Introduction

While music historians usually focus their attention on the written word, I have decided,
following some recent research1, to focus in several courses given this year on the unwritten
part of 19th century music. It seems to me to be essential not only to focus on scores - fixed
objects - but also to approach the works in relation to gestures, playing techniques,
instruments and listening contexts - in other words, to approach music in the making, where
the score is only one element among others.
The Romantic century is particularly well suited to such a reflection, for several reasons.

Firstly, it is common to present the establishment of a notation that gives a more precise
account of the composer's intentions than before, and secondly, the adoption of the modern
practice of literal respect for the score, as phenomena specific to the 19th century. However,
if the rules of arrangement of a score (ornaments, improvisation,...) are well known for
"early" music, implying a whole field of research linked to the notion of "historically informed
interpretation" for the 17th and 18th centuries, one begins to realize that these practices
were in fact perpetuated late in the 19th century. Through the consideration of various
playing techniques (ornamentation, arpeggios, portamento, rubato,...), the aim here is to
question the relationship that performers had with the score in the 19th century and the
margin of freedom they still enjoyed at that time, in the continuity of the previous centuries.

Secondly, documents, non-existent for earlier periods, bear witness to the practices in use
during the Romantic period: although they date from the beginning of the following century,
the first recordings bear the trace (as we shall see) of performance practices specific to the
19th century. These unpublished documents will constitute an important part of the
documentation mobilized in the following pages, alongside various other sources that allow
us to apprehend the question of musical practices from a historical perspective: autograph
manuscripts of composers, testimonies of contemporaries, pedagogical methods,...

To ask the question of "unwritten music" is to elaborate a series of questions concerning

practices - how did people play in the 19th century? what was the relationship of musicians
to the score? what were the playing techniques? what were the expectations of the public?
These questions are more concrete than the traditional approach of studying the lives of
composers or the evolution of musical forms. These two aspects will of course be present in
this syllabus, but not as a goal in itself. It is also about encountering the works and trying to
place them in their original context - not about "plastering" on these works the way we hear
and understand music today. In this respect, the fundamental aim of history is, in my opinion,
to establish a critical distance and, in so doing, to lead to a questioning of our uses and
conceptions by confronting them with other temporal horizons.

2. Questions historiographique générales

First of all, I think it is important to make two methodological clarifications, which have largely
guided the development of my courses this year.

2.1 Une vision « découpée » de l’histoire

Traditionally, teaching tends to provide an architectural vision of the history of music, divided
into juxtaposed "blocks": thus, the Romantic 19th century follows Classicism (from 1750 to
1800), which in turn follows the Baroque (from 1600 to 1750), etc. Such a temporal division
presents undeniable pedagogical advantages, but ultimately proves to be little in phase with
concrete reality (which sees frequent backward steps, progressive evolutions more often
than by stages, and the co-presence of heterogeneous temporalities).

As far as the 19th century is concerned, the stylistic traits usually associated with so-called
"classical" music (i.e., among others, a rhythmic regularity and a limited harmonic complexity
revolving around the tonic and dominant functions) continued in important sectors of
Romantic musical practice: these stylistic characteristics continued to be appreciated and
sought after by a large part of the public. Conversely, it is easy to identify characteristics in
the 18th century that are associated with the dissonances, metrical irregularities and other
expressive impulses in the keyboard pieces of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach or in the Sturm
und Drang works of Haydn and Mozart, for example, are evidence of this.

In the same vein, a work is rarely completely classical or romantic: while the Romantic
movement is usually associated with a certain spirit of freedom, melodic and thematic
analysis shows that Mozart's meter is often more unpredictable than Chopin's, who generally
uses a much more regular pattern. Is Mozart more romantic than Chopin? It would be
necessary to dissociate all the musical parameters, which is almost impossible: Chopin's
harmony, ornamentation, and rhythm would be "romantic" while the structure of the phrases
or the orchestration would remain mostly "classical"... Let us simply remember that there are
stylistic fractures within the works themselves, which brings us to the next point.

2.2 Absence d’unité

The idea of a current presupposes the idea of stylistic unity. However, the histories of the
different countries have never been totally in phase on a European scale; moreover, there
are, for the same period, irreducible stylistic fractures on a national scale itself (how can one
compare Berlioz, Auber and Chopin, for example, who composed at the same time in
Paris?) Thus, any association of Romanticism with a strictly delimited period is questionable
in the name of the generalization it implies, for this conception does not account for the
actual stylistic diversity. Musical illustrations:

Chopin: Mazurka op.63 no.3

Liszt: Harmonies du soir ( from 4.35)

We have here two contradictory tendencies, but not less essential one than the other, of
Romanticism (tendency to interiority and intimacy in Chopin, taste for the virtuoso and
brilliant exteriority in Liszt). Examples of this type could be multiplied endlessly. It should be
noted, moreover, that if the categories of "baroque" and "classicism" are posterior to the
works to which they refer and are the result of an a posteriori historiographical construction -
Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven did not designate themselves as "classics" and, on the other
hand, the adjective "baroque" associated with music became generalized in the 20th century
- the "romantics", on the other hand, proclaimed themselves as such as early as the 19th
century. However, the use of this term at the time was anything but unambiguous:
throughout the century, it never ceased to provoke debate and never took on a clearly
established meaning. A History of Romanticism, dating from 1829, gives a humorous
account of this:

"Do you know it? Do I know? Has anyone ever known it? Has anyone given a clear
definition? No! Romanticism is precisely that which cannot be defined”

3. L’œuvre musicale comme texte

In spite of these fractures and the multiplicity of coexisting aesthetics, a global phenomenon
nevertheless imposed itself during the 19th century: the massive, albeit progressive,
renunciation of the very free relationship that musicians had previously maintained with the
score. In an article on this subject, Rémy Campos clearly states: In the 19th century, "the
work becomes a score" and the interpreter replaces the performer (according to Campos,
the interpreter is the one who respects the musical text as faithfully as possible, in contrast
to the performer who did not hesitate, until the end of the 18th century, to add ornaments, to
modify the number of instruments recommended by the composer, to make cuts, to provide
a basso continuo accompaniment, or even to improvise entire passages).4
This evolution, which began in the 19th century, would find its culmination at the beginning of
the following century: Stravinsky, among others, is well known for having publicly demanded
respect for his scores and denounced musicians who "distorted" his music5. The musical
text, the vector of the composer's intention, became central and it was now a matter of the
performer following it "to the letter. It appears in many accounts of the time that the musical
work becomes a text to be read…

"Perhaps they [Beethoven's quartets] should be read rather than listened to, as it is feared
that any performance will betray them.

...And the interpreter, a reader:

"The most religiously listened-to part of the recital was also the most interesting, as Risler
read Vincent d'Indy's Sonata in E. His eyes were fixed on the text, to understand it and make
it understood. His eyes fixed on the text, to understand it and make it understood: he gave
the impression of an artist who thinks and searches; who even when he finds, does not let
himself search again, going always deeper »

The inflation of writings on music and the development of musical analysis in the 19th
century8 also contribute to this situation. Analysis in the course of the 19th century8 : it is
indeed a revolution of the musical practices that we are that we are dealing with, and it is
advisable to take the measure of the consequences entailed by this of this revolution from
the point of view of instrumental playing, listening practices, the nature of the musician's
profession and the distribution of roles between composer and performer.

