Doucement and légèrement: Tempo in French Baroque Music

Author(s): Lionel Sawkins

Source: Early Music, Vol. 21, No. 3, French Baroque II (Aug., 1993), pp. 365-372+374
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3128289
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Lionel Sawkins

Doucement and lcgerement: tempo in French

Baroque music
Nowhere do most early music directors appear moreseem sufficiently improbable not to merit further inves-
tigation. But, in fact, we do not have far to look to dis-
unsure of themselves or unaware of available knowledge
than when making decisions about tempo and tempocover some characteristics of the mensural system still
occurring in later French music, in works by Du Mont,
relationships in Baroque music. It is an aspect of per-
formance practice where several cogent arguments can Charpentier, Lalande, Couperin and later composers.
always be trotted out to avoid considering the hard evi- For example, as late as Blanchard's autograph score of
his Jubilate (1743) one finds a passage in 3/2 void (white)
dence. 'It all depends on the size of the performing space
and its acoustic.' 'Such-and-such a composer didn't fol- notation. The text, 'Omnis terra adoret te' ('All the earth
low his own metronome marks.' 'Large forces require worships thee'), evokes a majestic tempo, emphasized by
slower tempos than chamber groups.' (Do they really?)long notes and rests at the end of the movement, pre-
And so on. Some of these considerations are sometimes ceding the evidently joyful 'Et psallat tibi' in duple time,
valid, and must be taken into account, but surely they marked lkgerement (one of the 'time-words' discussed
should not excuse us from seeking out such evidence asbelow).3 Nor is this the only evidence for 3/2 in void
does exist in relation to the period and style we arenotation indicating a slow tempo. Borrel quotes an
performing? unidentified 18th-century theorist as explaining that
What evidence do we have relating to French music ofsuch notation, with 'des croches et des doubles croches
the late 17th and early 18th centuries in respect of (1) the blanches' ('flagged' void semiminims and fusas, as in
persistence of the mensural system, notably concerningillus.i-in modern notation, crotchets and quavers),
tempo relationships, (2) the tempo connotations of'mark a much greater slowness in the tempo'.4 As to
'expressive' verbal directions, the so-called 'time-words',Charpentier, what are we to make of his use of C, 03/2,
and (3) actual timings and metronome markings? 3/2 (all with void notation) as well as 3/2 with modern
notation? It is difficult to see any chronological explana-
Mensural traditions
tion for these different usages, since some of his earliest
In a recent paper Roger Bowers has drawn attention works,
to including Jesu, corona Virginum, H53, and Pange
the persistence of mensural notation traditions in thelingua, H58, employ 3/2 with modern notation, while a
music of Monteverdi, and their importance for modern very late work, the Mass Assumpta est Maria, H11, Of 1699,
has seven passages in 3/2 void notation. Between these
performers.' As he remarks, there has been a widely held
two extremes, Cahiers 59, 6o of Charpentier's autograph
view 'that, in respect of early Baroque music generally
... the proportional signatures ... arose from within Meslanges
a (thought by Hitchcock to date from the early
169os)5 include several works which employ both 03/2
system that had simply lapsed into "chaotic confusion",
and 3/2 in void notation (for example, Notus in Judaea,
so that they can be held to convey no precise or credible
information ...'" Bowers then neatly and thoroughlyH206, Domine Deus salutis meae, H207, and the Messe
discredits such a view by constructing a convincing case ... pour M. Mauroy, H6) (see illus.1).6
for the 1610o partbooks of these works of Monteverdi It seems difficult to argue that these are insignificant
being entirely consistent with 'the historic mensural remnants of a forgotten tradition for a composer who so
system'. He also cites, in the same context, Eustache Du meticulously marked his scores; surely these differences
must imply either changes of tempo or a relationship
Caurroy's Fantasies a III, IIII, V et VI parties, published
in Paris in the same year. with the previous and/or succeeding tempo? In such
That such traditions continued in the early 17th cen- works, 3/2 on its own frequently follows a passage in 0,
tury not only in Italy but also in France should hardlywhich might be seen to imply that the change to 3/2 was
indicating a sesquialtera relationship. Charpentier's
surprise us, but the possibility that they might have per-
sisted even to the end of the century and beyond may rubric, grave, for 'Pleni sunt coeli' in the Mass Assumpta

