

which

it

continually

ebbs.

For

Casals,

pitches

of

greatest

significance

are

turning

points

of

melody

and

notes

providing

significant

contrapuntal

motion

embedded

within

passages

serving

harmonic or

ornamental

functions;

Casals

also "marks

for

consciousness"22

many

downbeats,

roots

20

See David

Blum's Casals

and the Art

of

Interpretation

for

an

important

initial

step in describing Casals'sstyle of interpretation and performance.

21

The

terms

"structural,"

"passing,"

and

"ornamental"

are

used

here

only

in a

very

free

Schenkerian

sense.

22

Grosvenor

Cooper

and

Leonard

B.

Meyer,

The

Rhythmic

Structure

of

Music

(Chicago,

1960),

p.

8.



224

The Musical

Quarterly

Measure 39

39

44

43

M.M.

Beat

26

48

52

31 35

55

40 50

46

36

40

55

.30

second

51

36 38 52

40

27

34 48

29 38

55

50 63

46

32

40

55

10'

40 38

41 32

39 39

44 44 35

33

43

44 39 28

33

Ritard = .35 second



Sentimentality

in

Performance

225

Measure

4

40

46

44

M.M.

Beat

31

41

52

33

39 50

46

46

44

39

43 55

=

c.d.30

second

39

39

50

40

31

36

55

29

39 55

48

60

44

32 40

50

102

NOW-

40

39

41

35

39

39

43

48

35

34

43

40

40

35

35

or

L

Ritard

?

c..35 second



226

The Musical

Quarterly

?

•151

oI

p."

13wI

Measure

44

41

46

40

M.M.

Beat 34

48

57 44

35

48

50

43

48

32

40 55

201

41 41 43 35

4 41

43 40 46

40

4

4 40

34

35

43 8 43

39

44

46

9

4

2w5



Sentimentality

in Performance

227

15'

FA t

Measure

46

41

50

38

M.M.

Beat

39

48 57

44

33

50

52

48

48

30

40

50

L_3

202

48

50

50

43

43

48

55

43

50

57

48

46

55

46

36

48

?woo

Il

~m?I ] I--lf

-I

%

/•

46

43

39

39

43

44

52

46

39 44

46

44

31

34

32

60

4_

40

0

-

_:J-

L

-

252

? .

•U

"

.

i

.....

•

, ,1

1'

45

43

41

?

44

44

46

40

48

40 43

41 40

32

?

_?

,•.'

- - , . , , oo -I,&

-

u,

L=



228

The Musical

Quarterly

of

triads,

and

often the

first

subdivisions

of

beats. Those

pitches

have

diverse

gradations

of

significance

based

upon

the levels

of

structure

in which they occur and their coincidence with accents of varying

strengths;

around them weave

passing

and

ornamental

pitches.

In

re-

vealing

to

listeners

the

function and relative

importance

of each

pitch,

Casals

relies

primarily upon

rubato.

Whether he

anticipates

the

arrival

of

an

important

musical

moment or

attains the

goal

and re-

leases

tension,

we

perceive

the

sound

as continual motion.

Casals

correctly

observed that

"something

has

to move

up

or

down.

..

the

notes have no

interest

if

you

don't

give

the

[them?]

character."

Casals's

underlying assumptions-that

music involves

pitches

of

differing

functions

and

importance

and

that music

is

continually

wax-

ing

and

waning-do

not, however,

distinguish

his

interpretations

from

those of others.

All

sensitive musical

interpretations

reflect those

understandings.

What differentiates

interpretations,

rather,

are the

different functions

and

importance

which

performers

discern

in

the

notes

(or

project

upon

them),

the

techniques they

employ

to

mani-

fest

those

hierarchies,

and the

degrees

to which

they employ

them.

In

the

saraband,

Casals

lengthens

(or

slows the

pulse

of)

important

pitches, notes of long duration (cadential notes and/or notes of rela-

tive

repose lying

within

passages

of short note

values),

the first

pitches

of

many phrases,

and

affective

pitches

(notes

which

define

unusual

melodic

intervals,

non-harmonic

notes,

unexpected

or chromatic

pitches lying

outside

the

previously

established

tonality).

Although

Casals ritards

infrequently,

usually

only

during

post-

cadential

extensions,

he

frequently

accelerates

as

he

approaches

a

structural

pitch

or a note of

long

duration.

He

accelerates

passing

or

ornamental motion and notes

which

fill

the harmonies rather

than

serving

as

linear,

contrapuntal

motion.

When two short

note values

lie

between two

longer

ones,

Casals

either

shortens

both or

lengthens

the

first and shortens the

second.

Likewise

when short

note

values follow

a

long

note,

Casals either accelerates

immediately

or else

begins

the

passage

slowly

and then

accelerates.

In

approaching

a

cadence,

Casals

usually

either ritards

or accelerates.

By

such fluctuation

of

the

pulse

(or adjustment

of

durations),

Casals not

only

evinces

relationships

implicit

in

Bach's score

but also enhances

(or

exaggerates)

the

degrees of contrast to make them more apparent.

Yet

again,

these

general principles

do not

distinguish

Casals's

interpretations

from those of others. Most

musicians,

consciously

or

subconsciously,

utilize such

techniques

to reveal the functions



Sentimentality

in Performance

229

and

relative

importance

of different

notes.

The

preceding

paragraphs

merely

articulate

general

aspects

of

interpretation.

Two consider-

ations, however, are significant in judging Casals's interpretation:

his

judgment

as to the

function and

importance

of

each

note,

and

the

extent to

which

he utilizes rubato to make overt those

functions

and hierarchies.

The

Sources

of Casals's

Interpretation

Before

we seek

to define the moment

when an artist's

inter-

pretation

becomes

excessively

emotional,

we

should

examine the

factors which influenced Casals's

assumptions,

choices,

and

feelings,

for

in

criticizing

his

performance,

we

unavoidably

criticize

the

artist

who made these

decisions.

Such

understandings

will

explain

-not

justify

or

excuse.

Furthermore,

Casals's decisions

would

be

idiosyncratic,

and hence

meaningless,

if

audiences

did not

share

them.

Indeed the

very

fact

that

nearly

all musicians

furnish

"character"

to the notes

in

order

to

create

a

"musical"

performance

attests

to

a tradition or

"language"

in

which certain musical

practices

are considered expressive.

The

musical

notation itself contains

accents of diverse

types

and

strengths

which

implicitly suggest

the character

of

each

note.

For

example, composers emphasize

certain

notes

by dynamic

stress;

duration;

frequency

or

infrequency

of

use;

familiar

or

unexpected

approach by

diatonic or

chromatic,

conjunct

or

disjunct

motion;

type

and

strength

of

articulation;

dynamic

level;

instrumental

color;

dissonance

level;

and

tonal

attraction.

Such

means

contrast

a

note

with

its

surroundings

in

gradations

from

subtle

to

blatant.

Per-

formers

respond

to

such

musical

stimuli,

which

composers

embed

in the

score,

and

make them manifest

aurally.

Therefore

Casals

is

absolutely

correct

to

seek

or

intuit

in Bach's

music

particular

feelings

and

ideas,

motion

and

stasis,

tension

and release.

Nineteenth-century

romantics cultivated these

expressive

de-

vices.23 Composers furnished extensive interpretive markings in

their

scores-abrupt

and

graduated

dynamics,

indications

of

phrasing,

tempo,

and

articulation-attempting

to control

aspects

of

inter-

pretation which previously had been the performer's prerogative.