4. General Context

The transformations rapidly outlined so far are part of a specific context,

which largely explains and justifies them. In a seminal work that questions the very notion of
the musical work, the American philosopher Lydia Goehr set out to identify the essential
coordinates of this
essential coordinates of this particular moment9 :

4.1. Respect nouveau de l’œuvre

The idea of concentrated, silent and immobile listening only became established during the
19th
century10 ; the situation was quite different before that (Mozart, for example, complained
several times in his correspondence that the audience had paid "no attention" to his music).
several times in his correspondence that the public had paid "no attention" to his works
played in concert)
to his works performed in concert).

(Resme bak)

Cette peinture le montre de façon évidente : le public reçoit des

rafraîchissements et la salle est illuminée pendant le spectacle. Aux
17e et 18e siècles, les salles d’opéra et de concert étaient en effet des
lieux de rencontre et de représentation de soi, où l’on concluait
affaires et mariages.

In the same way, it was common for musicians to modify the number of instruments in a
composition according to the instruments at their disposal and that they make cuts,
the concert, in the interpreted works (if they noticed signs of boredom among the public, for
example).
the audience, for example). Rehearsals before the concert were not the norm (it is only in
1811, in a Dictionary of Music, that "rehearsals, especially of new music, are the norm.
music, are necessary and indispensable"11). Finally, the
distinction between amateur and professional musicians was far from being as clear-cut as it
was later
(in this respect, the opening of the Paris Conservatory in 1795 contributed greatly to the
to the professionalization of musicians and to the differentiation of statuses). But a series of
upheavals occurred during the 19th century: the appearance of conservatories and
of rehearsals before the concert, dissociation of the roles of the composer and the
of the composer and the interpreter (the composer is not necessarily any more the
interpreter of his works), establishment of the function of the conductor (previously, it was
the first violinist or the harpsichordist who conducted
instrument), new attention (silence and immobility) required in the concert halls
concert halls,... In general, the works undergo less modifications than in the past and the
and the composer's wishes were taken into consideration more (in 1842, in the preface to
his
preface to his Scottish Symphony, Mendelssohn asked that the work be played in one go,
without long interruptions between movements in order to preserve its unity). The
composers began to think of their works as "finished products," just like a novel, a painting or
a as a novel, a painting or a sculpture.

4.2. L’autorité du compositeur

Prior to the 19th century, composers wrote most often for specific instruments and
performers specific instruments and performers: responding to commissions, they wrote in
and for a specific context and depended on the material resources at their disposal (which
was not without its frustrations
without generating frustrations: Bach, for example, complained about a bassoonist whose
sound
sounded like a goat bleating...). However, it is precisely this autonomy that composers in the
progressively conquered by composers in the 19th century: Beethoven, in particular,
transcended the limits of the pianoforte of his time (his piano sonatas were created for
practically non-existent
(his piano sonatas were created for practically non-existent instruments), while Berlioz wrote
for a gigantic orchestra
(up to 500 instrumentalists and 700 singers in L'Impériale...).

-Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonate en fa mineur

n°23 op. 57 (« Appassionata »), 1er mouvement
(1805).

-Hector Berlioz, L’Impériale op. 26 (1856).

Gradually, composers will determine the material conditions necessary for the performance
of their
performance of their works and no longer bend them to the means actually put at their
available to them. This reversal of perspectives obviously has a profound impact on the
conception of the work
the conception of the work as such - which begins to exist for itself,
independently of the available resources, the expectations of the public and the present time
(thus
ephemeral).

4.3. Développement de l’histoire de la musique

To summarize, we can say that the 19th century saw the progressive passage from a
functional conception of music
functional conception of music as a performance to an attention to the works. And
this reversal of perspective has consequences at the levels of creation, of execution
of reception, as we have seen, but also at the level of the preservation of works. Let us recall
that
until then, the music mostly played in concert was contemporary music: at least until the
middle of the 18th century, the
at least until the middle of the 18th century, the public was almost exclusively interested in
"modern
music of the present time; music was considered a perishable commodity (as the
(in the words of Roland-Manuel, music was then "a seasonal product, a disposable
seasonal product, a disposable and quickly out of fashion object" and it would have been
almost as absurd to
interested in the music of the past as it would have been to reread, today, the newspaper of
five or ten years ago).
But here again, the turn of the century will see a radical change of perspective: at the end of
the 18th century, one begins to
18th century, one starts to be more and more interested in the "old" music, and the
beginning of the 19th century sees the development of the biographies of the
the beginning of the 19th century saw the development of biographies of composers12. In
other words, the history
of music began to be written13 and for the first time, authors focused on the "great masters"
and
In other words, the history of music began to be written13 and for the first time, authors
focused on the "great masters" and "masterpieces". In this vein, it was during the years
when
Beethoven lived and worked in Vienna, from 1792 to 1827, that the works of Haydn, Mozart
and
works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven became established in concert halls as those of a
trinity of "great
masters"; the idea that musical works would be inscribed in time and last beyond their
in time and last beyond the era in which they were born. The notion of "canon
is imposed in the musical field.

4.4. Le rôle de Beethoven

Beethoven is undoubtedly the leading figure in all these upheavals14 : considered during his
lifetime as the incarnation of the "genius" artist15 , the composer enjoyed a new authority.
considered during his lifetime as the incarnation of the "genius "15 artist, the composer
enjoyed a new authority.
His intention must be respected, as illustrated by the instructions he sent to his publishers:

"Why did you not print the date, year, month and day, as they appeared on the
manuscript? I expect from you a written confirmation that in the future you will keep all my
annotations exactly as I have
annotations exactly as I wrote them. [...] From now on, the interpreters must obey the ideas
of the liberated genius.
ideas of the liberated genius 16.

It is this state of mind that explains why the manuscripts submitted by Beethoven to his
publishers
that Beethoven's manuscripts submitted to his publishers are more full of annotations than
those of Mozart, for example: the composer
The composer will henceforth note his intentions more and more precisely.
5. Permanence de l’ « exécution »

However, if it reveals a new state of mind and announces the changes to come, Beethoven's
Beethoven's attitude is still an isolated phenomenon at the turn of the century. In fact, the old
conception of performance (as defined by Rémy Campos) would persist at least
until the middle of the 19th century. Thus in the dictionary of Charles Soullier published in
1855, for example
for example, one does not find an occurrence of the words interpretation or interpreter. The
entry
As for the record "performance", it makes no direct allusion to the written text or to the will of
the
composer's will, but rather insists on what is played in a given situation:

"Execution, s. f. - The action of the performing musician playing or singing his part, in a
theater, in a
or in a concert; a musical composition is said to be well or badly executed, depending on
whether the
the [...] performers have fulfilled their task more or less well, i.e. more or less well played
or sung their part individually. The effect that a work of music can produce depends mainly
on its good execution
The effect that a work of music can produce depends mainly on its good execution [...]17.

The example of Schubert (1797-1828), who was born a generation after Beethoven, will help
us to understand that the
that the redefinition of the roles of the composer and the interpreter did not happen all at
once.
that the redefinition of the roles of the composer and the performer did not happen all at
once, and that many 19th-century musicians still conceived
musical practice in the continuity of the preceding centuries.