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1993 365

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 1itr~ C)P4{-
b, 74
-T7I4X tII-uI --I g- __~ -T ~ TT
Iwp wJ)ea

1111.
H1 - 4- I
?tr 4 t 1

1 M.-A. Charpentier, Domine Deus salutis meae (H2o7, Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Res. Vm' 259, vo
transition from C3/2 time-signature (given on previous page) through C to 3/2.

est Maria suggests an accord with the opinion, already

Affekt for this passage.
quoted, that 3/2 void notation was a signal for
Buta it
slow
is not just in the matter of white notation in
passages
tempo, and the passages in the Te Deum, H146, in 03/2that we can discern the traditions of mens
('Venerandum tuum verum' and 'Te ergo quaesumus')
notation. In innumerable works one finds that for ma
imply a similar approach.7 In Notus in Judaea,movements
when 'the the last bar of one movement changes to
earth trembled and was still' ('Terra tremuit time
et quievit'),
signature of the following movement. This prac
it is the last two words which are set in 03/2, surely
and marked
implies not only that the music moves on with
rallentando
Tras lent. But in the Messe pour M. Mauroy, already cited, or pause but also that there must b
the passages for which the same signature isrelationship
employed between the tempos of the two moveme
include 'Et resurrexit', as well as Benedictus (This
and Agnus
practice is by no means confined to French m
Dei. For Franqois Couperin, it seems that 3/2 in void
of the period, as a glance at early sources of, say, Purc
notation also denoted a slow tempo. Lajalousie music will show.) Similarly, such relationships are
taciturne
evident between
(Pi&ces de clavecin, book 3, 1722), in this notation, is sections of the same movement where
unambiguously marked 'Lentement et mesur'. change (or sometimes are reiterated).
time-signatures
Similarly, the halt and lame, vividly portrayed
Examplesin abound:
Les in the grands motets of Lalande, even
invalides in book 2 of the same collection (1716-17), areversions of the 1720S, there are commonly
in the revised
surely destined to proceed slowly rather than several
at thesuch enchainements in each motet, such as that
'fast
triple time' suggested by Geoffrey Chew inbetween movements 3 and 4 of Beati omnes, s51 (illus.2).
the article
'Notation' (?III, 4) in New Grove, where the Here,opening
it is evident that a sesquialtera relationship exists
bars of this piece are reproduced in facsimile
between (xiii,
the vivement 6/4 of'Uxor tua' and the gracieuse-
ment it
p.376).8 In Couperin's Magnificat for two voices, 0 of
is 'Filii
'Et tui'.
misericordia' that is set in this notation, andAabetter
slow known work where such relationships are
tempo would be well in accord with the usual Baroque
evident, and where they surely form part of any respon-