23

Robert

Pfennig

Murray's

Evolution

of

Interpretation

as

Reflected

in

Successive

Editions

of

J.

S. Bach's

Chaconne

(D.

of

Mus.

diss.,

Indiana

University,

1976)

explores

many

of

those

devices.

See

pp.

165-72

and

195-217

in

particular.



230 The

Musical

Quarterly

And

performers

conceived

their role

to

be

primarily expressive,

reflecting

not

only

the

composer

but

also

themselves.

Perhaps some of Casals's ideas about interpretation result from

his

Catalan

background

and an

Iberian

(Mediterranean?)

approach

to

music

and

life-a

conception

which

often

is

more

passionate

than rational. An

echo of

national

style

resounds

in

Casals's

repeated

criticisms

of the musical

coldness,

sterility, dryness,

and

academicism

of

"German

purists."

Now when I

played

the

suites

for cello

alone for

the first time

in

Germany,

the

purists

said

that this

was

not

Bach,

and

the others

said

that

it

was

a

real

discovery. Now Bach at that time was played like an exercise, without any

real musical

meaning.

They

were afraid

to

put something

in

it,

they

were

afraid.

And even now

many

of

the

artists

of

today

are

afraid to

play

Bach

because

they

have

accepted

the bad

theory

that the

music of

Bach

is

objective,

and

it

is

the

contrary,

absolutely

the

contrary-it

is the

freest,

the

freest,

the more

poetic,

the more

everything.24

The

purists

are

scandalized because

I

do

that

[Plays]

because

it

seems

that

in

Bach's

time the

staccato

didn't exist. It is

the

purists,

at least

for

one

century.

Thanks

to

the

bad

tradition,

the

German

tradition,

Bach was a

professor,

a

professor,

that

he knew

very

well his

counterpoint

and

his

fugue and,

AND

NOTHING

ELSE

[Plays]

How

beautiful,

how

lovely,

gay,

Bach, uhn, Bach,

the

Herr

Professor-hahnhh?

No

Everything,

every

feeling,

every lovely,

tragic,

dramatic,

poetic, everything, everything,

every feeling, every feeling,

the

most

profound

of

every

feeling.

[Plays]

25

Free, free,

light,

lovely.

Very

well,

now,

nothing

of

the

German.

This

is

German.

[Plays]

26

Bach

must be

free. When

the

purists

hear

me

say

you

must

play

Bach like

you

play

Chopin they

are horrified.

But

I

laugh

at them.

Nobody

has

arrived

to

[sic] the expressionof Bach.27

But

whateverthe source

of

these

comments,

Casalswas

passionate,

whether

playing

the

cello,

conducting

Bach,

or

proclaiming

he

cause of

liberty.

Casals

forcefully

asserted and

vigorously

defended

his

opinions

about the

nature

of

music,

interpretation,

Bach,

and

authenticity

in

realizing

baroque

music.

For

example,

he

was

strongly

critical

of

attempts

o

play

this

music on

baroque

nstruments.

24

Pablo

Casals-Musician

of

the

Century,

Record

M

30216,

Side

1

[9].

25

Ibid.

26

Ibid.,

Side

2

[10];

27

Casals,

quoted

in

Blum,

p.

153.



Sentimentality

in Performance

231

I

think

it's

ridiculous

to

try

to

play

Bach

today

with

the

old

instruments.

Bach

had to write for those instruments because

he had no

other instruments.

Bach

has written so many things for wind instruments. The wind instruments in

that time

were all out of

tune.

Now

we have modern

systems

that the

wind

instruments can

play

in

tune.

I think

that the

piano

can

be

much more

expressive

than

a

clavicembalo. Well

then,

why

not

accept

the music

of

Bach

with a

piano?28

I

don't

say

that

it

is not useful to

be informed on the

general

history

of

the

period

in

which

the

composer

lived and

worked:

any

cultural

acquisition,

in

enriching

the

artist's

sensibility,

will

make

him more

able to

grasp

all

the

esthetic

nuances

of the

composition

he

is

playing;

but the

real

artist

must,

before

anything

else,

rely

on

his

own musical

sense

in order

to

know

exactly

what the work is and how he himself is affected by it .

.

. As for the performer

who

plays

Bach

nowadays,

he

specially ought

not

to be

concerned with the

idea

of

historical reconstitution.

Above

all in

Bach,

because his

music

belongs

to

all

time

and therefore when

performing

it

one

does

not

want

to

follow

the

prescriptions

of

one

period,

even

less

to

be

hampered

by

the

obstacles

and

limitations which existed

two

centuries

ago

in the field of

technique.29

Casals also

rejected

performances

of Bach's

music

with

a

steady,

regular

pulse.

He

considered

rubato

to

be

inherent

in music

of

all

periods.30

Rubato,

yes-but

within

the

bar,

without

upsetting

the

dance

character,

and

even

then,

'a

rubato which

is

not

a

rubato

..

.'31

The

interpretation

of

a work

must

be

something

organic,

not

mechanical,

something

which

makes

you

know how to

vary

all

repeated

passages,

how

to

establish

a

gradation

of

detail in

the

general

unity

of

the

work,

how

not

to

be

put

off

by

some small

rhythmical

liberties which

the music

demands,

and,

finally,

how to

remember

two

very

simple

things:

first that the

natural

origin

of

melody

was

vocal,

secondly

that

true

rhythms

come from

the

natural

movements

of

man,

steps

and

dance.32

How

curious this fetish of

objectivity

is

And

is

it

not

responsible

for

so

many

bad

performances?

There are

so

many

excellent

instrumentalists

who

are

completely

obsessed

by

the

printed

note,

whereas

it

has

a

very

limited

power

to

express

what the

music

actually

means.33

When

Jose

Corredor asked

whether an

artist

might

"over-reach"

himself in

interpretation,

Casals

replied

that

artistry

sufficed

to

protect

against

excess.

2S


of

the

Century,

Record

M

30216,

Side

1

[9].

29

Casals,quotedinCorredor, p. 122-23.

30

Casals,

ited in

Blum,

p.

79.

31

Casals,

ited in

Blum,

p.

146.

32

Casals,

ited in

Corredor,

.

184.

33

Casals,

ited in

Corredor,

p.

182-83.



232

The Musical

Quarterly

...

intelligence

and

his

good

taste

will

guard

him

[the

real

artist]

against taking

too

much

liberty.

.

..

If

the

artist

wanted to show off an artificial

originality

having

no connection

with

the

language

the

composer

has

used

to

communicate

his

thoughts,

it

would

be

heresy.

It

is

precisely

his devotion and

humility

towards

the music which

will

allow him to

get

a

glimpse

of

the

heights

where

hovers the

creative

spirit.3

A

fundamental contradiction

underlies

Casals

approach

to

interpretation.

On one

hand,

Bach

is

universal;

therefore

we can

discover correct

interpretations

by

studying

his

music

in an

emo-

tional and

sympathetic

manner.

Yes,

Bach is universal and has said in music

everything

that we desire in life.35

Bach

being

the universal

genius,

there is

no emotion

that has

not

been

expressed

by

him,

except

stinginess,

meanness and

all that

is

incompatible

with a noble

mind.

In

his works

you

find

some

feelings

which

words

cannot describe

or

classify.