5.1. Le rapport de Schubert à la partition

Like Mozart's, and unlike Beethoven's, Schubert's score is very "clean": it contains few
indications (for example, there are often no tempo indications).
"It contains few indications (for example, in terms of tempo, there is often only one term for
an entire movement or
for a movement or an entire piece: for the first movements of the sonatas D.958 and D.957,
there is often only one term for the
sonatas D.958 and D.959, of about ten pages each, Schubert simply notes Allegro
at the beginning). This absence of detailed indications invites many present-day pianists to
favour a neutral and objective
to privilege a neutral and objective interpretation, ensuring in particular the stability of the
tempo. Their
implicit assumption is that Schubert does not note tempo changes simply because he does
not
he did not want them. In fact, the historical context in which Schubert evolved might invite
them to consider things from the perspective of the
Schubert's historical context might invite them to consider things from the exact opposite
perspective.
Schubert, it is well known, had great difficulty in gaining public recognition:
his health was too fragile to allow him to perform in public as a virtuoso (and he also
He also lacked the technique necessary for such performances: it is known that he was
unable to perform the accompaniment
the accompaniment part of his own song Erlkönig in a simplified version). By
In addition, by refusing to give lessons, Schubert almost voluntarily distanced himself
from the outside world. These two reasons explain his isolation, and the fact that his talents
as a composer were only recognized in a very limited context (the restricted circle of his
friends,
among whom were no professional musicians)18. In the face of these difficulties, and
because of his reputation as a composer of "entertainment pieces" (the works published
during Schubert's lifetime are works published during Schubert's lifetime were mainly his
lieder, dances and short pieces for solo piano), the
the composer is obliged to negotiate the publication and programming of his works; to do so,
he
to do so, he must be flexible: thus, he sometimes cuts his works to facilitate their
performance or publication (this was notably the case for the Quartet "La Jeune Fille et la
Death "19). When he collaborated with the baritone Johann Michael Vogl, Schubert
accepted all the ornaments
ornaments added by the singer in his lieder (Vogl was an opera singer, and the addition of
ornaments was common in this context20).
On the basis of Schubert's example, we can see to what extent the sacralization of the
composer's intention and of the score is a
and the score is a complex and gradual process. The case of Beethoven is
unique: his contemporaries and successors did not enjoy the same respect as he did and
tended, like
and tended, like previous generations, to leave a great deal of freedom to the performers. It
is therefore likely that Schubert, like many others, wrote down only the
only the essential indications, and that he relied on the know-how of the musicians,
musicians, who were supposed to know the conventions of the time in terms of tempo
fluctuations and
ornamentation. This can easily be demonstrated:

The rondo of the Piano Sonata in A Major D959 contains the indication a tempo at
bar 333; however, there is no indication of a change of tempo change of tempo in the
preceding bars (it is preceding bars (which is why the publisher the editor today adds a
ritardando in brackets at bar 331)... If Schubert, for his part, did not note anything, it is
probably because a slight slowing down before the return of the before the return of the main
theme seems to him totally natural. In fact, there are many examples of this type, which
show that that the interpreter of Schubert's music, at the time, had to "fill in the gaps" left in
the score. And if we take the reasoning further, we must conclude that an interpretation that
today's interpretation of Schubert's score is perhaps not the most adequate one.

Franz Schubert, Sonate pour piano en Si béml Majeur n°21 D960, 1er
mouvement, par Alfred Brendel. Parfois jugées comme atypiques, les
interprétations d’Alfred Brendel sont très intéressantes relativement à la
problématique qui nous occupe : le pianiste prend de grandes libertés par rapport
au texte musical (il multiplie les changements de tempo et arpège fréquemment
les accords au lieu de les plaquer, notamment).

In his violin method published in 1832, Louis Spohr made a distinction between the "correct
style" and the "beautiful style "21 : the first corresponds to the strict observation of the rules
of the violin. "style" and the "beautiful style "21 : the first corresponds to the strict observation
of the indications noted on the score indications noted on the score; but only the second,
according to Spohr, allows the public to enjoy the public a beautiful performance. And the
violinist states all the personal additions that the musician can propose in order to express
the "true feelings" that cannot be indicated by means of
accentuations, phrasings, ornaments, tempo fluctuations,... It is clear
nevertheless for Schubert, Spohr and their contemporaries that it is not a question of doing
anything. On the contrary, there is a set of conventions of interpretation at the time, of which
we will now go through some examples.
of which we will now go through some examples. In the following pages, I have taken care
not to limit my
to limit my remarks to a single instrument - I will thus evoke, successively, examples of
I will thus evoke, successively, examples of conventions specific to the song, the piano, the
violin and the orchestra. This course would of course deserve to be
to be developed. For each of the examples treated, I will base myself on sources
specific to this problematic (methods of the time, which took an active part in the making of
the music
of music in the societies, but also scores annotated by the interpreters and recordings of the
recordings from the beginning of the 20th century): indeed, when one looks at unwritten
musical practices
practices, the question of the sources mobilized is crucial.

5.2. Ajout d’ornements

More than any instrumentalist, it is the singers who, in the 19th century and before,
resorted to the principle of ornamentation (appoggiaturas, mordents, trills and grupetti) to
improve the expression of an aria and to emphasize their vocal capacities. In his Traité
of the art of singing, Manuel Garcia proposes several opera arias in an original presentation
which superimposes the current notation and what was actually heard in the theaters:

Resim

the gap between the printed music (a melodic-harmonic skeleton) and the density of the
ornaments, diminutions and other effects is striking, and it allows to measure the
overwhelming role of
ornaments, diminutions and other effects is striking, and it allows us to measure the
overwhelming role
played by the performer when giving life to the score. The interpreters, today, have largely
lost this habit and remain much more
largely lost this habit and remain much closer to the written text (i.e. the bottom line in the
the bottom line in the treaty of Manuel Garcia):

- Domenico Cimarosa, Il matrimonio segreto, acte II scène 5 (« Pria che spunti in

ciel l’aurora »), par le English Chamber Orchestra (dir. Daniel Barenboim) et
Ryland Davis dans le rôle de Paolino.

another document is able to inform us about the ornaments added by the singers22 :

This score was annotated in pencil in the 19th century; the author of the annotations is not
known,
but the document gives an idea of how singers at that time
the printed music in the repertoire: here, the reprise of the refrain contains a system of
crosses to
system of crosses to indicate the location of the "passages" scribbled in the staves left free
by silences.
left free by silences.

–-François-Adrien Boieldieu, La Dame blanche, act II scene 6 ("Viens, gentille

lady"), by Marcel Claudel in the role of Robert. This recording dates from the 1930's and still
1930s and still bears the traces of the practices of the previous century: during the
the theme in particular, Marcel Claudel ornamented enormously (it is also his type of voice
his voice type - a light tenor, that is to say a voice agile but not very powerful - which
which pushes him to ornament in such proportions).

