Pierre Boulez

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the significance of the role of tempo and its proper regulation under "impossible conditions" - in a modernist score devoid of metronome tempo indications - with a view of tempo as the main driving force of expressivity, using Pierre Boulez's Douze Notations for solo piano as an example. Although performers are free to interpret means of expression as they see fit, notated indications acquire their meaning only once we interpret them in relation to the proper or right tempo. And since the right tempo in this work is not yet a strictly defined category, we may speak of the acceptable limits of tempo, which, if they are not properly interpreted, lead to a clash between the formative forces that are meticulously notated in the expression markings, that is, the instructions that the composer left to the performer as a roadmap for a correct understanding not only of the character, but also the musical flow of the 12 miniatures

Metronome · Musical expression · Performing arts · Piano · Literature, Musicology, and Cultural Analysis · Musicology and Musical Analysis