I

have

got

used to

saying

that Bach

is a

volcano.36

Yet,

on

the

other

hand,

we cannot reconstruct

Bach's intent

in

any

absolute

sense.

Therefore

each

generation

can

and should

interpret

his music

anew,

in

conformity

with

its values and

ideas.

The

question

of

tempi

is

always

decided

by

the

intuition

of

the artist.37

What

does matter is

what

we

feel,

and that is

what

we

have

to

express.

With

Bach,

for

instance,

I knew that

my

duty

was

to

reject strongly

the

examples

and

the traditions

around

me,

and

to

persevere

in

search

of

my

own

way

of

feeling

these

works.38

The

value

of

the

performer's

work

consists

of

getting

as

near

as

he can

to the

deepest

meaning

of

the

music

he

performs,

which,

in a

big

work,

offers

him

such

a rich complexity of expression, and which the written signs of the 'printed

note' can

only

partly

suggest.

Willingly

or

not,

the

performer

is an

interpreter

and can

only

render the

work

through

his

own

self.39

Composers

are

very grateful

when the

performer

succeeds

in

realising through

intuition their truest

and

deepest

intentions,

instead of

following

blindly

the

written

text,

and

this

really proves

how

insufficient and

vague

are the indications

they

can

give

us.40

34

Casals,

quoted

in

Corredor,

p.

184-85.

s


of

the

Century,

Record

M

30216,

Side 1

[9].

36

Casals,quoted n Corredor, . 110.

37

Casals,quoted

in

Corredor,

.

123.

38

Casals,quoted

in

Corredor,

.

182.

39

Casals,quoted

in

Corredor,

.

183.

40

Casals,quoted

in

Corredor,

.

185.



Sentimentality

in Performance

233

As

for

the

performer

who

plays

Bach

nowadays,

he

specially ought

not

to

be concerned with the

idea of

historical reconstitution.

Above

all in

Bach,

because his music belongs to all time and therefore when performing it one

does

not want to

follow the

prescriptions

of one

period,

even

less to

be

ham-

pered

by

the obstacles and

limitations which existed two

centuries

ago

in

the

field

of

technique.41

Although

Casals was careful not

to

reject

intellectual

approaches,

he

subordinated

reason to musical intuition.

For

example,

he

cau-

tions

against

a

type

of

intelligence

"which

is

too

self-sufficient":

When all

is said

it

is

instinct

which not

only

creates

but directs

the

perfor-

mance . . . although intelligence is a powerful auxiliary, intuition remains the

deciding

factor.

There

are

many intelligent

people

who think

constantly

and,

as

a

result,

get

into

a

muddle. .

. .

all

I do

is based on

intuition....

Intelligence

helps

the

process

of

development

and

the

progressive ntegration

of

perceived

forms,

but

it

must

be

nourished

and directed

by

intuition.

The

fruitful

blending

of

these

two

qualities

depends

on the

amount of each of

them.42

And

Casals's

performances

reflect

consistently

these

conceptions;

his

musical

performances

do not

contradict

his

philosophical

ex-

planations.

Excess and

Distortion

in

Musical

Interpretation

We

have

examined

what Casals has done and

the

principles

of

interpretation

which he

has

followed;

we have

quoted

his

explana-

tions

of

his musical

philosophy;

and

we have

speculated

upon

the

origins

of

his

assumptions

and

approach.

Now

we

consider the

basis

for

criticizing

that

performance,

for

while

comprehension

must

necessarily

precede

criticism,

understanding

is not

validation.

Yet before we can

begin

to criticize

fairly

Casals's

performance

of

Bach's

saraband,

we

must

understand

the

bases for

criticizing

any

interpretation

and,

in

particular,

how

we can

detect

sentimen-

tality

in

Casals's

performance

of

Bach's

saraband.

We

cannot

charge

Casals

with

failure

to

study carefully

Bach's

music;

he

was neither

ignorant

nor

dishonest

historically.

He

studied

Bach's music

lovingly

and

diligently.

Casals

understood well

that

interpretation

consists

of

the

performer

seeking

to

understand

and express the composer's intent. But at issue is the means a per-

former

uses

to

determine

the

composer's intent-specifically

the

41

Casals,

quoted

in

Corredor,

pp.

122-23.

42

Casals,

quoted

in

Corredor,

pp.

187-88.



234

The Musical

Quarterly

manner in

which

Casals studied Bach's music.

In

short,

do the

feelings

and ideas

which

the

performer expresses

accurately

reflect

those of the composer? In one sense failure to reflect the com-

poser's personality

reflects

insensitivity

toward

the

composer;

in

another

sense it is

excessive

emotion-sentimentality.

The

problem

is

determining

when Casals's

interpretation

becomes excessive.

To

state

the

question

thusly

is

to

recognize

that we

must

judge

Casals's

performance

on the basis of

Bach-not

upon

Casals's

reputa-

tion

and

musicianship,

not

upon

the

consensus

of

editors or

perform-

ers of Bach's cello

suites-not

upon

any

source

secondary

to

Bach.

Insofar as a

performer

serves

the

composer,

no

performer

can

justi-

fiably

override the

composer's

stated

intent.

Certainly

Casals's

respect

for

Bach

was sincere and

profound,

but

his

performance

must

be

judged

by

the

degree

to which

it

reveals Bach rather

than

reflects Casals. Casals stated

explicitly

that

artistry

suffices

to

restrain

excess;

no other

checks were

necessary

to limit Casals

from

projecting

his own

personality upon

the

music and

personality

of Bach.

We

ask whether

he

actually

did so

in

performing

the

saraband.

In a

non-subjective,

non-intuitive, verifiable manner, we can

indeed determine

when

a

performance

becomes

sentimental,

when

a

performer's

legitimate

flexibility

exceeds

appropriate

limits.

1)

A

performance

is

excessive

when

it

diverges

so

far from

the

written notation

of

the

period

that

the

composer

easily

could have

notated

it another

way.

2)

An

interpretation

is

excessive

when

its

realization

does not

reflect or

approximate

the

temperament

of

the

composer.

Such excess

may

be a mechanical

approach

to

music which is deeply emotional, an emotional approach

to music

which

is

restrained,

or

general

failure

to balance

emotion

with

restraint.

Such

excess results when

a

performer,

knowingly

or un-

wittingly,

imposes

his

personality

upon

another.

3)

A

performance

is

exaggerated

when

the musician makes

one

level of

structure

so

obvious

that

secondary,

latent

levels are

suppressed.

Such

inter-

pretation

destroys

the subtle

equilibrium

between

opposing

forces

which

are

inherent

in

the

composer's

thought

and

personality;

through

such

distortion,

the

performer

violates a

canon

of

restraint.

For

example,

if a

performer's

rubato destroys rhythmic effects

requiring

a

relatively regular

pulse,

the

performer

distorts

the

music.

Admittedly, performance

represents

the

musician's

interpre-

tation,

but,

to

be

legitimate,

that

interpretation

must

reflect the



Sentimentality

in

Performance

235

composer's

intent and

personality.

In

this

sense

performance

carries

an

implicit

moral

obligation

to recreate

aurally,

and

thereby

to

perpetuate, the composer's personality. Casals must recreate Bach,

not himself.

To

criticize

a

performace justly,

therefore,

the critic

must

examine the

score,

trying

first to

ascertain the

composer's

aural

intent and then to determine the

degree

to which the

performer

has realized

or

distorted

it.