On the basis of these written and sound sources, it appears that the border between
improvisation and
composition is tenuous in the 19th and until the beginning of the 20th century: the music
calls for the direct intervention of the
intervention of the performer during the performance. It is in this context that the pianist and
composer Louis Lacombe wrote to his publisher:

"I have played and still play in the salons the Mazurka in B flat major, by Chopin, with certain
with certain lines that I add in order not to repeat the repetitions in the same way. Would it be
pleasant for you to
to record this bluette with these small changes which have always had a good effect? If so,
drop me a note in the mail, and you will have one of these little ornaments before the end of
the week.23 "

Chopin's scores themselves bear the trace of such additions: influenced by the bel canto
tradition of bel canto, Chopin multiplied the ornamental variations, which induce a certain
flexibility of tempo (to respect the melodic and delicate character of these "garlands", it is
essential to widen a little the tempo - it is the tempo rubato, characteristic of the play of
Chopin's playing):
Resim

Perhaps most surprisingly, for us 21st century listeners, the practice of adding ornaments
seems not to have been limited to solo singers and instrumentalists, but has been adopted
even in orchestras. During a visit to Rome in 1816, Louis Spohr (who was also a conductor)
recounts the astonishment
orchestra) recounted the astonishment he felt at the performance of an Italian orchestra:

"The orchestra, which brought together some of the best musicians in Rome, was
nevertheless the
of all those who have accompanied me so far. The ignorance, the lack of taste and the
stupid arrogance of these people
of these people is beyond description. The nuances of piano and forte are unknown to them
unknown to them, which could still be fine, but each one adorns his part as he pleases, with
diminutions on almost every note, to the point that they sound more like an orchestra
warming up and
to the point that they sound more like an orchestra warming up and tuning up than an
orchestra making music. Of course, I have repeatedly
not to play any note that is not written in the parts, but ornamentation has become so second
nature to them
to such an extent that it has become second nature to them that they cannot stop.24

24 Spohr deplored the result, which he described as "an awful racket that this orchestra
passes off
for music". It is true that, as the 19th century progressed, the performer's freedom of
expression became more and more important.
the performer's freedom (one of the most striking consequences of this process is the way
of this process is the way in which the "traits" were gradually integrated into the written
compositions
compositions: at the end of his career, perhaps tired of the incessant deformations of his
works, Giuseppe
At the end of his career, perhaps tired of the constant deformations of his works, Giuseppe
Verdi came to note down everything the singer should do, for example.) As a result
Consequently, the inventiveness of the interpreters becomes more and more defective, and
one starts to edit the repertories
to edit the repertoires where the ornaments were formerly freely executed with proposals
of realization :

Resim.

5.3. Arpèges et mains décalées

A practice of execution specific to the pianists consists in arpeggiating the chords instead of
(the arpeggio is a form of ornamentation which induces, necessarily, a secondary form of
rubato
(arpeggio is a form of ornamentation that necessarily induces a secondary form of rubato,
since the high note, often the melodic note, arrives a little late).

- Johannes Brahms, Eleven Variations on an Original Theme in D Major op. 21

No. 1, by Edwin Fischer. The recordings of Carl Reinecke, Theodor
Leschetizky, Ignacy Paderewski, Artur Schnabel or Walter Gieseking
could also be called upon25.

Here again, recordings from the first half of the 20th century are a source of primary
importance. important source: we can see that the arpeggio technique is massively used by
pianists, and we can and from this we can hypothesize that the phenomenon must have
been even more accentuated in the accentuated in the previous century (in his piano method
of 1839, Carl Czerny goes so far as to affirm that
(In his 1839 piano method, Carl Czerny goes so far as to affirm that plated chords are very
rare among the pianists of his time26...). Indeed, if the arpeggio is not noted by the
composers, it is undoubtedly because it is such a common usage that
so common that there is no need to explain it. The proof, once again, is in the methods
The proof, once again, is provided by the methods, which reserve long developments for this
technique.
It should also be noted that the speed of the arpeggio can vary to create different
expressions.
Schubert, for example, uses this technique to link the second and third movements of
movement of the Sonata D. 959:

2 örnek

5.4. Portamento

Portamento, or voice carriage, was originally a vocal technique. Thefore mentioned treatise
on singing by Manuel Garcia defines it as follows:

"To carry the voice is to lead it from one sound to another, passing through all possible
intermediate sounds. [Its speed depends on the movement of the line to which it belongs.”

- Jacques Offenbach, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, act II scene 11

("Tell him that he has been noticed"), by Yvonne Printemps as the
Grand Duchess: in this 1929 recording, Yvonne Printemps still uses the
the technique of the port de voix (which has since fallen into disuse).
since then...).

Until the middle of the 19th century, the voice was the absolute model, which all
instrumentalists tried to imitate as soon as they could.
instrumentalists as soon as they have the possibility of it. Thus, the violinists, in particular,
will make the
portamento an essential asset of their playing: one can measure the importance of this
technique by the space
The importance of this technique can be measured by the space devoted to it in the violin
methods. Surprisingly for us, listeners and musicians of the 21st
and musicians of the 21st century, these methods evoke the question of portamento much
more than that of vibrato.28. They are careful to account for both the technical execution and
the artistic purpose of portamento29.

İki örnek

In the method of Charles de Beriot (1857), different "waves" differentiate possible speeds
and intensities in the
and intensities in the realization of the portamento, according to the character of the passage
executed.
Bériot then details the means for transposing the technique of portamento to the violin on six
pages (the adequacy of the gesture to the desired expression - graceful or energetic,
affectionate or plaintive - makes it a
or plaintive - makes it a vehicle of expressiveness), and he states:

"A trail of sound that fills the interval between two tied notes is called a port de voix. The port
of the voice is of the best effect: it is it which gives to the execution of the link, of the
softness, suavity [...]30.
Before adding:

"But its pitfall lies in the immoderate abuse that is often made of it. This element of
expression
must always be in relation with the spirit of the music31 ".

A few years earlier, François-Antoine Habeneck expressed a similar reservation:

"The portamento can be done on the violin by sliding the finger; but this requires a very
delicate taste and tact.
but this requires a very delicate taste and tact; for as soon as one goes beyond the
portamento, one becomes truly ridiculous32.

Such warnings were systematically formulated throughout the century (let us specify that
hundreds of methods were published during this period).
hundreds of methods were published during this period: for the city of Paris alone, there are
169
for the city of Paris alone, there are 169 of them...). The theorists thus invite to a certain
reserve in the use of the
portamento, but this reserve was probably not respected in practice (which would explain the
recurrence of
This would explain the recurrence of this question in pedagogical works).
The massive use of the portamento seems to have developed at the beginning of the 19th
century33. According to a
Antonio Salieri, it is the itinerant virtuoso Antonio Lolli (around 1725-1802) who
introduced this usage:
"This laughable mannerism derives from a joke that Lolli used to play on his violin. At the
end of
end of his life, when he was no longer able to deploy the magical energy that had been his
for so long and
for so long and he could no longer captivate his audience, he decided, at the very least, to
make them
Thus, in the last Allegro of his concerto, he began to imitate sometimes a parrot, sometimes
a dog, sometimes a cat.
sometimes a dog, sometimes a cat. The Cat Concerto, as Lolli himself had renamed it, was
adored and
applauded by the public. But other violinists began to copy the old master's technique.
Little by little, what was only a joke became a fad...and the fad in turn
became a universal method. A lot of cats are now hurting the ears
of the public, with the intention of seducing them.34 "

Elisabeth Filipowicz writes in a letter to Spohr dated June 2, 1833, after having heard
Paganini in Paris:

"I do not understand why some consider his Adagio played entirely on the G string to be
moving to tears. For my part, his constant slides with the same finger produce
groans that made me laugh.35

The parody attributed to Rossini on tunes from his opera Otello, more commonly known as
the
Duo of the Cats (1825), was undoubtedly intended to mock this increasingly frequent
"mannerism": the
"mannerism" that was becoming more and more frequent:

Gioachino Rossini [the author of this parody is more likely Robert

Lucas of Pearsall], Duetto buffo di due gatti.