366 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1993

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sible approach to performance, is the D major Te Deum petite pause' ('Continue after a brief pause').
of Charpentier (H146), already cited. The radically dif- Even if one may offer alternative solutions for some of
ferent results obtained by considering and applying such the actual tempo relationships Devos establishes, he is
relationships or by totally ignoring them are well illus- surely on safer ground than is William Christie in his
trated in two of the currently available recordings of the more recent recording (Harmonia Mundi HMC 901298),
work. Louis Devos on Erato (CD 2292 452022) establishes where not only are there no audible attempts to establish
a logical series of tempo relationships, with a tactus that tempo relationships, except where the composer does
hovers around 72-6, and, in 'Te per orbem' for example, not call for them (as we shall see), but the tactus lurches
with clear tripla and then sesquialtera relationships at the from 72 to 85 to 66 and then 96 in the first four tempos
changes to 03/2 and 2 respectively. Devos defends his employed, and the tempo within sections is seriously
action in the liner note, speaking of 'the organic disturbed on several occasions by extravagant rallentan-
relationship between the tempos of the different changes dos. Further, individual phrases are isolated at half
of time-signature [mesure], separated in the manuscript speed, in places where the composer gives no indications
by a double-bar. This is not a conclusion, but calls for a of any kind, either by change or reiteration of the time-
well-defined transition.' [Translation by the present signature or verbal instruction. One of the most deliber-
author, not that on the liner.] Devos might have added ate of these editorial tempo relationships occurs in 'Pleni
that Charpentier frequently reinforces his wishes at the sunt coeli et terra majestatis gloriae tuae', where the text
ends of sections with verbal indications such as 'Passez at minim=6o is preceded and followed each time by the
sans interruption a la suite' ('Continue without inter-orchestral 'fanfares' at double speed, and this breakneck
ruption to the next movement'), or 'Suivez au Choeurtempo is then adopted for the remainder of the move-
sans interruption' ('Continue with the chorus without ment (for the unfortunate apostles, prophets and mar-
interruption'). When he does want a pause, Charpentier tyrs) until the inevitable rallentando at the end. A similar
gives very specific instructions such as 'Suivez apres une
distortion is imposed by Christie on the 'Judex crederis',

2 M.-R. de Lalande, Beati omnes, s51 (Versailles, Bibliotheque Municipale, Ms mus 233, PP-30-31), showing conclusion in vive-
ment 6/4 and transition to gracieusement 0, in an apparent sesquialtera relationship.

4.

pm h oltbE
l i .t C 1i g I - .-i.

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- . . . ., . . , ,. - a - L 3
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46 101 -

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ifI " L11 " M11 _

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96

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1993 367

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 fZ ~

a .I six 0 I L l . . - r l1

L . -V .-f - . .." . - -I .... I- F I A ft_ " I-a x

?t~ ,t~ul iiib-~~~~/~/piCJ I, . ,v... I _ .. .. 1~i..'_ - t"IJ - I.I-

A --: !

i~~ v I I i - i l- ,. I D I . I- w -I .' - I . _ Ii - _l_ tl J ' !. . .+ J. .

-.r CA ?- ,A, ff W I --~

ff "
riea' I"
II v'I-
I-

r : , , --I- , [:
$tt
[,,.. ,u? ? dV-TA-'is
-".. . ....~Lf . .... . ...... . i-?- I- -i ".? ?~---,~a
#c

'llc ;lZ ,;.~rr I. ? "? . .I ,. ? " ...; .'?i

11+: , ' + .. .. . 1 = =[ ? ...... ... ' ..
,_+? _ ? 1- t ? / / + _ i , _ WIF AL a~rilzil _ L
... .. ....... . ... ......... . .- . '

3 M.-R. de Lalande, Te Deum, s32 (Paris, Bibliothbque Nationale, H

alternative timings for complete and shortened versions.

where the vocal utterances are at

appear half
at first the
sight tempo
to have no definiteof the of
connotations
tempo were commonly
'fanfares', the whole being preceded understood as enor-
by another tempo indica-
mous rallentando for 'Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes'. Curi- tions at the time. Among the most frequently misunder-
ously enough, in the one movement, the concluding 'In stood by modern performers are doucement and
te Domine', for which Charpentier employs 0, his accus- Ikgerement. Although modern dictionary meanings sug-
tomed time-signature for very fast movements, andgest that both these words are almost synonymous with
where Christie could have justified doubling the speed, 'gently', 'lightly', 'softly', even 'carefully', to a French
he adopts a more leisurely minim=93. This may be allBaroque musician, while evocative of style, they were
principally indications of tempo at opposite ends of the
good fun, but is it justified when it is at the composer's
expense, and does not pay any regard to the evident per-time scale: doucement for a slow tempo corresponding to
sistence of the mensural tradition so obvious in the com- gravement or lentement, and lIgerement for a swift, nim-
poser's manuscripts? ble tempo, only one stage below that of vivement or vite.
Two other time-words were almost as common as those
Time-words
already mentioned-gracieux (or gracieusement) and
Although terms such as lentement and vite are unam-rondement, both of which also have stylistic impli-
cations. The first was the commonest means of indi-
biguously indicative of tempo, many other expressions
commonly found in French Baroque music which may cating a moderate tempo (although moddrd was also

