Lost Notation 4
Posted: 15 Feb 2020, 03:52
Although I constantly deal with modern vs. authentic stem direction in Beethoven's pianos sonatas, the absurdity of the some of it struck me forcefully in the following example:
In the first edition, the stem direction is maintained in the left hand, since the chords are a unit. This is the usual practice for Beethoven: In the modern example (Schenker's is given in the example) the unity of the passage is compromised by a change stem direction merely to carry out a mechanical engraving rule that has no connection with the musical content. And aside from the musical content, does it look better? For me, it looks worse.
I think there is a connection between the disregard for the musical meaning of stem direction and the chord-by-chord approach that infected musical thinking in the 19th century. Beethoven understood and notated a single basic harmony being elaborated by contrary motion neighboring tones to produce a harmony of a lesser weight within it (Example A). The engravers saw only three "different" harmonies of the same weight and therefore saw no reason to maintain stem direction (Example B): Schenker, who understood this better than anyone, did his best to preserve as much of the original in his edition as he could, but may have had no control over the modernization of some aspects of the engraving practice.
In the first edition, the stem direction is maintained in the left hand, since the chords are a unit. This is the usual practice for Beethoven: In the modern example (Schenker's is given in the example) the unity of the passage is compromised by a change stem direction merely to carry out a mechanical engraving rule that has no connection with the musical content. And aside from the musical content, does it look better? For me, it looks worse.
I think there is a connection between the disregard for the musical meaning of stem direction and the chord-by-chord approach that infected musical thinking in the 19th century. Beethoven understood and notated a single basic harmony being elaborated by contrary motion neighboring tones to produce a harmony of a lesser weight within it (Example A). The engravers saw only three "different" harmonies of the same weight and therefore saw no reason to maintain stem direction (Example B): Schenker, who understood this better than anyone, did his best to preserve as much of the original in his edition as he could, but may have had no control over the modernization of some aspects of the engraving practice.