robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (05/02/84)
References: The Minuet, originally, is a 3/4 time dance at approximately halfnote=80 which, because it is danced on every other quarternote beat, tends to contain a lot of cross-rhythms created by sequences of half notes. Obviously, as is true with any form that becomes stylized and removed from its original practical use, later instances of the minuet do not necessarily conform to this description in tempo or rhythm. I think it is generally agreed that the minuet had "slowed down" before Mozart's death. Nonetheless, the Minuet in his 40th (g-minor) symphony is an excellent example of the minuet with halfnote rhythms; it can be played faster than it is usually interpreted, but it is not clear whether that would be correct. Regarding Beethoven's Minuet in the Sonata op. 54 -- well, lots of the tempo markings that Beethoven explicitly wrote down (he had a Maelzel metronome) were insanely fast, but perhaps this Minuet should not be. The Waltz is also in 3/4 time, but from the viewpoint of Romantic Music it is vastly different than the Minuet (Separate memo on the Waltz coming up). - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison princeton!eosp1!robison