368 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1993

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used), the second denoted a moderate pace with some linked to the composer's workshop than has hith
forward movement. (In modern French, a discussion been suspected, despite the collection's late date
that proceeds at a businesslike pace, even briskly, may be These also contain timings of all movements.
said to do so rondement.) The evidence for the use of three, of the five extant Lalande motet scores wit
these various terms as tempo indications within quite ings, are thus the most significant and useful wit
well defined limits is to be found in the many treatises of pect to Lalande's performance practice in (1) calcu
the period, notably those dealing with the metronome, quite precise speeds for most movements, (2)
but most persuasively in those scores that have survived lishing others by reference to traditional propor
with notated timings for each movement (see table 2). and (3) facilitating comparisons of speeds establish
such timings with the verbal indications so often u
Timings and metronome markings
Some of the evidence in this area has been discussed denote both tempo and other performance directi
this repertory." Indeed, it is this last advantage w
more than once in scholarly literature, yet it seems that
most useful in giving guidance to performers of
little serious attention has been paid to it, certainly by
other than these three, since if particular tempos
those recently recording this repertory. Because the early
found to be frequently associated with particular
metronome and the 35 or so tempos of French Baroque
instructions, these may acquire more precise mea
works calculated from them by 18th-century French
for other works, at least for those by the same com
writers have already been well documented and dis-
(see table 2).
cussed in recent studies, particularly in respect to dance
From the ascription on the first page of H400oo
tempos, they will not be discussed further here.9
Deum Simple Le feu Roy ayant voulu qu'il ne dura
On the other hand, of the surviving scores of French
plus que sa messe ordinaire ('Simple Te Deum, th
Baroque works which include actual timings of individ-
King having wished that it will last little more th
ual movements, five motets by Lalande supply the most
usual mass'), we can deduce that this score, or at
detailed information. One of these, the composer's
this inscription, must be dated between the deat
working score of a late version of his Te Deum, Paris,
Louis XIV in September 1715, and that of the com
Bibliotheque Nationale (F-Pn), H40oD(3) (illus.3), is all
in June 1726. On the verso of the last folio we fin
in his own hand except for a fair copy of a shortened ver-
the overall timing of '35 minutes' was crossed ou
sion of the seventh movement, 'Tu Rex gloriae', which is
in a second hand, and another inserted folio with an favour of 'une bonne demi-heure' (a good half-h
The score shows evidence of many cuts, restorat
alternative version of 'Dignare' and 'Miserere', in a third
hand.10 reworkings and alternatives, with precise timings
nearest quarter-minute (and sometimes even
The second hand, evidently that of one of Lalande's
exactly) given for all movements except one.12
assistants, appears also in unique copies of two motets,
An analysis of these timings, given in full in ta
Veni Creator (revised version) and Cantate Domino
shows the following:
(Psalm xcv) (part of the Lutz private collection in Stras-
bourg), suggesting that these copies are more closely
1 In seven cases, indicated in the first column b
4 M.-R. de Lalande, Miserere [a grand choeur], s27 (Paris, and [ii] after the movement number, there are
Bibliotheque Nationale, H387, P.53), showing timings at the
end of 'Sacrificium Deo. native versions of movements, usually because
cuts or optional repeats (movements 5, 7, 9
Y3 although in three cases (12, 16, 17) completely dif
ent versions exist.

2 For eight movements with a single time signature

- _ , . . (nos. 1, 2, 8, 9, lo, 11, 12 [first version], 13) the tempo

may be immediately established unambiguously.
3 For one movement (no.14) with two sections (vivace
and doucement), there exist different-length versions
I~~~~ ~ ~ n at, ?
of the vivace, which enable the tempos for the differ-
ent sections to be established, showing a dupla
relation.
4 For five movements with more than one section but

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1993 369

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Table 1 Tempos in Lalande's Te Deum

Time H400D Derived Derived Cauvint/1729?

