John Smyth <[log in to unmask]> quoted:

>   "Should the Sonata not be suitable in London, you could omit the
>   largo and begin straight away with the fugue--or you could use the
>   first mov't and then the adagio, and then the scherzo--and omit
>   entirely the fourth mov't with the largo and allegro risoluto.  Or
>   you could take just the first mov't and the scherzo and let them
>   form the whole sonata.  I leave it to you to do what you think best."
>   (Beethoven on the Hammerklavier)

This letter was mentioned in the first go-round of this thread.  It did
not even need to be refuted, as even its quoter at the time acknowledged
that it was highly uncharacteristic of Beethoven.  Ealier in that same
letter, Beethoven refers to flaws in the copy of the sonata possessed by
Ries (to whom the letter was addressed) owing to problems in retaining a
copyist.  It may be that he was instructing Ries to make the best of a bad
situation, although I do not claim this to be anything more than plausible
speculation.  However, I feel very comfortable in saying that in no way
should one use it to conclude that Beethoven didn't mean what he wrote when
he composed, or to justify tampering willy-nilly with his works.  It does
not negate the reams of paper Beethoven expended on sketching many of his
works in an effort to get them exactly right.  Would he make such
monumental efforts only to turn around and say that they don't really
matter? Moreover, in his conversation books, he objects to a report of one
of his works being played sans repeat, and says unambiguously that the
repeats are to be taken "as a matter of course."

>   "Variation when passages are repeated is indispensable." (CPE Bach
>   in a forward to his "Sechs Sonaten fur Clavier")

I see no problem with changes in articulation, phrasing, emphasis, etc.  in
repeats, so long as these are within the ballpark of what the composer has
indicated.  There is, after all, more than one way to play a passage well.
But you will notice that CPE does NOT say that the repeats are dispensible,
only that the repeated passages should not be played in exactly the same
manner as they were played the first time.  Moreover, CPE speaks only for
CPE, not for anyone else, and even then, perhaps this applied only to the
works being referred to.

>   "The symphony went magnifique and had the greatest success.  There
>   were forty violins; the wind instruments were doubled, there were
>   ten violas, eight cellos, and six bassoons." (Mozart, {not Stokowski!},
>   in a letter to his father)

Which only means that, given the choice between a small orchestra and a
large one, Mozart tended to prefer a large one, or at least he seemed to
on this occasion.  This would seem to justify playing his works with large
modern orchestras, with which I have never had a problem.  But it does not
justify omitting his repeats.

>   "On entering a fermata of languidness, tenderness, or sadness, it
>   is customary to broaden slightly...." "When the execution is such
>   that one hand seems to play against the bar and the other strictly
>   with it, it may be said that the performer has done all he can do.
>   As soon as the upper hand slavishly follows the bar, the essence of
>   rubato is lost." (Bach on rubato)

Since "fermata" means to hold a note longer than its customary duration,
the first quote is rather redundant, as is the second, which merely refers
to a degree of flexibility in tempi and/or dynamics.  I know of no composer
who did not allow for this, so it is completely outside the context of what
I was talking about.  And neither has anything to do with repeats.

-Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series