To

the extent that the critic adduces

the

evidence of

the

composer's

intent

from

the score and

measures

the

performer's

fidelity

or deviation from

it,

his

criticism

becomes

debatable

objectively

and

subject

to

confirmation,

refutation,

or modification. Such criticism focuses discussion, appropriately,

upon

the

composer's

intent-not

upon

the critic.

Bach's

Intent

One

common

approach

to

ascertaining

Bach's intent

is

study

of

the context in

which Bach

composed.

To

study

Bach's

saraband,

for

example,

we first

examine

other sarabands

of the middle and late

baroque,

the

writings

of

theorists,

descriptions

of Bach's

own

per-

formances,

and

monographs

tracing

the evolution

of

his

musical

style.

We footnote copiously, citing as many authorities as possible. We learn

that

sarabands

may

have

either slow or fast

tempos;

that

the meters

may

be

3/2, 3/4, 3/8, 6/8,

or

6/4.

Italian-Spanish-English

sarabands

often differ from French-German sarabands. The French and German

dances were

usually

slower,

with

agogic

accentuation

(usually

a

dotted

quarter

note)

on the

second beat

of

the

simple

triple

meter.

Some

French

sarabands were marked

grave,

adagio,

or

lentement.

German sarabands

of

the

early

baroque may

have been

relatively

fast,

but

by

the

middle

and late

baroque, slow dances were common.43

Baroque

theorists

furnish much information

about the

tempo

of

sarabands

(see

chart

below).44

Tempo

Indications

for

the

Saraband

in

the

Baroque

Period

Date

Author/Composer

Tempo

1677

Bassani

presto

and

prestissimi

4"

Richard

Hudson,

"Sarabande,"

New Grove

Dictionary of

Music and

Musicians,

pp.

492-93.

44

Information contained in the table is taken from: Curt Sachs, World History of

the Dance

(New

York,

1937), p.

371;

Sachs,

Rhythm

and

Tempo,

pp.

311-20;

Robert

Donington,

The

Interpretation of Early

Music

(New

York,

1963);

and Wilfrid

Mellers,

Frangois

Couperin

and

the French Classical

Tradition,

repr.

of

1950 London

edition

(New

York,

1968), Appendix

D,

pp.

347-49.



236 The

Musical

Quarterly

c1690

James

Talbot

soft,

passionate,

always

in a slow

triple

1697? Michel L'Affillard 3/2 = 90

6/4

= 133

1698

Kuhnau

slow

1698

Schmicerer

adagio

1705

Michel d'Affilard 3

Saraband

en

rondeau

quarter

=

88

3/2

half

=

72

6/4

quarter

=

133

1732

Louis-Leon

Pajot

(D'Onzembray)

73

V2

per

pulse45

saraband 3/2 of Destouches 7846

from

Issd

1737

Jacques-Alexandre

La

Chapelle

63-80

per

pulse47

6348

1752

Quantz

80

1756

Quantz

88

1787

Compan

gai

et

amoureux

Secondary

sources also

provide interesting

information

about

the moods of these dances. Curt Sachs

writes,

"The sarabande

is

generally

written in

quarter

notes,

but

the

so-called

sarabande

tendre,

in half notes.

The

difference

by

no means

implies

the

ratio

of

1:2,

but

just

a

tiny

shade in

tempo."49

From

his

study

of

tempo

indications

he

concludes,

"In

the face of

these unshakable tes-

timonies,

musicians should

finally

rid

themselves of the traditional

prejudice

that

the

music

of

our ancestors

was

sleepy,

slow,

and

grave."50

Donington,

on the other

hand,

recognizes

different

types

of sarabands:

The

original

dance has

sinuous and

complicated

movements,

and

had

a

general

reputation

for

lasciviousness.

As a

muscial

form,

the slow Saraband

requires

considerable

intensity

of

feeling,

often

of

a

sensuous

variety.

The

quick

Sara-

band

is

piquant

and

virile.

J.

S.

Bach's

Sarabandes,

which

are

slow,

include

some

of

his most

impassioned harmony

combined with a

contemplative

in-

wardness which

is

perhaps

unique

...s5

45

Sachs,

Rhythm

and

Tempo,

p.

315.

46

Mellers,

p.

348.

47

Sachs, Rhythm and Tempo, p.

316.

48

Mellers,

p.

348.

49

Sachs,

Rhythm

and

Tempo,

p.

316.

sO

Ibid.,

p.

317.

5s

Donington,

p.

335.



Sentimentality

in

Performance

237

All

of these

sources,

unfortunately,

furnish

little

conclusive

evidence

for

us. Various

types

of

sarabands

existed,

and whether

Bach's D minor saraband conforms to the stereotypes is moot.

The more

distinctive

or

original

the

composer,

the

less

likely

are

his

works

to resemble those of others.

Theorists

of

different

nations,

writing

at different times about different

dances,

do

not

furnish

us with

strong,

much

less

conclusive,

evidence.

Examination of

contemporary performances,

through

printed

editions

and

recordings,

reveals

the

interpretations

of

twentieth-

century

performers

and editors

(see

chart

below).52

A

performer

seeking

to

justify

an

interpretation

might

easily

appeal

to this

con-

sensus.

Recordings

of

Bach's

Saraband

1936

Pablo Casals

AABB

4'

02"t

quarter

=

42

?

1

Angel

CB

3786

1960

August

Wenzinger

AAB 4'

25"

quarter

=

27

+

1

Birenreiter

Musicaphon

1960

Pierre

Fournier

AABB

4'

43"

quarter

=

36

?

1

Archive 198186

1966

Janos

Starker

AAB

3'

34"

quarter

=

34

+

1

Mercury

SR

3-9016

1973 Henri

Honegger

AABB

4'

11"

quarter

=

40

?

1

Telefunken 6. 35345

1977

Frans

Helmerson

AABB 6'

44"

quarter

=

25

?

1

BIS LP-65

1979

Roy

Christensen

AABB

6'

01"

quarter

=

28

?

1

Gasparo

GS-106

1983 Paul Tortelier AABB 4' 49" quarter = 35 ? 1

EMI

SLS

1077723

1983 Yo-Yo

Ma

AABB 4'

31"

quarter

=

37

+

1

CBS D3 37867

Printed

Editions

Becker

eighth

=

88

International

Music

Company

Largo

Percy

Such

eighth

=

88

[quarter

=

44]

Augener,

Ltd.

Kazimierz

Wilkomirski

eighth

=

80

[quarter

=

40]

PWMEdition

52

I

am

grateful

or

the

assistanceof

Brian

J.

Hart in

timing

some of

these

selections.



238 The

Musical

Quarterly

Dimitry

Markevitch

[eighth

=

104]

quarter

=

52

Presser

Jacqueline du Pre Maestoso

Hansen

/

Chester

Julius

Klengel Largo

Breitkopf

&

Haertel

But

these

indications are

just

as unreliable as

the

references

of

theorists

and

the

mongraphs

of

scholars. While

they

reveal

the

editors'

or

performers' interpretations

of Bach's

intent,

they

rarely

explain

the bases

by

which

they

arrived

at their

indications.

This

very

silence

prevents

us

from

ascertaining

whether

subjective

intuition,

the

interpretations

of

others,

or

demonstrable

features

within the music itself

account

for

the

editorial indications.

They

too

furnish little

help

in

revealing

Bach's

intent

in

the Saraband

in

D

minor.

Consensus, moreover,

does not reveal truth.