Movement Text signature Bars H400D time-words timings timings M.M. time-words

1 [Simphonie] 0 36 1' J=72

[+ 3rd
[60] couplet:
1' 45"]
Te Deum 0 29 1' J=57 Legarement?
2 Te aeternum 3 56 1'A' J= 134 Modere?
3 Tibi omnes C 20 Gratieusement [34"] [J=69] Gracieusementt?
Tibi Cherubim 3 46 [1"] [J=138] Leger et gracieuxt?
12 *2' [32"] [J=69] Plus Lentt?
4 Sanctus 0 18 [45"] [J=48]
3/2 12 1' [15"] [J=144]
5 [i] Te gloriosus 0 60 Point viste, mais marque *2' J=56 Rondement et marque't
[ii] 81 [avec] refrain si on veult [J=80]
6 Te per orbem 3 20 [25"] [J=144] Leg&ementt?
Patrem immensae C 16 Gravement *1' [40"] [J=48] Gravementt?
7 [i] Tu Rex gloriae 3 85 Gratieusement [2' 45"] [J=93] Gracieusementt?
[ii] 68 [2' 15"] [;=93]
8 Tu ad liberandum 0 40 Doucement 2/2' J=32 Doucementt?
9 [i] Tu devicto C 36 en passant au renvoy **2' J=38
[with the cut]
[ii] 51 le recit entier 2/2' =41
10 Tu ad dexteram 3 54 Gratieusement 1/4' =93 Gracieux et Legerementt?
11 Te ergo [0] 26 Lentement 1/A' J=41 Lentement-l-?
12 [i] Aeterna fac 0 41 entier 1 /2' J=54 [this version not present]
[ii] 0 10 [30"] [J=40] R&citatif?
13 Salvum fac 3 48 1/4' =82 Gracieusementt?
14 [i] Et rege eos 0 63 Vivace [1' 15"] [J=100] Legirementt/
Tres legerement?
7 Doucement [17"] [J=50] Lentementt?
Entier [complete] 12'
[ii] 46
Vivace [55"] [>=100]
7 Doucement [17"] [J=50]
avec le renvoy [cut] 1'A'
15 Per singulos 3/2 19 petit choeur [36"] [J=92] Rondement?
Et laudamus 3 88 Legerement 2/2' [1' 54"] [J=138] Legerementt?
16 [i] Dignare [3] 21 Duo/Doucement [45"] [J=76] Moder't?
17 [i] Miserere 0 28 Trio [1' 30"] [J=38] Doucementt?
Le Duo et le Trio 2/4'
16 [ii] & 17 [ii] 0 28 [no timing]
18 In te Domine 0 6+6 Doucement [35"] [J=44] Lentementt?
Non confundar 0 14+82 Vite 23/4' [2' 10"] [J=88] Vitet/Vivement?

*These timings are given as 'bonnes minutes', presumably indicating the last minute as more than a who
posedly would be indicated as 1/4'.
**This timing is given as '2 p[etites] min[utes]' by analogy indicating up to 7 seconds less than 2 minu

with only a single total timing (nos. 3,apply

4, 6, to
15,both,
18), enabling a tempo to be esta
tempos of the different sections may 6 One movement in a single section but in t
be postulated
ent versions
by reference to tempo relationships in table i, them-(no. 5) has a timing, but it is n
which version
selves established in most cases by reference to the this timing relates; however,
time-words found in the sources (see also table
poser's 2).
autograph direction, 'Point viste, m
5 A total timing is given for movements 16 and
qua' and 17given in the Cauvin MS (V
those
Bibl.
together, but the same crotchet pulse mun.,
appears to Ms mus 226) and the 1729 edit