But all these mocking criticisms do not have the desired effect: the use of portamento is
portamento became more and more widespread until it became an essential expressive
technique. The scores annotated by the performers contain precious information in this
respect: when the musicians have left fingerings, we can measure the distance that
separates us from the 19th century often, these fingerings are very different from those that
we would prefer today - and this
precisely because they are intended to favor portamento):

2 örnek ve Brahms link.

These different testimonies (methods, annotated scores, old recordings) show

that the notion of taste is a historical phenomenon, and that the sound sought today differs
radically
radically different from the one that was used in the 19th century: the vibrato, considered as
an ornament to be used
vibrato, considered as an ornament to be used occasionally, was then much less used than
it is today,
while portamento, as we have seen, was an essential expressive tool (today, the trend has
been reversed: the
today, the tendency is reversed: the portamento is little used, or then in an infinitely more
discreet way
a quick movement of the left hand and a small release of pressure with the bow tend to
attenuate its effects).
tend to attenuate its effects).

5.5. Rubato and tempo flexibility

It is necessary to return here to the invention of the metronome, because this tool, by
generating a series of tensions (technique/expression, respect/transgression,
mechanics/feelings, theory/practice
professional/amateur,...), has fully participated in the redefinition of the roles of the composer
and the
of the interpreter discussed here.
Invented by Dietrich Winkel, the patent for the metronome was registered in Paris in 1815 by
Johann
Nepomuk Maelzel37 , who claims it as his own. As soon as it appeared, the metronome was
presented as an unprecedented discovery (the report of the Institut de France even goes so
far as to state that "the metronome is a
the metronome is to music what the compass is to navigation")
and this new tool will quickly become a huge success38. In this respect, Maelzel knew that
he was
he sent a metronome to 200 famous composers. Beethoven
was one of the first to answer his call by publishing a table with the metronomic indications
he recommended for
metronomic indications that he recommended for the performance of the eight symphonies
he had composed at that time.
at that time. In 1817, he wrote to the composer Ignaz Franz von Mosel:

"With regard to tempo indications, [...] what could be more absurd than [the term] Allegro,
which
means once and for all joyful, when we are so far from the meaning of this indication,
so that the piece itself says the opposite of the indication. [...] As for me, I have long
imagined
[...] as for me, I have long imagined giving up these absurd appellations Allegro, Andante,
Adagio, Presto; Maelzel's metronome gives us the best opportunity to do so39.

And in 1826, to his publisher:

"The metronomic indications will follow. Do not publish anything until you have received
them. In our time
time, this kind of precision is more than necessary. I have learned that the first performance
of my symphony
symphony had enthusiastic applause, which I attribute mainly to the use of the
metronome. Today, it has become almost impossible for an artist to keep to ordinary tempos
[...]40.

The metronome will help Beethoven to reinforce the control over his work and to exercise
more
The metronome will help Beethoven to reinforce his control over his work and to exercise
more authority over the performer, who is henceforth invited to render his intentions as
faithfully as possible.
Moreover, the promotional speeches do not fail to emphasize the respect of this new
hierarchical order, which becomes
new hierarchical order, which became the cornerstone on which the success of the
metronome
the success of the metronome with composers: "With the metronome, one no longer walks
at random in
the performance41 ". However, many performers today wonder how to
how to understand the metronomic indications recommended by Beethoven, often at the
limit of the
of the executable...

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major ("Eroica"),

Scherzo, by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (dir. Riccardo Chailly). In 2011,
conductor Riccardo Chailly took up the challenge of conforming to the
recommended by the composer.

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major ("Eroica"),

Scherzo, by the Europa Philharmonie Orchestra (dir. Maximianno Cobra). In
a doctoral thesis and a record dedicated to this question, Maximianno
Cobra maintains the opposite perspective: according to him, the tempos recommended by
Beethoven's recommended tempos should be played twice as slowly, because his
metronomic indications would not aim at a complete oscillation, means that , at a
of the pendulum, but only half of it.

Be that as it may, and in spite of all that has just been developed, Beethoven himself adds
on the manuscript of the lied Nord oder Süd in 1817 that the indication of tempo is only valid
for the
manuscript of the lied Nord oder Süd in 1817 that the indication of tempo is only valid for the
first
the first measures and that "the feeling also has its tempo and cannot be completely
expressed
expressed by the number42 ". The same concern is present in Carl Maria von Weber: while
he gives metronomic
metronomic indications for his opera Euryanthe, Weber specifies that the metronome must
not become
that the metronome must not become "tyrannical" and that the modification of the tempo is
essential for the
for the interpretation of the opera43. Over the course of the century, similar reservations
multiply:
"I do not mean to imply that one should imitate the mathematical regularity of the
metronome; any
music performed in this way would be icy cold and flatly uniform.44
"The metronome is a very useful instrument to give you the average of the movement and to
prevent you
and to prevent you from deviating from it in a gross manner. But when your feeling does not
agree with it
don't hesitate to put it aside, because your own feeling, good or bad, will certainly be better
than its cold
better than his cold indications which are only approximations.45 "
"One should not have for the metronome a blind obedience; one would run the risk of
playing
like a mechanic. This instrument gives good indications, and that is all; still it is necessary to
submit them to the control of the musical feeling, if one is to be
It is necessary to submit them to the control of musical feeling, if one is gifted with it46.

"The feeling also has its tempo": the idea according to which there is a correlation between
the feeling
The idea that there is a correlation between the feeling or the character of a passage and its
tempo is not new in the 19th century. It was already a
fundamental preoccupation in the previous century, among pedagogues in particular: thus in
his
Daniel Türk (1750-1813), in his pianoforte method, wondered about the way to express
emotions, affirming that it was above all a question of tempo (accelerando can be introduced
in the
can be introduced in violent, furious, vigorous and surprising passages, while ritardando is
more appropriate for tender and sad emotions)47. In the continuity of Türk, Carl
Czerny, in 1839, gave an even more precise description of the possible modifications of
tempo,
that at any point in the score, a slight relaxation or acceleration of tempo is necessary.48
necessary48. Here again, the objective is to improve expression, and Czerny details
emotions that suggest a change in tempo ("gentle persuasion," "hesitation
"tender lament", "sigh and sadness" require ritardando, "resolute reproach",
"impatience", "anger", "transition from tranquility to excitement" require an
accelerando).

- Franz Schubert, Impromptu in A flat Major op. 142 No. 2, by Edwin

Fischer, Artur Schnabel, Walter Gieseking or Alfred Brendel. These various
pianists, despite (or rather, as we have seen, precisely because of) the
the absence of indications of tempo changes from Schubert,
take great liberties in this respect (important slowing down at the end of the phrases
end of phrases, sharp acceleration in the section named "trio" by the composer
composer,...). Some researchers have condemned such liberties:
according to them, the incessant changes of tempo, in contradiction with
the absence of indications on the score, would harm the composer's intention
composer's intention49. However, such a criticism, while it may seem justified from an
aesthetic point of view, does not take into account the historical context in which
Schubert was evolving and the actual performance practices still in use at the time.
his time.