The

majority

is

often

wrong,

and neither

sincerity

nor

conformity

affords im-

munity

from error. For

example,

conformity

may

reflect

med-

iocrity

rather than truth, for

people

often follow rather than lead.

Moreover,

originality

often

confuses,

and

thereby

it invites

rejection.

Ibsen's observation that

"the

majority

is

always

wrong"

is often

true

for

professional

artists

and

scholars.

The

appeal

to

others

for

support

may

find

expression

in

conformity,

in a

footnote

appealing

to

authority,

or in

a

tu

quoque

defense. But

whether

others

perform

or

think

similarly

does

not in

any

way

validate

actions

or

ideas;

consensus

furnishes

company,

but it

does

not

thereby justify excess. Yet, conversely, we have no assurance that

the

distinctive

and unusual are

valid.

Individuality,

by

definition,

is

abnormality,

and

such

abnormality

may

reflect truth

or

mon-

strosity

Unfortunately

and

fortunately,

consensus

in

performance

can

never

establish

validity.

The measure of

excess is

not

determined

by

norms

of current

interpretation;

its

only

appropriate

measure

is the

composer's

intent,

as revealed

in

the score.

In

that

process,

the

responsible

critic

bears a moral

obligation

to the

composer,

performer, and reader to demonstrate the specific ways which

the

performer

realizes

or

distorts the

composer's

intent.

Our

only

reliable

source

is

the

musical score

which

Bach

sup-

plied.

Casals

exaggerated

greatly

when

he

exclaimed,



Sentimentality

in

Performance

239

They always

say 'play

what is written'-but there is

nothing

written 53

The

art

of

interpretation

is

not

to

play

what

is

written.54

Contrary

to

Casals's

statements,

the notes reveal

everything:

the

pitches,

the

durations,

the

meter,

the

phrasing.

Casals

himself

describes the

impact

of first

discovering

the

score of

Bach's

saraband.

Casals relied

upon

the

Anna-Magdalena

Bach

manuscript

of the

suites;

he

studied the score

diligently,

and

upon

it he founded

his

interpretation.

In

judging

his

interpretations,

we too must return

to the

score,

but we shall have

to

adduce

the

evidence of Bach's

intent in order

to move from

subjective

affirmation

toward

criticism

which is more

objective;

more

responsible

to

composer, performer,

and

reader;

and therefore

more

humble.

Unfortunately,

an

autograph

score

in

Bach's

own hand

does

not

exist.

Three

early

copies

are

our

primary

sources: the Anna-

Magdalena

Bach,

the

Kellner,

and the

Westphal

manuscripts.55

Bach

composed

the six suites

for

cello

around

1720

in

C6then

for

Christian Ferdinand

Abel,

a virtuoso cellist

and

gambist.

Bach's

second

wife,

Anna-Magdalena

Bach,

probably prepared

her

copy

of the suites directly from her husband's autograph. Since it is

the

earliest

copy,

it

is the

primary

source for most

editions.56

Scholars

and editors often

cite

its

shortcomings:

lack

of

bowing

indications,

imprecise

indications

of

the

beginnings

and

endings

of

phrases,

numerous

errors,

and evidence of haste.

But

the man-

uscript

contains numerous indications of

phrasing,

though

fewer

than the later

copies;

there are

relatively

few

errors,

and the

clear,

legible

notation reveals

little evident

haste,

save

that the

beginnings

and ends

of

phrases

are

often

ambiguous.

s3

Casals,

cited in

Blum,

p.

142.

s4

Casals,

cited in

Blum,

p.

69.

ss

All

three

manuscripts

were

formerly

in the

Preussische

Staatsbibliothek in

Berlin.

They

are

now

located in

Marburg/Lahn

in the

Offentliche

Wissenschaftliche

Bibliothek.

The

Anna-Magdalena

Bach

manuscript

bears

the number

Mus.

ms.

P

26;

the

Kellner

and

Westphal

copies

bear the

respective

numbers

Mus.

ms.

Bach

P

804

(seiten 249-75)

and Mus.

ms.

Bach

P

289

(seiten

71-111).

Several

facsimiles

of

the

Anna-Magdalena

Bach

manuscript

have been

published: J.

S.

Bach,

6

Suites: Verkleinerte

Facsimilie-Ausgabe

nach

der Hand-

schrift

von

Anna

Magdalena

Bach

(Miinchen/Basel:

Reinhardt,

n.d.);

the edition of the

suites

by

Paul

Griimmer

(Doblinge);

Diran

Alexanian's edition

(Paris, Salabert);

and

Eisen-

berg's Bach: Six Suites for Solo Violoncello, edited by Michael Masters (Neptune, New

Jersey: Paganiniana).

5s

Dimitry

Markevitch is careful

to

note

that

he

has

based

his

edition,

Six Suites

for

Solo Cello

(Bryn

Mawr, PA,

1964),

upon

the

Kellner

and

Westphal

manuscripts

as

well

as

the

Anna-Magdalena

Bach source.



240

The Musical

Quarterly

The

Kellner

and

Westphal

manuscripts

are later

copies.

Johann

Peter

Kellner

(1705-1772)

was

Bach's

student and friend.

Johann

Heinrich Westphal (1774-1835) owned the third manuscript, which,

according

to

Wolfgang

Schmieder,57

was

copied

in

the second

half of

the

eighteenth

century.

These two

manuscripts may

preserve

Bach's indications of

bowing,

ornamentation,

dynamics,

and

tempo,

but

probably they

represent

the additions of the

copyists.ss

The

first

printed

edition

of

the cello

suites,

made

by

H.

A.

Probst in

1825,

relied

heavily upon

the

Westphal

manuscript;

the Bach

Gesell-

schaft59 edition

relied

primarily

upon

the

Anna-Magdalena

Bach

score.60

As we examine the

score,

we

begin

with several

presuppositions.

First,

Bach's indication of meter

either

is

significant

or is

not.

The

safest

assumption

is that

since Bach

indicated the

meter,

it is

indeed

significant.

Second,

we assume

that the

three-four

meter is

triple,

not

duple.

On

occasion,

indeed

two

successive three-four

measures

may

bond

together

to form a

rhythmic

unit,

as in

a measure

of

6/4

hemiola.

Likewise,

if

we slow a

simple triple

meter

extensively,

each

beat

eventually

subdivides,

and

one measure of

3/4

generates

three measures of 2/8, a

simple

duple

meter.61

But such

interpre-

tations contradict

Bach's

written

designation

that

the meter is

3/4-simple

triple,

not

compound

or

simple duple.

Third,

the

triple

meter either is

or

is not audible.

Again,

we are safest to assume

s'

Bach

Werke

Verzeichnis

(Leipzig, 1966),

p.

564.

s8

Facsimilies

of

pages

of

the

Kellner

and

Westphal

manuscripts

are

published

in

Markevitch's

edition.

S9

XXVII

Jahrgang,

Teil.

60

Careful examination of the

Anna-Magdalena

Bach

manuscript

is

rewarding.

Of

particular interest are the rhythm of m. 23 and the pitches of m. 25. In m. 23 the note

values

of the

second

beat

are

unambiguous-four

sixteenth-notes;

but

the

Bach

Gesellschaft,

Markevitch,

Wenzinger,

Wilkomirski,

Backer,

Gaillard,

and

Klengel

editions

print

them

as an

eighth,

a

sixteenth,

and

two

thirty-seconds.

In

m.