370 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1993

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 dement et marque'), together with the stated desire edition (indicated ?). Omitted from the last column is
on the first folio to shorten the work, strongly sug- the term fierement ('proudly'), found only in the Cauvin
gest that it is the shorter version of 6o bars to which MS and the 1729 edition, since it seems to imply a man-
this timing applies. ner of performance rather than any specific tempo-in
7 Only no.7 (both versions), and the second versions fact it is associated here with two quite distinct tempos,
of nos.12, 16 and 17 are without indicated timings. first in the opening simphonie (minim=72) and then in
However, correlation of the verbal instructions on the longer version of no.9, the bass recit, 'Tu devicto'
no.7 with those of other movements enables a tempo (minim=41).
to be estimated for that movement. Even if we tabulate only those time-words and their
8 The total timing appears to reflect the use of the associated tempos for the movements where there is
shorter versions of those movements where such unequivocal evidence for such tempos, in H4o0oD and
exist, adding up to 30 'bonnes minutes', i.e. the it two Strasbourg motets-that is without relying on
includes two timings of 'bonnes minutes' and onethose
of movements calculated by reference to tempo
relationships-we see a remarkable degree of unanimity.
'petites minutes' matching well the inscription 'une
bonne demi-heure'. (See also note 12.) However, if we also add the timings of such movements
from two more manuscripts of Lalande motets, F-Pn,
H387, a reduced score of the Miserere i~ grand choeur
(illus.4), and F-Pn, Res. 1363, a reduced score of Dominus
Table i lists each movement of the Te Deum, together
regnavit, both being copies apparently dating from the
with the timings and time-words given in the autograph
1740s and probably prepared for the Concert Spirituel,
score, H400ooD, and where appropriate, further timings,
derived as explained above. The final two columns show
we begin to notice the familiar syndrome of some slow-
the resulting metronome equivalents and the time- ing down in some tempos, compared with those of the
words given in the Cauvin MS (indicated t) and the 1729
earlier H40ooD. All of these are shown in table 2.

Table 2: Time-words and timings compared

Time H400D Lutz MS Lutz MS H387 Res. 1363

Time-word sign. Te Deum Veni Creator Cantate Miserere D. regnavit

(a) Movements in duple time (figures correspond to minim M.M.)

Vivace/(Trds) l6gdrement C 100
Vite/Vivement C 88
Legerement C 60 80
Gracieusement C 69 46
Rondement & marque C 59
Point vite, mais marque C 56
Gracieusement sans lenteur 0 54 42, 46, 44
Rondement C 50
Gravement 0 48 24 42 40
Doucement C 32, 38, 44 36, 39, 40 40
Lentement 0 41 25

(b) Movements in triple ti

Legerement 3 138, 144 148 113, 120 108 150
LUger et gracieux 3 138
Sans lenteur 104
Gracieusement sans lenteur 3 103
Rondement & pique 3 96
Rondement 3/2 Minim=92
Gracieusement 3 82, 93 78 74
Mod re 3 76