Örnek

The question of flexibility of tempo is particularly acute for the musicians of the orchestra.
of the orchestra. Indeed, in this field, the notion of exact synchronization of voices will not be
used until the second half of the 20th century.50
the second half of the 20th century50 . Prior to that, the word ensemble was used to
the word ensemble was used to designate everything that concerned the coordination within
a group of
musicians. Of course, musicians have always sought to play or sing together ;
but the sound result has not necessarily always been close to what we are used to hearing
today.
to hear today. Concert reviews from the beginning of the 19th century provide evidence of
this.
proof of this: we frequently find remarks by journalists raving about the fact that the
that the (professional) orchestras were able to play "with ensemble", or that they were able
to
that they have managed to "make the piano and the forte". In a dictionary from the end of the
18th century, an author
In a late 18th century dictionary, one author defined the term "ensemble" as follows:

"Together, adv. often taken nounally. It is the perfect union of all the instruments. Now,
nothing is rarer than the ensemble of the concertante parts; 1° because the orchestra is not
always
well placed, well distributed; 2° because it is almost impossible to suppose in a large number
of
number of musicians an organization that is one; 3° because it would be necessary to repeat
a hundred times a
piece of effect, so that the orchestra could grasp its effect. And finally because the vibration
of the
instruments and sound bodies that make up an orchestra are not and cannot be the same, it
be the same, it follows that there is more noise than effect51.

The objective of an orchestra whose members would be perfectly synchronized is here in

principle
unattainable in principle. In order to understand this phenomenon, it is necessary, once
again, to contextualize
to understand this phenomenon, we must once again contextualize things. In reality, the
means that would guarantee synchronization - many rehearsal sessions - is
rehearsals - is unthinkable in a system where orchestral music is an
is an art of pleasure and entertainment (for musicians and listeners alike). From
Moreover, in the continuity of the 17th and 18th centuries, the expressiveness of works at
the turn of the century is based on individual eloquence: a symphony, for example, is
considered as a speech held by a multiplicity of musicians.
a speech held by a multiplicity. It is in this sense that one must read the definition that Jean-
Jacques Rousseau gives to the word "eloquence".
Jacques Rousseau's definition of the word "ensemble", which emphasizes individual
responsibility

individual responsibility (and not on the capacity to merge with the others) and which will
impregnate the majority of the
dictionaries until the middle of the 19th century:

"The whole does not depend only on the skill with which each one reads his part, but on the
intelligence with which he feels its particular character, & the connection with the whole;
either to phrasing with exactitude, or to follow the precision of the movements, or to seize the
moment the nuances of the strong and the soft; or finally to add to the marked ornaments,
those which are so
necessarily assumed by the author, that no one is allowed to omit them.52

It is only during the 19th century, and in a very progressive way, that the practices are
professionalization of ensembles, the introduction of the conductor and partial rehearsals, a
new
rehearsals, new organization of work (the work is no longer played from beginning to end,
but the difficult passages are
difficult passages are identified and worked on), and a more analytical vision of the works is
developed.
analytical vision of the works. In other words, like all musical practices, ensemble playing
affected by a major upheaval that transformed the relationship of musicians to the notated
text during the 19th century.
relationship of the musicians to the noted text. All forms of freedom taken with the score are
gradually banned or strongly
or strongly channelled (disappearance of rubato and ornamental inventiveness, coordination
and
ornamentation, movement of coordination and homogenization of the sonority of the desks,
respect of the dynamics which are noted more and more precisely,...).

6. Les traces écrites de l’improvisation

Because of the restrictions imposed on the interpreters, the improvisation will progressively
become
in particular "moments". In the cadenzas of the concertos, which
constitute one of the most spectacular aspects of improvisation, but also in the well
in the well-named "passages" and in certain specific genres. So many traces which
are for us precious documents: indeed, the very principle of the improvisation, ephemeral
object, makes of it
ephemeral object, makes it one of the most complex subjects to treat in a historical way.

6.1. Cadences

resim
Symbolisée sur la partition par un point d’orgue, la cadence était déjà dénoncée à la fin du
18e siècle par certains : ainsi Daniel Türk, notamment, critiquait le principe de la cadence,
dont il redoutait les dangers « romantiques » – à savoir de trop longs développements
compromettant l’équilibre général des œuvres dans lesquelles elles étaient censées
s’insérer53. Selon Türk, les cadences sont de simples embellissements, ni trop virtuoses ni
trop longs, devant résumer la composition principale avec suffisamment de variété pour
maintenir en éveil l’attention de l’auditeur. Dans la continuité de la position défendue
par Türk, l’interprète a coutume, aujourd’hui, de se baser sur un ou plusieurs éléments
thématiques du mouvement dans laquelle la cadence est incluse ; mais cette habitude ne
semble pas avoir toujours été la norme : des six cadences de la main de Mozart qui nous
sont parvenues, aucune avant 1779 ne montre une parenté thématique avec l’œuvre qui
l’abrite.
Réfractaire aux libertés prises par les interprètes de sa musique, Beethoven proposera
quant à
lui des cadences écrites pour chacun de ses concertos pour piano :

Resim

Nevertheless, in the sketch reproduced here, we are confronted with a writing that seems
inspiration - showing that the tradition of improvisation, of which Beethoven himself was a
master, must have been
that the tradition of improvisation, of which Beethoven himself was a master, must still have
been very much alive at the time he wrote down
his cadenzas. Moreover, the technical characteristics contained in this notated cadenza
provide useful clues as to the processes Beethoven probably used when improvising in
public
when he improvised in public: extensive use of the pedal, use of tremolos and rapid trills
the entire keyboard, frequent changes of dynamics and chord repetitions are all included in
the
dynamics and chord repetitions are among them.

6.2 "Passages

In virtuoso pieces (paraphrases, fantasies or varied airs), one finds a number of passages
in small unmeasured and often athematic notes, intended to underline the
of the musical discourse. Fixed in writing at the time of the edition, these passages (as they
were
as they were called at the time) were improvised beforehand by the virtuosos during their
public performances:

Resim

- Franz Liszt, Waltz from Gounod's opera Faust at 3'33, by Louis Lortie. In Liszt's
adaptation of the waltz from Gounod's Faust, at the strongest moment of rupture
(when a dialogue between Marguerite and Faust interferes with the dance), a trill is
the dance), a trill maintained ad libitum by an organ point in the right hand
suspends the unfolding of the melody; a chromatic line then runs up and down the
the keyboard from top to bottom three times, as if to erase all memories of the
thematic memory of the previous sections. During these few seconds, the listener
is entirely dependent on the will of the performer who freely dilates or precipitates the
the course of time with complete freedom54.

6.3. Free genres

Certain genres, such as the fantasy or the rhapsody, invite more particularly to
improvisation (the objective of these pieces being, precisely, to give the impression of an
improvised
language improvised in spite of the presence of a score). Thus, Liszt had equipped his
nineteen
rhapsodies of a common objective: to make known the gypsy music of Hungary, that is to
say
a music of oral tradition, which maintained itself, by essence, a privileged relation
with improvisation.