25,

the

Anna-Magdalena

Bach

manuscript

indicates that the

first b is

natural,

the

second

flat,

and the third natural.

Nearly

all

editions,

including

the Bach

Gesellschaft,

consider the b-flat

to

be

an error.

If

the b is

not

flatted,

the second natural

sign

is

redundant.

If

the

b-flat

is

not an

error,

the

fluctuation

between raised

and lowered

leading

tone

reflects

a

strong

modal

orientation.

In

the

Anna-

Magdalena

Bach

manuscript

the suites are

designated

by

number

(Suitte

2de.)

rather than

by

key.

Bach

probably

conceived

the second suite

not

in

D

minor but

rather in the

Dorian

mode. The

justification

for

the alternation

of

b-flat

and b-natural

in

m.

25

is the tension

which it generates in the treble line, which reinforces the excitement of the rising chromati-

cism in

the

bass;

Bach

calms

that

agitation by

the cadential

formula,

beginning

in m.

27.

61

Michael

Masters,

editor

of

Eisenberg's

Bach:

Six

Suites

for

Solo

Violoncello,

cautions that "the

rhythm

should be

preserved

intact,

even

in

the Sarabandes

(where

the

metre

is

three,

not

six )."

Introduction and

Explanatory

Notes,

p.

5.



Sentimentality

in Performance

241

that the

triple

meter is audible. If we assume the

contrary,

the

meaning

of

the

metric

signature

for

composer

or

performer

is un-

clear, and the rhythmic features which distinguish the saraband

from other dances

are inaudible.

Fourth,

we

assume that

Bach's

notation reflects his

intentions.

Although

Bach's

autograph copy

of

the suites

is not

extant,

in its absence we assume that

the Anna-

Magdalena

Bach,

Kellner,

and

Westphal manuscripts

can

reveal

sufficient

evidence

of

Bach's intent

to

warrant

performance.

These

assumptions

are

so common

that

we

overlook

them,

but

their

im-

plications

are

profound.

The Saraband

in

D

minor

contains

Bach's

characteristic,

so-

phisticated

rhythmic

accentuation. Accents

of diverse

types

and

strengths

coincide

and

oppose,

generating

and

releasing

rhythmic

tension

comparable

to

that

which harmonic

progressions

and

dis-

sonances create.

Bach avoids

mechanical,

repetitive,

simplistic,

and

consequently

monotonous

rhythms

by using strong

"latent

groupings,"62

which

furnish the

variety

and

opposition

which

intrigue.

At least three

different,

primary

types

of

rhythmic

conflict

occur in Bach's

saraband:

1)

conflict between

3/4

and

6/8

groupings;

2) struggle for dominance between the first and second beats of

each

measure; and,

at slow

tempos,

3)

opposition

of the notated

triple

meter

(with

the

pulse

on

the

quarter-note) against

a

duple

meter

of

two-eight

(with

the

pulse

on the

eighth-note).

1)

The

difference between

3/4

and

6/8

meters

lies

in

the relative

strengths

of

the

accents

of

the

third,

fourth,

and

fifth

eighth-notes:

123456

three-four

/- /- /-

six-eight

/

- - - -

Strong

accents

on

the

third and

fifth

eighth-notes

will

create

a

three-

four

measure;

weak

accents

at

those

places

and a

strong

stress

on

the

fourth

eighth-note

will

produce

a

measure

of

six-eight.

A

composer

creates

primary

accents

by

stress

(qualitative

or

dynamic

accentua-

tion)

or

by

duration

(quantitative

or

agogic accentuation);

he creates

secondary

accents

by

ornamentation,

melodic

turning

points,

changes

in

register,

harmonic

rhythm,

dissonance,

weight

accents

(addition

of

other parts), and resolution of functional harmonies.63

62

Cooper and

Meyer,

Rhythmic

Structure

of

Music,

pp.

13,

17-18.

63

Paul

Creston,

Principles

of

Rhythm

(New

York,

1964), pp.

28-33,

lists

various

types

of

accents.



242

The Musical

Quarterly

In

measures

1, 5, 9, 10,

12,

13,

21, 22,

25, 26,

and

28,

the

harmonic

rhythm,

the

strong

agogic

and

weight

accents

on

the

third eighth-notes, and the avoidance of articulation on the fourth

all create a

simple triple

meter;

measures

7,

11,

14, 15,

19, 20,

23,

and

27

are also

triple.

But the

notation

of

measures

2,

4,

6,

8,

16,

and

others

suggest

a

latent

six-eight

meter: there are no articu-

lations on the third

eighth-notes

in

measures

2, 4, 6,

8,

16;

changes

of

register

occur in measures

6, 17, 18;

the

phrasing

in

measure

3,

and

possibly

24,

may

suggest

a

duple

division;

and the

beaming

of

measures

2,

4,

6,

8,

and

16

may

imply

strong

latent

six-eight

characteristics.64

These

durations, articulations,

changes

in

register, weight

accents,

changes

in melodic

direction,

and

harmonic

rhythm

are neither

intuitive nor

subjective.

They

are

inherent in Bach's music.

Within

limits,

a

performer

may

legitimately

emphasize

or

deemphasize

them,

as he or she decides which

groupings

at

any

particular

moment

are

primary.

Without

question

the

simple triple

meter

predominates;

suggestions

of hemiola

are

latent,

but their

presence

reveals

the

sophistication

of

Bach's

music and

personality.

2)

Bach's

D

minor

saraband,

like

many

other

sarabands,

is

characterized

by

second

beats which bear

strong agogic

accentuation

and feminine cadences.

But in a

simple

triple

meter,

strong

ac-

centuation of the second

pulse

creates tension between the

first

and the second

beats,

for

the downbeat

usually

bears the

strongest

accent.

But

if

the first

pulse

becomes

weaker

than the

second,

it becomes an

anacrusis,

and the notated second

beat becomes

the

de

facto,

aural downbeat:

I

>l

J

versus

If

that

happens,

the

saraband

loses its distinctive characteristic:

a

strong

accentuation

on

the

second

pulse

rather than the

down-

beat-the

opposing

accentual

strengths

of

the

first

and

second

pulses.

Thus

the

notated

triple

meter

must

be

audible;

the

location

and

primary

strength

of the downbeat

must

be

audible;

and the

second

pulse

must

generally

be

strong

but

subordinate.

64

Italian sarabands

are often notated

in

compound

duple

meter;

some

early

sara-

bands

employ

extensive

hemiola.

(See

Hudson,

pp.

490-91.)

In

Bach's

D

minor

saraband,

the

simple

triple

meter

dominates,

and the

compound

duple

is

latent.



Sentimentality

in Performance

243

3)

Finally,

assuming

that Bach's saraband

is

slow-an

assump-

tion

which

involves the

relative term "slow" and which is

readily

debatable-tension exists between the notated three-four meter,

with

an audible

pulse

on the

quarter

note,

and a

duple

two-eight

meter,

with

an

audible

pulse

on

each

eighth-note.

The

question

therefore

arises,

if we

slow

the

tempo

of

simple

triple

meter,

when

do

we

begin

to

subdivide

each

pulse

and

thereby

transform

the

meter into

simple duple?

Obviously

individuals differ

significantly;

no

single

metronome

setting

will

apply

to all

music and

all indi-

viduals;

vague

appeals

to

musicianship

or

artistry

to defend

one's

personal perceptions

are

ususally

more

passionate

than

substantive.