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 Consideration of these tables, and the application of
these tempos in rehearsal and performance by several
ensembles, have produced at least two significant results.
The first is that while most of the fast movements are
much as one might have surmised (although the vite sec-
tions of the last movement of the Te Deum are notably
faster than often performed), some of the slow move-
ments are considerably slower than one usually hears
them, suggesting a rather wider range of tempos in use
in the early 18th century in France than that to which we
are accustomed today. The most impressive example is
the movement central to the structure and the meaning
of the Te Deum, 'Tu ad liberandum' ('Thou didst not
abhor the Virgin's womb'), in which the composer care-
fully marks the vocal part with many aspirations, accents,
ports-de-voix and other ornaments, and the orchestral
sound forms a halo around the soprano voice, which, if
sustained at the indicated speed (minim=32) creates a
remarkable atmosphere of awe and beauty. Both singer
and players have to envisage and sustain the long phrases
called for, to avoid the very slow tempo from falling
apart, but when achieved, the result is worth the effort.'3
It will be seen from tables i and 2 that such very slow
movements were more frequent than one might expect.
The second consideration concerns that characteristic
feature of French music of the period, notes inegales.
After many years when some ensembles seemed hesitant
to apply them to appropriate passages of slow and mod-
erate conjunct movement, thus depriving such move-
ments of the vitality their composers surely intended,
some performers seem now to apply inequality at all
tempos, including the recklessly fast. Surely there can be
only one thing more tedious than slow equal notes cal-
ling for inequality, and that is unrelieved inegales pro-
ducing the saccade ('jerky') result that Thibault (op. cit.)
warned against so long ago. That Lalande and other
French composers of his time, notably Charpentier,
were often being deliberately Italian in style is so well
documented that surely it is self-evident, especially in
faster movements such as 'Et rege eos, marked with the
unambiguous Italian expression vivace by Lalande in his
autograph score (Cauvin and the 1729 edition employ
legerement and tres klgerement respectively), and the final
vite sections ('Non confundar'), that equal fast notes are
called for? The difference between these two approaches
is well demonstrated by comparing the performances of
the final movement in the two recordings cited in note
13, one following the composer's tempo, with equal
notes, the other with unrelieved inequality (even
though, in the latter case, there is an inappropriate pre-
372 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1993
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echo of a later aspect of Italian style, the Rossini
crescendo).
Although space forbids discussion of them here, other
timed scores of works by some of Lalande's successors
survive, such as Madin's Benedic anima mea (F-Pn,
H443) and two by Blanchard, Beati omnes (F-Pn, H497)
and Dominus illuminatio mea (F-Pn, H513).
If we seek historically aware performances in this rep-
ertory, should we not be seeking to make informed
decisions about tempos and their relationships (and
consequent effects on inequality) by considering the
available evidence of mensural traditions, time-words
and notated timings, rather than ignoring it?14
Lionel Sawkins has edited and directed works by Lully,
Charpentier, Lalande, Rameau and Royer, and is at pres-
ent preparing a Catalogue raisonne et thematique of the
works of Lalande.
'R. Bowers, 'Some reflection upon notation and proportion in
Monteverdi's Mass and Vespers of 161o', Music and letters, lxxiii (1992),
pp.347-98.
2Bowers, 'Some reflection... p.371.
3I am grateful to Mme Bernadette Lespinard, of Grenoble, for draw-
ing my attention to this work, and to others by both Blanchard and
Madin.
4 .*. elles marquent une plus grande lenteur dans le mouvement
...': E. Borrel, L'interpretation de la musique franyaise ... (Paris,
1934), p.165.
5H. W. Hitchcock, Les oeuvres de Marc-Antoine Charpentier: cata-
logue raisonne (Paris, 1982), P-34.
6For an early (1672) example of Charpentier's use of all these differ-
ent versions of 3/2 in quick succession, see ex.4 in John S. Powell,
'Music and the self-fulfilling prophecy in Moliere's Le mariage force,
Early music, xxi (1993), p.227.
7The preface to my edition of the Te Deum, H146, includes a more
extended discussion of Charpentier's use of these notations (London,
Faber Music, in the press).
8I am grateful to Miss Jane Clark for advice on the performance of
these movements from Couperin's Pieces de clavecin.
9In 1916, 1928 and most extensively in L'interpretation de la musique
frangaise, where he listed the metronome marks for 35 movements
(pp.185-6), Eugene Borrel discussed the many sources of 17th- and
18th-century French music for which there are contemporary metro-
nomic indications; these and the evolution of the metronome itself
were further studied by R. Harding, in Origins of musical time and
expression (London, 1938) and The metronome and its precursors
(London, 1963), and by H. C. Wolff, in 'Das Metronom des Louis-LUon
Pajot 1735' Festkrift lens Peter Larsen (Copenhagen, 1972), p.205. The
sources used by these writers included D'ons-en-Bray (1735), Choquel
(1762) and Sauveur (1701). All this evidence is reviewed in L. Sawkins
'Performance practice in the grands motets of Michel-Richard de
Lalande as determined by eighteenth-century timings', Actes du col-
loque international de musicologie sur le grand motet frangais
(1663-1792), ed. J. Mongr6dien and Y. Ferraton (Paris, 1986), pp.105-17.
Some portions of the present article are based upon the earlier one,
revised in the light of more recent research, and I am grateful to the
publishers for permission to re-use some material. Other published

