Derek Lim ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Tim Dickinson wrote:
>
>>There's a piano roll of Mahler playing the Adagietto, ...
>
>I don't think so -- there's only a recording of the first movement, not the
>Adagietto, which is why the tempo marking is still open to interpretation
>(by some conductors)

Correct.  Mahler recorded 4 rolls for the Welte Mignon company in 1905:
the first movement of the 5th, the last movement of the 4th, Ging heut
Morgen u"bers Feld (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) and Ich Ging Mit
Lust Durch einen Gru"nen Wald from the early Lieder und Gesa"nge.

And, frankly, I don't think even the pieces he did record should be taken
as gospel as far as tempo is concerned - as I pointed out yesterday, I have
two different transcriptions of Das himmlische Leben and they differ in
timings by fully 5%.

Deryk Barker
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