Yet

psychological

studies

of

audition,

an

informal

sampling

of

musicians,

and

observations

by

musicologists

and

music theorists

suggest

that such

subdivision

begins

somewhere

around

fifty

beats

per

minute.

Carl

Alette65

and

Seymour

Chatman66

place

the

lower

limit at

=

40. Chatman

cites

the

work

of Paul

Fraisse,67

who

found that the

perception

of

temporal

intervals becomes

increasingly

inaccurate from a

pulse

of

50 to

a

pulse

of

20.

Therefore,

the slower

the

tempo,

the

stronger

the

possibility

that a

duple

two-eight

meter

will

replace

the notated three-four meter. But if the audible meter

becomes

duple,

the

rhythmic

tensions

characteristic

of

Bach's

saraband

disappear: opposition

between

three-four

and

six-eight

meters and the

struggle

for dominance

between

the first and second

pulses

of each measure.

Variations in

tempo

created

by

rubato,

the

tenuto,

accelerandos,

and

ritardandos,

which

are

significant

and

legitimate aspects

of

interpretation,

become

excessive when

they

disturb Bach's

exquisite

accentual balances. The more

steady

the

pulse,

the clearer these

metric subtleties

sound;

the

more

flexible

the

pulse,

the

stronger

the

primary

accents

become and the weaker

the

secondary

accents,

with

a

corresponding

loss of

sophistication

which the

latent

groupings

furnish.

For

example,

if

a

performer

lengthens

significantly

the second

pulse,

it

may

overwhelm the

downbeat;

the

more

irregular

the

pulse,

the

less audible the

hemiola

becomes.

Casals statements

about rubato

vary.

He

berates

the

"purists,"

whose cold interpretations reduce the pulse to monotonous

6s

Theories

of

Rhythm

(Ph.D.

diss.,

University

of

Rochester,

1951),

p.

115.

66

A

Theory

of

Meter

(London,

1965),

p.

21.

67

Les

Structures

rhythmiques

(Louvain,

1956),

pp.

13-15.



244

The Musical

Quarterly

regularity.

David

Blum observes

that

"Casals' rubato

was founded

on

an

extraordinarily

subtle

give

and

take

of

time-values;

it

defies

adequate description.

...,6""

And Casals's attitude toward rubato

often

finds

strong

echoes

in

performances

of the suites

by

others.

Many

students

of

baroque performance

practices

echo Robert

Donington's

caution:

One

of

our most

harmful reactions

against

over-romanticizing early

music

has

been

the

sewing-machine

rhythm.

No

music,

not even

music based

mainly

on

sequences,

will stand

a

completely

rigid

tempo.

Most

baroque

music

needs

considerable

lexibility.69

Yet,

on the

other

hand,

Casals

often noted that

time

borrowed

from one

note must

be

repaid

rather

han stolen:

Time

lost

on

expressive

accents

being

placed

on

the

first

note

of a

group,

or

on the

highest

note,

is to

be

regainedby

the

intervening

notes.70

A

sarabande

s not a romance

or

an

adagio;

it is a

Spanish

dance

which used

to

be

performed

in

the

churches

and is

still

danced

in

Sevilla.

....

We

must

not be lost betweenone beat and

another.71

Yet the

transcription

f

the

D

minor saraband

eveals

that

in

per-

formance

Casals

often

did not do this.

If

we seek

in

theoreticalsources

to

justify

only

one view about

rubato,

we

find

conflicting

statements.

C. P.

E.

Bach and

Friedrich

Agricola

mention that

Bach's

tempos

often were

"very

lively,"

though

Robert

Donington

observes

that

this

comment

"does not

tell

us

how

lively

or when. It

does not

justify empty speed;

but

it does tell us not to be afraid of a virtuosotempoin movements

which

suggest

t."72

Even within

a

single,

reliable

theorist,

such

as

C.

P.

E.

Bach,

we find evidence

for

both

rigid

and

flexible

pulses.

For

example:

In

general,

ritenutos

are

better

suited

to

slow or

comparatively

moderate

tempos

than

to

very rapid

ones.7

68

Blum,

p.

82.

69

Robert Donington, Interpretation of Early Music, p. 363.

7o

Casals,

ited

by

Blum,

p.

81.

7'

Blum, p.

146.

72

Donington,

Interpretation of Early

Music,

p.

318.

7

Cited

n

Donington,

p.

367,

quoting

C. P.

E.

Bach's,

Essay,

1753.



Sentimentality

in Performance

245

Yet:

In

expressive playing,

the

performer

should avoid numerous and

exaggerated

ritenutos,

which are

apt

to cause the

tempo

to

drag.

The

expression

itself tends

to

bring

this

mistake about.

In

spite

of

beautiful

details,

the

attempt

should

be

made

to

hold the

tempo

at the end of a

piece just

as it was at the

start,

which is a

very

difficult

achievement.74

And:

In slow

or

moderate

tempos,

pauses

are

usually

prolonged

beyond

their strict

length

.

. .

this

applies

to

[ornamental]

pauses,

closes, etc.,

as

well

as

to

[plain]

pauses.

It

is

usual

to

draw out somewhat

and

depart

to

some extent

from the

strict

measure

of

the

bar.

..

the

passage [thus] acquires

an

impressiveness

which makes it stand out.75

Since

the theoretical sourcesare

contradictory,

we

must

decide

upon

Bach's music itself.

First,

we

shall

choose a

tempo

which

will be

sufficiently

ast

to

preserve

he

characteristics

f the

saraband

-to

avoid subdivision

of

the

three-four

meter

into

two-eight.

That

argues

for

a

tempo

at

least

=

44

and

preferably

50

or

above.

Second,

we

will avoid

rubato when

it

strengthens roupings

already

primary

and

thereby

overwhelms

latent, secondary

ones. That

will

require

a

relatively steady pulse.

Third,

we will

utilize

slight

rubato when

the

meter is

unambiguous

and

when latent

groupings

are absent.

I

find

a

tempo

around

=

58

or

60

attractive.76

It

would

make

the

saraband

ound

far more

dynamic

than Casals

does,

but

it would lose

the

emotional

ntensity

which Casals's ubato

mparts

to the slow

tempo.

The

minimal

use of

rubato, however,

would

avoid

upsetting

Bach's delicate

rhythmic

balances. Casals

would

probablyconsidersuch aninterpretationold, impersonal,haracter-

less-"German

purism."

But

the

preceding

paragraphs

rgue

that

such a

performance

eveals

more of

Bach

than does Casals's

nter-

pretation,

for

it

is based

not

upon

subjective

ntuition but rather

74

Donington,

p.

368,

citing

C.

P. E.

Bach's

Essay,

1787

edition.

7

Donington,

p.

368,

quoting

C.

P.

E.

Bach's

Essay,

II,

1762.

76

Erwin

Bodky,

The

Interpretation of

BACH's

Keyboard

Works

(Cambridge,

1960).

For Bach's

keyboard

sarabands,

Bodky

suggests

a

minimum

tempo

of

J

=

60

(or

I

=

60

for

3/2

meters).

He

writes,

"Sarabandes could

hardly

have been

played

slower than

=

60.

Even the most

stylized

of all

sarabandes,

that of the Sixth

Partita,

can be executed at this

speed

and

is

thereby brought

into closest relation

with the

beginning

of

the

Toccata of

the

same

Partita

with which it is

thematically

so

obviously

linked"

(p.