,,,,PERFORMANCE,.
'PRACTICEI
it.EV-I-EW,
no. 8 also included no. 7, even though such an assumption gives tem-
pos impossibly fast for both 'Gratieusement' and 'Doucement'; (2) she
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studies of tempo in particular areas of the repertory include J. O'Don-
nell, 'The French style in the overtures of Bach', Early music, vii (1979),
pp.190-96, 336-45, 357, and R. Harris-Warrick, 'Interpretation of pen-
dulum markings for 18th-century French dances', The marriage of
music and dance (Cambridge, 1992).
"'Together with the collette on which is written the later short rec-
itative version of movement 12, these folios appear to have been added
to the manuscript after the timings were inserted, and none of them
includes such timings.
"The Te Deum MS was first cited in G. Thibault, 'Le Te Deum de
Lalande: minutage de l'6poque' Fontes artis musicae, xii (1965),
pp.162-5. Thibault listed some of the information she found in the
manuscript, and calculated the tempo of one movement, the opening
simphonie. In comparing the table provided by Thibault with table 1
above, it should be noted that (1) she assumed the timing at the end of
omitted the alternative shorter timing for no. 9, although cited in her
text; (3) Miserere nostri is clearly marked '17' despite her statement 'il
n'existe pas de 17'; (4) she arrived at her total timing by taking the
longer timings where these exist but because of her decision men-
tioned in (1), her total of 29/2 minutes is still less than 'une bonne
demi-heure', which she justifies by allowing time between movements.
"At first sight, such precise timings might seem of dubious value
when one considers the somewhat capricious behaviour of most time-
pieces in the early 18th century, gaining or losing up to half an hour a
day. But a half-hour is little more than 2 per cent of a day; thus, a timing
of, say, 3/4 minutes would be inaccurate only to a maximum of 4
seconds either way. Since Lalande gives timings involving one-quarter
and three-quarters of a minute it seems that the phrases 'bonne min-
ute' and 'petite minute' must indicate up to 7 seconds more or less than
a full minute.
'3This tempo is well illustrated on the recording of the Te Deum and
other motets by the Ensemble Vocal de Nantes, with La Grande Ecurie
et la Chambre du Roy, conducted by Paul Colleaux (Erato CD
2292-45608-2). In general, Colleaux matches all the timings on
H400ooD; certainly, he never exceeds them; by including some of the
alternative longer versions of some movements, including that of the
opening simphonie, his recording extends to 35 minutes overall. On the
other hand, the recording by Les Arts Florissants, directed by William
Christie (Harmonia Mundi CI)D HMC901351) uses the Philidor manu-
script of 1706, the composer's second version, differing very consider-
ably not only from the 'original' version of 1684 (which the liner notes
mistakenly claim it to be) but also from the later one of H400ooD, the
basis of the Colleaux recording. The 1706 version runs to only 20 min-
utes on Christie's recording-not surprising, given that it is almost 400
bars shorter than both the 1684 version and the later one in H4ooD.
Only two movements of 1684 remained the same length in 1706, and
only six of the latter version were the same length in H400ooD. Almost all
movements were extensively revised on both occasions; the timings in
H40oD are thus inappropriate to any performance of the 1706 version
(except perhaps for the six movements the same length in both),
despite the implication in the Harmonia Mundi liner notes that they
provide 'invaluable performance practice information' for the version
recorded.
'4In this connection it is perhaps revealing that William Christie did
not touch on the question of tempo relationships in his otherwise
wide-ranging article, 'The elusive world of the French Baroque' Early
music, xxi/2 (1993), PP.262-66.