A couple of additional thoughts which might be useful:
Speed is always relative. I've noticed that orchestras often play
baroque "fast movements" extremely fast, and thereby lose any
possibility of phrasing/sprung rhythms etc. Just because something is
fast doesn't in itself make it exciting.
One way to think about choosing a speed for a piece is to (a) play it as
slowly as possible without losing the overall structure of phrases and
(b) to play it as fast as possible without losing any details.
Martin
On 02/10/2018 03:21, Tobiah wrote:
I was just playing a favored piece, and a familiar thought came to
mind. Slow down, and savor, and be faithful to every note. These
composers were wrestling with an instrument that could only *just*
muster the counterpoint and harmony they had in mind, and was then
only realized when in the hands of an accomplished player who
understood those aspects just the same. One bass note missed, or a
botched note of a sparsely expressed melody can ruin the otherwise
perceived beauty of expression that was the intent of the composer.
It's wonderful to play and hear lute music at a rapid tempo, so that
we can better witness the expression of the composer where his master
craft actually lay: in the macro parts of the composition. A balance
must be struck however while we as players develop, so that our desire
to master the intent of the composition does not suffer from
inattention to the fragments that make the mosaic. In lute music, if
a trill, or a beat or a note is lost, the phrase can be lost, and so
an entire section of the piece, and in accordance, the attention of
the listener, that so often gets lost to the competing chambers of her
mind.
My advice is to be mindful of both scales (of time): the magnified
finger change between two awkward positions, balanced with the patient
understanding of the passage between phrases and sections.
There was a more concise quote by a composer of who's name I'm sure I
will soon be reminded. It said in more impressive language, or
simpler, which might also be more impressive, that one might practice
slowly, and progress quickly.
Tobiah
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