132).

As

for

sara-

bands in

3/2

meters,

he

states

"Sarabandes

in

3/2

time are

in no

way

different

from

those

in

3/4

time,

and both

types

share

M.M.

J

=

60

as the

speed

of the unit of

beat"

(p.

143).



246

The Musical

Quarterly

upon

Bach's

musical notation.

Intuition is both

irrefutable and

inconclusive

because

it is

unverifiable.

The

characteristics of

the

music inherent in the notation and the

arguments

derived from

it,

however,

are indeed

open

to

refutation,

correction,

or

confir-

mation.

Conclusions

Casals's

interpretation

of

Bach's

D

minor

saraband

reflects

both

sentiment and

sentimentality.

Insofar

as

Casals's

tempo

(

J

=

41-43)

makes

the

meter

duple

rather

than

triple,

it

is ex-

cessively

slow and sentimental. To

gain

emotional

intensity

Casals

sacrifices

Bach's subtle

rhythmic equilibrium.

But

while

Casals's

emotional

interpretaion

is

powerful,

Bach's

intensity

is

stronger,

more

profound,

and

more

sensitive

because

it

is

powerful

emotion

restrained.

By

strengthening

long

notes

with

accents uncalled for

in

the

score,

Casals

emphasizes

the

primary

groupings,

but simul-

taneously

he

destroys

counterbalancing

groupings,

which

he

does

not

detect

or

intuit.

Casals

thereby exaggerates-sentimentalizes-the

sentiment and equilibrium of

Bach.77

Yet that

assertion,

by

itself,

is

incomplete

and hence untrue.

Many

of

Casals's

assumptions

about

interpretation

are

valid.

For

example,

all

notes

are not

equal:

structural,

passing,

and

ornamental

functions differ in

effect

and

hence

importance.

In

music of

all

periods

a

performer

may

indeed

make

slight

adjustments

in

duration,

for

performers

are not created in

the

image

of a

metronome,

and,

depending

upon

the

period,

composer,

and

composition,

the

degree

of

rhythmic

freedom

may

be

extensive. But

that

freedom

must

not

destroy

other

rhythmic

elements or distort the distinctive

characteristics of a

dance.7'

Casals's

means of

interpretation-rubato,

vibrato,

intonation,

and

tempo-are

inherently

neither

inappropriate

nor

sentimental,

and

his

dynamic

accentuation,

vibrato,

bowing,

and

intonation are

effective

and

appropriate.

He

realized

correctly

that "When

we

see

piano,

the

composer

means the

range

of

piano."79

77

For

example,

see

mm.

1, 2, 4, 6, 8,

and

10 of

the

transcription.

78

The

presence

of notes

inigales

is

not

directly

applicable

to Casals's

use of

rubato

in his realization of Bach's saraband. On notes inegales see Donington, pp. 386-97 and

Erwin

Griitzbach,

Stil- und

Spielprobleme

bei

der

Interpretation

der 6 Suiten

fiir

Violon-

cello solo senza Basso von

Johann

Sebastian

Bach

BWV

1007-1012,

2.

erweiterte

Auflage

(Hamburg,

1981), pp.

59-65.

79

Casals,

cited

by

Blum,

p.

21.



Sentimentality

in

Performance

247

These

observations

reveal

Casals's

high

level of

musical

sensitivity

and

musicianship.

But concomitant

with

sensitivity

is

susceptibility

to emotional excess, particularly when a performer minimizes

reason,

restraint,

and historical

authenticity-forces

which

help

establish

equilibrium.

Casals

generates

strong

personal

emotion

by

an

immoderately

slow

tempo

and

by

inordinate

rubato-rhythmic

freedoms

unjustified by any explicit

or

implicit

evidence in

the

score.

Casals's

interpretation

thus distorts central characteristics

of

Bach's music.

The

sentimentality

evolves from four

sources.

First,

Casals

believed musical

artistry

alone sufficed to

create

emotional

empathy

with the

composer.

But

the

appeal

to

a

concept

as

vague,

lofty,

and

elegant

as

artistry

does

not

protect

an

individual

from

projecting

inappropriate,

personal feelings

upon

the

musical

expression

of

another. Casals had no means of

recognizing

when his

feelings

overwhelmed those

of Bach. Rather

than

recognizing

and

cherishing

Bach's

rhythmic

subtleties,

Casals

destroyed

them,

placing performer

before

composer.

A

sensitive

performer,

rather,

seeks

to

serve

the

composer by entering

his

mind,

in

order to

reflect

the

composer's

personality, as expressed directly via his music. Although Casals

was

sensitive

to

musical

nuance,

and

although

he

was

sincere,

at

the

most

profound

level,

Casals

personally

was insensitive

to

the

person

of Bach in the same

way

that an insensitive

person

dom-

inates a

conversation

and

projects

his views

upon

others,

seeing

in

others

only

reflections of himself.

Second,

Casals chose

to

treat

temporal phenomena

with a free-

dom which

he

never would

have

applied

to

pitch.

His

rhythmic

modifications

blatantly

accelerate

and

retard

the

pulse;

he

readily

changes

durations which

Bach

might

have

easily

so

notated,

had

he

chosen. Casals's

rhythmic laxity

and

his

melodic-harmonic

scrup-

ulousness

reflects

a

fundamental imbalance

in

his

interpretation

between

feeling

and

control,

emotion

and reason. Casals

does

not

enter Bach's

personality

and music

deeply:

the

two

men,

creator

and

performer,

remain

separate

musicians,

unreconciled.

Unfor-

tunately,

such

performance

is

not

the submersion of a

sensitive

performer

in the

music

of a

sensitive

composer,

an

intimate

spiritual

union which links the deepest levels of human psyche across time

and

space-indeed,

across

death.

Third,

Casals's

name-calling-his

sterotyping

of restraint

as

German

coldness,

purism,

formalism,

or

academicism-reflects



248 The Musical

Quarterly

profound insensitivity.

To

preserve

durational

relationships

within

a

relatively

regular

pulse

does not

necessarily

produce

a

mechanical

or insensitive performance. Certainly rubato is appropriate at times

in

Bach,

but

the inherent characteristics of the music

itself,

rather

than

a

performer's

intuition,

must dictate

that

appropriateness.

The

best check to our

pride

is an

obligation

to adduce the evidence

upon

which we make our decisions

so

that others

may

more

readily

confirm or refute our

interpretation;

incoherence

or

haughty

silence

fosters or

conceals

insensitivity.

Casals

would

have

been

far

wiser

to have embraced his critics.

Fourth, Casals had little understanding of either the

different

types

and

strengths

of musical accentuation

or the

rhythmic

effects

which

require

relative

regularity

of

pulse.

Instead he

embraced

the

expressive

possibilities

of

rubato

without

recognizing

that rubato

destroys

other effects

just

as

expressive.

Like

all

people,

Casals

was both

product

and victim

of his

experiences

and

assumptions.

But

the

more

ferocious our conviction that

our most

profound

beliefs

are

absolutely, unquestionably

true,

the

worse

we

may

err.

Perhaps

too,

such

conviction is

a

form

of

vanity.

The

pursuit

of

truth demands that we continually doubt our assumptions, refusing

to transform

them into absolute

convictions.

Despite

a

pure

and

noble

intent,

Casals

nevertheless distorted

Bach's

music

and

personality.

sentimentality in the performance of absolute music- pablo casals's performance of saraband

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