- Franz Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 S.244/2, by Moriz Rosenthal. Moriz

Rosenthal (1862-1946), a pupil of Franz Liszt, revives in this recording a practice commonly
used in the
with a practice commonly used in his teacher's time, and which he probably witnessed
which he probably witnessed himself: he follows the score to a certain point (around the
a certain point (around page 4), then deviates from it and improvises freely
freely on the themes stated until then.

Liszt himself was a great improviser and, as in the case of Beethoven, the technical prowess
technical prowess contained in his written works (rhapsodies and fantasias, but also etudes
and
concertos) tell us something about the eminently virtuoso style of his public improvisations
public performances: rapid scales over the whole range of the keyboard, chords in a wide
position with
position with rapid movements, bursts of octaves, parallel movements of chromatic thirds
chromatic thirds,...

7. Figures of interpreters

So far, it is mainly indirect traces (testimonies in the press or in dictionaries, didactic

methods
dictionaries, didactic methods, recordings of students and successors of the studied figures
studied,...) that have been used to elaborate the subject. Before concluding, it is advisable to
take into account
to take into account the main actors of such a problematic - namely the musicians
themselves.
Largely neglected in the traditional courses of history of the music more concerned with
the great figures of composers and the key works, on the evolution of the forms and the
the evolution of forms and language, the performers have always actively participated in
shaping history by
"In this last section, I will discuss the role of the performer. In this last section, I will evoke
two cases of
key players in Romanticism, who show to what extent performers, as much as composers,
have the
composers, have the power to make the musical language evolve.

7.1. Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840)

Paganini was one of the first instrumentalists to move from being a court employee to
becoming an independent musician.
to that of an independent musician. A child prodigy, the violinist served for a time at the court
of Lucca,
before touring Italy and then the whole of Europe from the end of the
1820. The weakening of the aristocracy's patronage and the emergence of a mass audience
created
the social conditions necessary for the sensational development of
of virtuosity and stardom that this period was the first to experience in
period is the first to know in such proportions.
proportions. Also participating in this new context are the
development of public concert halls and the emergence of the
the emergence of the artist as an entrepreneur in search of social
social success and independence. Rejecting the model of
model of propriety developed by Baillot, among others, Paganini
his public, but he left no one indifferent55 : he was
indifferent55 :

"His attire is unusual and in contrast to the noble and reserved attitude of French violinists.
He puts his left shoulder forward
his left shoulder forward and holds the upper part of his right arm close to his body, while his
wrist moves
wrist moves with suppleness like a handkerchief placed at the end of a stick and that the
wind makes
float on all sides. Reason for which Baillot does not support "his own way of

to play the violin. Genius can use everything successfully, as long as it is in moderation, that
is to say, as long as it doesn't
provided that it does not pass certain limits that taste must fix56.

According to some, guarantors of tradition and "good taste

taste", Paganini "does too much": his extravagant
extravagant, excessive and disproportionate character, in a word his
romantic spirit, does not correspond to the values defended by
by Baillot. The raised right elbow, ignoring the low position
the low position recommended by the methods, is one of the most
of his playing, to which one must add,
according to the numerous testimonies of contemporaries who
to which must be added, according to the numerous testimonies of contemporaries that have
come down to us, several other characteristic features
characteristic features: single and double harmonic sounds,
new forms of arpeggios, energetic bow strokes,
use of double and triple strings, use of pizzicato in the left hand
the left hand accompanying a melody performed with the bow on another string57 .

Like most of the virtuosos of this period, Paganini plays the music that he himself has
composed (to a large extent, in the
composed (to a large extent, in the 19th century, the composer is still most often the
performer of his
the composer is still the interpreter of his works). To study Paganini the violinist, it is
therefore necessary to look at
composer, to try to detect in his written work traces of his violin playing.
traces of his violin playing.

- Niccolò Paganini, Caprice n°4, par Julia Fischer.

- Niccolò Paganini, Caprice n°1, par Julia Fischer.

The Capricci are at the confluence of two modes of expression. The two themes, reproduced
below, of similar length and equivalent tempo, clearly delineate the two main currents
running through Paganini's compositional style
the two main currents that run through Paganini's compositional style:

resim

This theme is similar to the lyricism of the time, characteristic of the first decades of the 19th
century.
century: the melodic line is constructed in a symmetrical way, based on the repetition of
motifs and a clear division into
the melody is symmetrically constructed, based on the repetition of motifs and a clear
division into groups of four bars; this melody of very clear proportions
could easily be sung by a human voice: it is situated in the register of a soprano and deploys
a
soprano register and deploys an arpeggiated figure that rises progressively, which clearly
recalls the
bel canto of the opera of the time. In short, this theme shows what Paganini owes,
like most of his contemporaries, to vocal music.

Resim.

The first theme of the first caprice is in a very different register: at the first theme of the first
caprice, on the other hand, is in a very different register: in contrast to classical symmetry, it
seems to literally "cross space. Here, no
melody as such, but rather a short motif that repeats itself; the development is therefore
harmonic
development is therefore harmonic rather than melodic. The harmonic field crossed is
is made up of numerous modulations (contrary to the restricted and linear field of the
first example). Paganini also tends to use the whole register of the violin and to oscillate
and to oscillate, quickly and frequently, from the low to the high register (what makes
impossible the comparison with
vocal style...). By introducing a dichotomy between the lyric aesthetic and a new
element, much more unstable, which draws its energy from a new use of the register, the
phraseology
and harmony, Paganini helped lay the foundations of Romanticism and profoundly
Romanticism and to a profound reformulation of violin playing - making it a true performance.

7.2. Maria Malibran, known as the Malibran (1808-1836)

Until late in the 19th century, the dress, the movements on stage, the gestures and the
expressions of opera singers were very
of opera singers were highly codified: there was a set of customs (now disappeared) that
governed the various aspects of
which govern the different aspects of the theatrical game. As an art of convention, the lyric
theater of the
19th century opera is based on a set of rules shared by those who make the show as much
as by those who watch it.
as much as by those who watch it. In other words, tradition largely prevailed over
innovation:

"1° The gesture must never go before the body.

2° The gesture must never hide the speaker's face.
3° The less the feeling is relative to the individuality, the less the hand will advance towards
the chest.
4° The gesture can precede the word, but must never come after it.
5° Whenever only one hand is needed to make a gesture, it is always the arm and the hand
on the side of the
5° Whenever only one hand is needed to make a gesture, it is always the arm and the hand
on the side of the leg placed in front that must function.
6°...59 "

Le corps est appréhendé comme une surface signifiante et organisée, et divisé en zones
d’importances différentes. Certains auteurs, comme Alfred Giraudet, ordonnent
méthodiquement chaque mouvement, du degré d’inclinaison de la tête à la position du pied :

Resim

The singer is thus able to find the appropriate gesture for each dramatic situation.
However, these gestures must not be excessive: in opera as in concerts, the proximity
between the dramatic and the mundane
between the dramatic and the mundane stage is unequivocally proclaimed. With regard to
the latter
Baroness de Staffe, in her best-selling book (L'usage du monde), which was already in its
131st edition in 1898, states
which was already in its 131st edition in 1899:

"It is certain that raising the eyes to the sky, swooning, rolling the eyes, joining the hands by
raising
arms in the air, are ridiculous gestures, unless one finds oneself in one of those
extraordinary moments
extraordinary moments of life when the passions of the soul, excited to the highest point,
make one lose all
control over oneself, and still a person, accustomed to govern himself, knows how to contain
his
emotions. But the flame of the glance, but a tear drowning the eye, but a true movement of
the hand
hand, of the bust, of the head, have nothing that motivates a ban, when they are natural."

or,

"The theater must be considered a public salon by well-bred people; one must therefore
behave there
behave absolutely as in a salon, in a private concert, that is to say, with unconditional
unconditional reserve.61

The dramatic performance is thus an amplification (because of the sometimes intense

passions
that the actor must express), but a reasonable amplification, of a set of codes fixed for a long
time
by civility: on the stage, the gestures will be "just", i.e. reduced to the essential, and
"rounded
essential, and "rounded", that is to say adapted to the belcantiste phrasing, absolute model
of the
musicality. It is thus in a rather rigid context that Maria Malibran evolves.
Of Spanish origin, Maria Malibran was born in Paris in 1808. Daughter of the famous tenor
Manuel
García62 and wife of the violinist Charles de Bériot

63, her encounter with the French public was made at the
at the Opéra on January 14, 1828, but it was at the Théâtre-Italien that she decided to make
her career. Her
tessitura is exceptionally extended: a register of mezzo-soprano widened to the soprano and
the
contralto, according to the current characterization. During her very short career (she died
suddenly at the age of
at the age of twenty-eight), she met with tremendous success throughout Europe, arousing
Europe, giving rise to numerous testimonies of idolatry. Such a success is due to her vocal
qualities
vocal qualities, but also, undoubtedly, to her dramatic talent and to her gestures, very
audacious for the time. It is in Rossini's Otello, in the tragic role of
Desdemona, that she obtains her greatest success, thanks to an extroverted interpretation of
the
character. Commentators at the time described her performance:

"She gave herself over to every movement, every gesture, every possible way of rendering
her thoughts: she laughed, she cried, she struck her forehead, she tousled her hair; all this
without thinking of the audience;
but, at least, she was true. These tears, these laughter, these unrolled hair, were hers, and it
was not
not to imitate this or that actress that she threw herself on the floor in Otello.64 "

To convince oneself of this, one need only compare her interpretation with that of one of her
predecessors:
when the Malibran took over the role of Desdemona in April 1828, she chose to distance
herself from
When the Malibran took over the role of Desdemona in April 1828, she chose to distinguish
herself from Pasta (Giuditta Pasta, 1797-1865), who had met with great success in Paris a
few years earlier, and whom all the singers imitated since then. The spectators tell us
that in the finale of Act I (when Desdemona's father curses her, having confessed to him that
that she has secretly given her hand to Otello) :

The Pasta composes an attitude made of slow movements

movements, linked to each other and faithful to the
conventional rules; all the expressiveness is concentrated on his face
on her face to culminate in a supreme effect at the moment of
moment of the curse ("She utters a high-pitched cry of
of horror, advances the hands as if to drive out this
terrible sentence, keeps her mouth wide open, and
and what produces the most effect is that her pale face
is covered with red blood65). Then the Pasta
faints: her immobile body comes thus
masterfully concludes and fixes in a picture the
terrible scene.

The solution that Maria Malibran adopts is quite

opposite: cursed by her father, "she fell into a fit of despair
of despair, dragging herself across the stage on her knees
the stage, tearing her hair out, and letting herself go to
uncontrollable grief. "66 Where Pasta
was fainting, she shows herself excessively violent.

Eugène Delacroix represented the scene in question here:

Resim

In his diary, the painter criticizes the game of the Malibran that he judges vulgar and that he
opposes to the one of the Pasta, according to him all in dignity, all in
vulgar and that he opposes to that of the Pasta, according to him all in dignity, all in nobility
in nobility: "I do not remember to have never seen it noble. When she
came closest to the sublime, it was never more than that which a bourgeois
that of a bourgeois woman; in a word, she was completely lacking in
of ideal67.
The violence of the gesture and the movement proper to the Malibran is found in the final
scene of the opera:

La Pasta proposes a "reading of the role marked by nobility and grandeur

nobility and grandeur "68 : when Othello advances towards her
towards her with a raised dagger, La Pasta goes ahead of the
the blow, courageous.
Finally, when it is a question of dying, always faithful to the
rules of propriety, Pasta receives the fatal blow
in the bed, at the back of the stage, behind the curtains
("Desdemona takes refuge towards her bed; as she arrives there
she receives the mortal blow. The curtains hide
the awful spectacle which takes place at the very back of the stage69
"). Throughout the scene, Pasta maintains the pose of a statue
pose worthy of a statue: "sometimes with her head resting on her
arm, so as to let the public see her hand,
that she had very beautiful, while the other arm
limply descended on her hip70.

La Malibran, she, tries to flee, runs to the windows,

to the doors: "she filled this room with her
she filled this room with the leaps of a frightened young fawn71.
La Malibran, she, leaves the bed; caught up in her escape,
she is stabbed not on the bed, but on the ground:
"after having run and jumped like a real fole,
she was stabbed at the front door through which
through which the Doge, her father,
Rodrigo and all their suite. The poor Donzelli, seeing
thus the door barred, saw no other way than to stab himself
to stab himself and to fall at his side72.

The interpretative model of the Malibran, on the theatrical level, has fully contributed to a
reform of the
of the acting - integrating violence, speed, horizontality (the ground is now invested) and,
especially, research of realism. Like Paganini in his field, Malibran will place the body at the
center of the
body at the center of the musical execution, henceforth conceived as a performance.

8. Conclusion

In spite of the changes that occurred at the beginning of the 19th century with regard to the
relationship of
to the score (with the figure of Beethoven, initially: reinforcement of the authority of the
the composer's authority over his work and the adjustments made to the notation to make it
more
and prescriptive), we have seen that, throughout the century, the musical text continues to
be the object of
the subject of permanent interventions by the singer and the musician, but also by the
publisher or the
of the concert organizer.

In reality, it is in the 20th century that the work's hold as an object fixed by writing has been
decisively
decisively; a statement by Wilhelm Furtwängler clearly indicates this:
"the work is a notated thing - fixed signs and unchanging form - whose meaning must be
deciphered afterwards and
decipher the meaning and guess the enigma, in order to penetrate to the work itself, which
one must then bring back to life.
then to make revive73 ", and this conception directs since then, inevitably, our own
conceptions.
our own conceptions. When one is interested in the musical practices of a bygone era, there
that we, as musicians and listeners of the 21st century, have to carry out - to try to free
ourselves to a certain extent from
to try to free ourselves to a certain extent from our preconceptions and expectations, to go to
very different from ours (in this respect, only a modest part of this work has been realized
here: it is advisable to
work has been realized here: it would be advisable to deepen also the question of the body
and the
gestures of the musicians, that of the contexts and conditions of listening, or that of the
sonority
of the instruments specific to this time,...).
In this vast project, the recordings of the beginning of the 20th century bring us a precious
help, precisely because
precious help, precisely because they disconcert us strongly, at first listening: abundant use
of
abundant use of portamento, rubato or ornamentation, little in adequacy with the current
conception of
of "good taste", show us precisely that respecting the score to the letter does not necessarily
is not necessarily the same as respecting the meaning of history.