from the Autumn 2000 issue

When and how do you introduce rubato?

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Article by Christos Tsitsaros

empo rubato (meaning robbed or stolen time) is a broad term that denotes tempo flexibility of an expressive nature. Before the appearance of the term in baroque vocal music of the early eighteenth century, the practice of elongating certain values of the melody while accelerating others for expressive purposes existed in vocal forms such as Gregorian chant, recitative and baroque monody, as well as in instrumental forms such as the toccata and the prelude. Later on, in the nineteenth century, rubato came to refer not only to rhythmic alterations in the melody, but also to all other parts of the musical texture.


There are three dangers inherent in rubato playing:

1. Distorting the rhythm (altering the proportion of rhythm values) in a way that makes it difficult to understand the rhythmic pulse. This occurs when the student adds and subtracts to the rhythm values in an arbitrary way, without due attention to their relationship to the rhythm structure of the entire work.

2. Accelerating without counterbalancing with a subsequent slowing down. Heinrich Neuhaus successfully addresses this problem: "... if you first accelerate the tempo, you must subsequently slow down; remain an honest man: restore balance and harmony." {Neuhaus, Heinrich. The Art of Piano Playing. Longwood Academic, Durango, Colorado, 1989. (transl. K.A. Leibovitch.) p. 31.}

3. Applying rubato without substantiated musical reason. Most frequently, inexperienced students apply too much of it, and as a result they "give an ever greater impression of monotony and boredom than an excessively metric execution." {Ibid., pp. 31-32.} In order to achieve an artistic performance it is crucial to know when to use rubato and how much.


For beginning and elementary students, I feel it is important to stick to a more metric manner of playing. The more the student grasps the rhythm structure, the easier it will become later to depart from it. Introducing the concepts of ritardando and accelerando, and striving so that the student does them effectively would suffice at this point.

A good place to begin teaching rubato is in Bach's Short Preludes from the Little Clavier Book for Wilhelm Friedman Bach.

The characteristic constant flow of eighth or sixteenth notes in these pieces helps the student avoid the first pitfall mentioned above. The student does not have to calculate rhythmic proportions between unequal values in addition to trying to accelerate and slow down. This music also helps the students to understand the reasons why they should linger on certain notes and accelerate on others. These may include:


The pedal point (starting in the second measure of the excerpt) would be a place where I would have the student accelerate and later decelerate in order to achieve balance. Arrows pointing back and forth can be used in the score to indicate the starting point for the acceleration and the slowing down. As an exercise, I would have students experiment with various degrees of acceleration and deceleration, including exaggerated ones, in order to help them understand for themselves how much is in good taste.

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A similar gesture can be found in some of Schumann's least advanced selections from the Album for the Young, such as "Melody" or the "Humming Song."

The following steps can be used in order to achieve a flexible rhythmic balance: have students practice the piece in an equal, metric manner, without tempo deviations. As soon as they are familiar with the notes and fingerings, have them sing the melody. This would be a good time to also talk about dynamics, expressive content, and imagery that is inherent in the piece. The music has to come alive in the student's imagination; singing helps to achieve this since it promotes a more linear way of experiencing the music. Once this is done, have students play the melody attempting to imitate what they did in their singing. Alternate between singing and playing. Follow this procedure in small sub-phrases, drawing the student's attention to


Finally, add on the left hand which should closely follow the rhythmic deviations of the right hand by spreading out or tightening the eighth notes. If this is difficult to do at the beginning, have students hum the melody softly while playing both hands, or sing the melody and accompany themselves with the left hand. The main goal in all this remains the same: to achieve a natural rhythmic movement, one that reminds us of a gentle breeze or the movement of calm sea waves.


For more advanced intermediate students, I would use pieces of a slightly more complex texture, especially ones that are comprised of a melody in the top layer, a bass line, and a middle accompanimental layer in continuous rhythmic values divided between the two hands. Grieg's "Arietta" from his Lyric Pieces, Schumann's "Of Strange Lands and People" from his Kinderszenen, and Mendelssohn's "Song Without Words," Op. 19, No. 1, are but a few such examples. As in Schumann's "Melody," the fast moving values will be broadened or accelerated in relation to the rhythmic deviations in the top part.


In order for the rubato to appear natural and not contrived, one should exert caution to avoid using it mechanically. In the parallel phrases in Grieg's "Arietta", it is best to avoid applying rubato in the exact same places. Instead of slowing down at the end of both mm. 1 and 3, I slow down only the end of m. 1, play mm. 3 and 4 straight and then emphasize the beautiful inverted half-diminished chord on the downbeat of m. 5 by broadening the first two sixteenth notes in the left hand. This way of carefully choosing what to bring forth addresses the third point mentioned above, i.e., the danger of using rubato too frequently, or without musical reasons, resulting in a boring execution.



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The most difficult stage of teaching rubato is found in pieces that have a particular texture: the melody is made up of both long and short rhythmic values, without an accompanimental pattern in constant rhythmic motion. The rhythmic gauge normally provided by the constant values is not there, and thus the student will unavoidably have to calculate the rhythmic values and preserve their relationship, while at the same time proportionately slackening and tightening the tempo.


One famous example like this is Debussy's early-advanced "Clair de lune." Without proper attention to rhythmic proportion, the application of rubato in a piece of such delicacy and rhythmic complexity can be catastrophic.

To remedy this situation, I propose the following steps in which students


1. mentally read the melody while clapping or tapping the eighth note subdivision in a rather straight, metrical manner.

2. sing the melody expressively, with rhythmic flexibility, while at the same time clapping the rhythmic subdivision.

3. play the first section, first with a metronome beating the eighth note subdivision, and then without a metronome in an expressive manner with rubato.

Whenever the student tends to distort the rhythmic relation of the long and short values (this happens mostly in the long ones), softly start clapping the subdivision so that the student is mentally reminded of the counting unit. Clapping while the student is playing is also a great way to cultivate in students the sense of proportion and taste (i.e., how much and when) in applying rubato. It is possible to clap with rhythmic flexibility. As an exercise for both the teacher and the student, I advise the following: mentally sing the first page of "Clair de Lune" and clap eighth notes, stretching them or tightening them according to the melodic contour. Finally, do the same, but this time clapping dotted quarter notes while singing the melody.


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Biography

CHRISTOS TSITSAROS is Acting Chairman and Assistant Professor of the Piano Pedagogy division of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His piano compositions are published by Hal Leonard Corporation and Frederick Harris Music.

 

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